Introduction
This webstar is the work of individuals who variously describe themselves as Explorers, Hunters, and creative types. What we have in common are the traits of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and the belief that these traits are not always the result of a brain defect. On the contrary, we see our "quirks" simply as trade-offs for gifts such as creativity and inventiveness, a perspective which is backed by science and history.
Bill & Mary Allsopp's Project Lab. Bill & Mary have had fifteen years of experience teaching kids hands-on science and engineering. A while back they discovered that the most successful kids in their labs shared an odd assortment of traits. Later, Bill found these traits listed in "Driven to Distraction" as ADD symptoms.
Born To Explore! The Other Side of ADD by Teresa Gallagher. A Clearinghouse for positive and alternative information, including creativity, MBTI temperament, nutrition, and allergies. Includes an active discussion board.
Bouncingbrains.com by Carla Nelson, featured in Hartmann's "Think Fast - The ADD Experience." Her chapter "Rhythms of the Racing Brain" discusses how our state of arousal impacts our ability to focus.
Cathy's Explorer Pages by Catherine Woodgold. Cathy shares her ideas about time management, optimism & creativity, distraction/memory, the popular "Liquid Memory" posting, and more.
A Drum Heard Differently. The author challenges the conventional wisdom about ADD.
The Leviathan Grook by Vinc Wong. A look at ADD, giftedness, metacognition and more.
Nurturing Our Spirited Children A wonderful resource for parents raising spirited, high-need,strong-willed, active alert or difficult children. Local support groups are springing up around the United States.
Parental Units: ADD/ADHD Combating the misconceptions, and the acronyms A resource for at-home parents.
Positively ADD - Parenting and Unschooling by Jan Upton. "Unschooling" is a solid alternative to medication. Jan writes about her experiences raising a son using this form of home schooling.
Save One Starfish is an inspirational site by a group of school nurses who work in a school district with extremely high rates of ADD diagnoses.
For comments about this site write to Teresa.
Join The Webstar!
Would you like to join us by adding a website or article? We encourage new articles. Join by emailing Teresa. Criteria for becoming an Explorer-listed site are:
1. The site must be positive and/or alternative, with an philosophy compatible with the Explorer concept. A "traditional" site which mentions that ADD has some good points is not enough. Most sites submitted do NOT meet this requirement.
2. Sites which refer to ADD as a "neurologic defect" requiring "treatment" are generally not a good bet! Although many Explorers do take various medications, it is not the intent of this site to become a listing for medication information.
3. Sites which purpose is to sell a product are also not a good bet. This includes people selling herbs or other alternative treatments for ADD.
4. There are a lot of "support" groups for ADD. While a support group is positive, if that support revolves around the acceptance of ADD conventional wisdom, then the site is not seeing ADD itself in a positive light.
5. Topics which would make goods sites: Stories about homeschooling; effective discipline techniques; good career changes; "What it's Like to be ADD" from those who are successful; theories about intelligence and temperament; articles on creativity; start a mail list for kids who are Explorers; famous people with ADD traits; experiences in teaching; FAQ sheets or articles inspired by the Explorer mail list; and more. (Use that creativity).
6. The members of the webstar decide which sites are consistent with our philosophy and may be included.
7. Each member sites must be linked to all other member sites, as well as this home page. There is a graphic used to identify an Explorer website.
8. Several members are willing to either provide webspace for people or to reprint articles on their sites. Write to Ann, Cathy or Teresa.