It’s a short book – only 35 pages – but author Fay Crawford said thinks it could have a lasting impact on those who read it or have it read to them.
“My Special Friend” is about a boy named Mikey who is diagnosed with ADHD – attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – and what he learns about how he learns.
This is Crawford’s first book, but she said writing is something that she has always been pretty good at.
It’s a work of fiction that tackles a very real subject. “ADHD is real and it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Crawford, a retired schoolteacher, said.
As a classroom teacher for more than 30 years (all of them spent at E.M. Rollins), no doubt she had her share of wiggly second-graders who just couldn’t keep their mind on their work or who had to have the instructions repeated because they just couldn’t pay close enough attention.
Teachers develop strategies and techniques to deal with any number of challenges in their classrooms, but Crawford said she wishes she’d known more about ADHD when she was still teaching.
Once she retired, she delved into research on the topic. “When I did the research, I learned so much – more than I knew when teaching,” she explained on Thursday’s TownTalk.
Without giving too much away, the storyline goes like this: Mikey is diagnosed with ADHD, but he comes to realize his ADHD doesn’t define who he is or what he can become, Crawford explained.
The target audience includes parents, teachers and young people. Children in the 3rd or 4th grade probably can read it independently, she said.
“There are so many children…with this diagnosis,” she said, and it’s important to know what it is and what it isn’t.
“During research, I discovered that ADHD is a brain disorder…children who have ADHD, there are differences in their brain development and brain activity.”
Children with ADHD have to learn how to use their brain – their “special friend” as Crawford refers to it – in a different way. It’s exactly what Mikey does in the story to win a contest.
She recalled a saying she heard from former Vance County Schools Superintendent Dr. Anthony Jackson: “Different is not deficient – it’s just different.”
With a master’s degree in literacy, it’s no wonder that Crawford places such an emphasis on reading – or that she decided to write a book.
“Reading is so important,” she said. “You learn so much from reading – you can go places just from reading.”
Find “My Special Friend” on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/My-Special-Friend-Fay-Crawford/dp/B0CQNNTK75
If you’d like a signed copy, visit Shero Publishing at https://sheropublishing.com/
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