You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?!: A Self-Help Book for Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder [Hardcover]

Kate Kelly (Author), Peggy Ramundo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 1995

A practical guide to identifying, understanding, and managing Attention Deficit Disorder in adults includes current research findings, treatment options, impact on interpersonal relationships and self-esteem, tips for improving organization and memory skills, and valuable moral support. 50,00 first printing. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

Review

John Ratey, M.D. coauthor of Driven to Distraction A much needed addition to the ADD bookshelf. -- Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Kate Kelly, diagnosed in 1989, is a clinical specialist in psychiatric nursing who currently gives presentations and leads therapy groups for ADD adults. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1st Scribner ed edition (January 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684801167
• ISBN-13: 978-0684801162
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (155 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Special Needs > Hyperactivity
  • #37 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > Attention Deficit Disorder
  • #78 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Special Needs > Disabilities

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

388 of 394 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Know you're smart but think you're nuts? Then read this!, January 5, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?!: A Self-Help Book for Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (Hardcover)

I first bought this book strictly because of it's title. Having spent 45 years feeling crazy & stupid and being accused of laziness most of my life, I decided this book was for me. I didn't realize how very right I was! When I started to read I realized I was reading about myself. I identified with many of the descriptions of ADD from childhood through to adulthood. It was incredible to learn I was not alone in my daily frustration. This wonderful, informative book started me on a road of self-discovery. I was subsequently tested and diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. The authors describe this "disability" as an "ADD-ed dimension" and they are so right! I now have self-esteem and self pride. My intelligence has been tested and verified .. I'm not lazy, crazy or stupid and I thank the authors of this book for that discovery. This book has changed my life. I can now read a page without losing my place. I don't forget what I'm saying or lose things as often. I have learned that I am one of many who use an additional area of my brain & must therefore learn to "process things differently". I no longer feel timid, ashamed, afraid or just plain different. I can now accept and like myself for the first time in my life.

This book is written in a very "easy-reading" style. There is a wonderful blending of research facts and referenced stories and quips. As an adult diagnosed with ADD at the age of 45, I can attest to the value of this book. I highly recommend "You mean I'm not lazy, stupid or crazy" to anyone who has ever felt they were!

273 of 286 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Needs updating, March 10, 2006

By 

Trudy Shaw "permanent Tolkien student" (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?! A Self-Help Book for Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (Paperback)

While reading some of the previous reviews, I saw one that mentioned "contemporary science" - written in 1999. The first Amazon.com customer review for this book is from 1997. If I'd read it then, I would have rated it higher. But a book that deals with anything medical needs to be updated long before it's a decade old, which this one now is. The chapter on medication is completely outdated; it shouldn't be referred to by anyone who wants to know what options are available now. And while all the scientific/medical questions about ADD/ADHD haven't been answered, more is known now than when this book was written.

The fact that this book has helped many people understand themselves better is great, and I'm not one who equates wanting to understand yourself with looking for excuses. This book has been recommended not only doctor to patient but friend to friend for a long time, and what it has can be helpful - the reason I gave it three stars. But I hope a second edition isn't being held back by the fact that the first one is still being recommended and purchased; it could be so much better if the information were updated.

I personally had a more general problem with the book, which may also be related to its age. I'm primarily inattentive type ADD, and felt like I was a real outsider while reading this book. Some things applied to me, but a lot didn't. And anytime there was a statement like, "We all remember from our childhood..." I'd think, "Nope. Not me." Not that there's anything wrong with a book aimed at people with combined or primarily hyperactive ADD, and I didn't take away a star because of it, but "nowadays" that would probably be stated more clearly in the information about the book, or even on the cover. But back in 1996, that might have been less likely. (I told my doctor that reading this book reminded me of my experience of going to a support group for people with depression and being the only unipolar one there. You're "supposed to" fit in, and you kind of do, but not really.)

If this is the first book about ADD someone reads, it would be eye-opening, and it was probably the best around 10 years ago. But I don't think that's true anymore. A second edition of it would be very useful.

204 of 218 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A TERRIFIC resource! -Update for 2011, January 18, 2000

By 

Madelyn Griffith-Haynie "MGHCoach4ADD" (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?! A Self-Help Book for Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (Paperback)

"You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy! " belongs on the bedside table of every ADDer and of every parent, spouse or teacher who is trying to understand the ADDers in their lives. It was cutting edge when it was written and its information is still right on target.
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May 2011 update: The review below was written many years ago for the first edition of the book - and I still stand strongly by it years later. "Lazy/Crazy" was SO cutting edge it aged amazingly well.***

NOW, however, Kate and Peggy have founded their own coaching company, mine's just coming out of hiatus with a new focus, and I'll be training coaches with their company next fall. AND the content of the book has been refreshed for the 2006 revision. It's an easier read, I'm told (hard for me to tell, since I know the material so well), there are a few totally new topics, recent discoveries of medical science have been included, etc. I have both editions, refer to them both regularly, and recommend regularly.

You simply MUST have SOME version of this book if you have (or suspect you have) Attention Deficit Disorder (now officially named ADHD until they change it again for the DSM-V! <g>) (see ***footnote below)
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As an ADDer, ADD Coach, founder of a company that trains ADD Coaches, and co-founder of the ADD Coaching field itself, I not only recommend "Lazy/Crazy" to anyone who asks for an ADD book recommendation, it has been required reading for OFI's 2-to-3-year ADD Coach Training program since the first classes in 1994. (Kate joined us several years later and became President of OFI; Peggy joined us in 1999 and headed up OFI's Sliding-Scale Coaching Clinic until she became Director of Training -- all the more reason I can recommend this book WITHOUT reservation!)***

An extremely readable book, obviously written from an "insiders" viewpoint, this book made me feel understood and validated -- like great advice from good friends. When I stumbled across it on the "New Books" table at a large Manhattan Bookstore (BEFORE I had met either of these authors) I started reading immediately. It was well over an hour before I finally forced myself to close the book, pay for it, and take it home. My copy is well-worn and multi-colored from all the highlighting I do to focus my attention.

DO take the time, as the authors advise, to carefully read the first chapter. Although it is a little "heavier" reading than the rest of the book, the ADD information it provides will prove well worth the concentration it may take to go through one small chapter. (Helpful Hint: If your dominant modality is visual you will either LOVE the graphics or hate them. For my clients in the latter group, a sticky-note covering the graphics allowed them to focus more easily on the text.)

Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, MCC, SCAC -- founder & CEO of The Optimal Functioning Institute(tm) & ADDCoach.com(tm)
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***To answer the unasked questions: NO, I don't make a cent from it, and NO, it was required reading for OFI's training long before I became friends with the authors (and several years and many trainings before we began working together). Our friendship and working relationship was A RESULT of my opinion of their excellent book, not the other way around!!!!