WOMEN WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER: EMBRACING DISORGANIZATION IN THE HOME AND WORKPLACE

UNDERWOOD BOOKS

SARI SOLDEN

Sari Solden is a psychotherapist, consultant, a marriage and family counsellor, a drummer for a jazz/rock band and a woman who has ADD. She has written Women With Attention Deficit Disorder from a personal and professional perspective.

While the book squares off with reality in a chapter called The Job from Hell -- A Woman's Job Description, Solden does offer hope for the ADD woman as well. She says that, "ADD is closely correlated with creativity," and once the chaos is tamed ADD women can feel productive. Throughout the book, Solden encourages women to focus on their strengths while validating that it is not an easy task as exemplified by the woman who says, "I have a Ph.D but I can't figure out how to clean my closet!"

Depression, low self-esteem, guilt, underachievement and negative self-talk are the occupational hazards for ADD women. Solden's own journey, plus the case histories she records, are painful yet powerful insights to the world of a disorder which can lead to creative problem solving and a compassion for others with ADD.

Solden has included a "pocket guide to ADD" as a reference to be used while reading the book. She specializes in writing about ADD without hyperactivity, "because it is most common in girls, the least talked about, the most undiagnosed yielding the most serious consequences."

The primary focus of the book is to show that "the symptoms of disorganization are a major reason women cannot meet the cultural expectations of society. …