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Not only did my relationship with my mother deteriorate, my grades slipped more and more as the years went on. On occasion I would do better than the year before, which I accredit to teachers that were able to work with my ADHD, but they only increased by a small margin. In sixth grade, after my pediatrician recommended that I should be tested for ADHD I went to a doctor in a big house in Bryn Athen to find out what was wrong with me. I remember the room I was in like I’d been there a thousand times when it had really only been three visits. It was a circular room with a desk at the center and a tall bay window to the left of the desk, white shades and a small bench with a pale green pillow. The man who sat at the desk asked me simple questions and had me solve puzzles. Silly things I thought had nothing to do with testing me for ADHD. When my mom and I found out that I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Inattentive-type I looked at her and I just said “I told you so.” My “disability” may not be exactly what shaped me into who I am, maybe it was and compiled with my mother’s abuse it formed me. I am Nathan and I have ADHD I-T.
I’m my own mother and bestfriend. by Christina, 16 My mother was never really around much in my life, and when she was it was in a very negative way. So a little over two years ago I decided to cut her from my life completely. Recently I lost my best friend. She just decided our friendship wasn’t working anymore. I think the absence of people you care about in your life can definitely be a bad thing but it’s also a great chance to gain newfound independence too.
I write with my students every day. I learn right alongside them. This year, with this class, I learned another lesson in persistence and creativity. This particular writing experience cracked open the door to that place where writers need to live. Not all my students were willing to walk in and be there. But some were and I was there to work with them. Reluctant writers need someone who cares enough not to give up. They need someone who will push to find the writing assignment that clicks with them. This year I learned to keep trying because there is a tipping point.
Maryellen Kenney teaches English at Upper Moreland High School in Willow Grove, PA. She has been a Fellow of the Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project since 2002. Over the past 26 years she has taught at the elementary, middle, and high school level.