Book: ADHD is Awesome

ADHD is Awesome: A Guide to (Mostly) Thriving with ADHD
Penn Holderness, Kim Holderness
Amazon Product Link

Hi, friend! Welcome to the ADHD club.

You're here because, like me, you've been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder—which, by the way, just might be the worst name for a condition ever—and you're trying to figure out how to make your life a little more manageable. Or because, like my wife, Kim, you love, teach, or work with someone who has ADHD, and you're trying to figure out how to best support them.

The world isn't built for ADHDers, and navigating it can wear us down. But we'll let you in on a little secret: having ADHD doesn't have to be a burden. It can actually be a superpower that propels you to creative heights and allows you to achieve more than you ever thought possible.

We want to give you a new perspective on ADHD, whether it's your own brain or a friend or family member's that you're trying to understand. We hope you come away with strategies you can employ to make things a little easier. (We also hope you laugh out loud, at least once or twice.)

Most of all, we want you to silence that voice that whispers that you're broken or a mess or a failure. None of that is true. You have ADHD—and that makes you awesome.

—Penn Holderness

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Audiobook listen (random "available now" loan)

It was mid-way through this book that I realise I had watched some reels from this family.

Being all my life in Asia, I've got a rather "Asian" mentality that... "there are no 'mental illnesses'". Yes, I get to read about different instances (ADHD/Autism/Depression/etc) and while I know they are very much true, "thanks" to my upbringing, many times my first gut reaction is like, "they just don't have enough willpower." I am trying to rectify my thoughts.

In many parts, wherein they explain the traits of ADHD, I'll be like "huh, that's me too, but that's no excuse," or "that sounds like me before but I've worked to change that!" etc. I can only say, different culture, different tolerances.

And what I'm slightly annoyed with is, they keep saying "you need to be patient or give chances to ADHD-ers", but the fact is, you need to patient or give chances to everyone. But it's a tricky line to go over, I'm sure. It's a long road to unlearn something I've been taught all my life... I'm trying....

Book: Not Without My Sister

Not Without My Sister: The True Story of Three Girls Violated and Betrayed by Those They Trusted K
Kristina Jones, Celeste Jones, Juliana Buhring
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Kristina, Celeste, and Juliana were all born into the Children of God cult, and from as early as three years old were mistreated and used as sexual beings. They were denied access to formal schooling, forced to wander the streets begging for money, and were mercilessly beaten for "crimes" as harmless as reading an encyclopedia. After being separated from each other and their mothers and forced to live in various missions with multiple foster parents, the sisters eventually managed to escape. In this startling exposé, they have come together to reveal in horrific detail the group that has destroyed the lives of so many. Their intertwining stories reveal a community spread throughout the world whose legacy of anorexia, depression, drug abuse, suicide, and even murder are impossible to erase. Together, the sisters found a strength that finally enabled them to uncover and free themselves from the shadows of their past.

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Saw a friend reading this book and got curious as it's about the cult Children of God.

Three different perspectives, not exactly linear, but linear enough.

This time Macau was mentioned only in passing. I was curious to know if any other historical-stuff were mentioned about Macau. Thanks to my having read the other book, "Sex Cult Nun" first, I already had some general knowledge of the Macau base.

This just goes to show, even children will eventually realise what is fair/right. It really made my blood boil when I read about the unfair treatment (the tattle-tales lying, and the adults believing the liars without proof and such).