Jonathan Mooney - Learning outside the lines : two Ivy League students with learning disabilities and ADHD give you the tools for academic success and educational revolution

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Touchstone

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Copyright 2000 by Jonathan Mooney and David Cole

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

TOUCHSTONE and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Designed by William P. Ruoto

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Learning outside the lines : two Ivy League students with learning disabilities and ADHD give you the tools for academic success and educational revolution

p.cm.

1. Learning disabled youthEducation (Higher)United States. 2. Attention-deficit-disordered youthEducation (Higher)United States. 3. College student orientationUnited States.

LC4818.5.L45 2000

371.9dc21

00-041274

ISBN 0-684-86598-X

ISBN 978-1-4391-0473-6 (eBook)

S TANDING ON THE S HOULDERS OF G IANTS: T HANKS FROM J ONATHAN

This book, and in many respects the course of my life, would never have been possible if I hadnt been lifted up by the arms of giants and placed on their shoulders. The people who have helped me, inspired me, and believed in me are the heroes in my life, and the following thanks pale in the shadows of the heights they have achieved and will continue to climb.

The first and the tallest among my life is my family, partners with me in the birth of this book. Their lives are journeys of profound personal courage and love. My sister Michelle dedicated her time to working on my story, and her contributions raised my self-awareness and elevated Chapter 1, my story, to a new level. My sister Kelly has always been my mentor, and she dedicated her time (late into many nights) to the Introduction and Chapters 1, 3, and 10. Her spirit inspired those chapters and is traced throughout them. My brother, Bill, and my sister-in-law, Lisa, supported me intellectually and financially; without them, this project would have ended the summer after my first year at Brown.

My mother. My mother is in every part of this book. She read almost every word at least five times and gave me the courage to write honestly. Most important, starting in my childhood she gave me my voice. Without that gift, my mind would have died in the din of a maddening dyslexic silence.

My father. In the last month and a half of the writing, my father proofread every word of this manuscript twice, sometimes putting in more than eight hours of work a day. I am moved to tears by his sacrifice, empowered by his love, and overwhelmed by the beauty of our relationship. This book would not have happened without him.

Throughout this process, I was also supported by the un-conditional love of my girlfriend, Becky Golden. She has the biggest heart I have seen and loves me whether I write or not. Like my family, she read every chapter as an editor and proofreader. Her hand is in every word, every idea, and her support helped give birth to this book. Thanks also to her family, Linda and Jerome Golden. Linda taught me the true power of the six degrees of separation, which led me to Dr. Edward Hallowell, the coauthor of Driven to Distraction and author of the Foreword to this book. I am also grateful for the week spent in August 1998 finishing the book proposal in their basement, eating their food, sleeping in their beds, and drinking their coffee.

I thank Daves family. They hosted me many times, took me out to dinner, and believed in this project with all their heart.

I thank Ned Hallowell. Ned got a call from us in August 1998; we hadnt slept in eight days, holed up in Putney, Vermont, working on a pipe dream we called this book. Ned listened graciously as two undergraduates jacked up on coffee and Ritalin pitched some obscure idea for a book. He believed in us. I stand in awe of his ability to have faith in people and to take real personal and professional risks.

And there is Jill Kneerim, my agent. God knows what she was thinking when she invited a dyslexic undergraduate to her office and signed him as an author. In the beginning, she believed more in me than I did, and her support, humor, and dedication to socially relevant writing inspired and raised me above my personal doubt. She made a childhood dream come true, and I am forever grateful and indebted to her. Thank you, Jill!

In the end, people taking risks is what made this book possible. No one took more risk than the folks at Simon & Schuster. Trish Todd believed in this book enough to take a huge risk and buy it (go Brown alums!). I would also like to thank Anne Bartholomew for her editorial support and for believing in this book through thick and thin. Thanks Anne! Most important, I thank my editor, Tricia Medved. We worked together as partners until the end. She taught me more about writing, collaboration, and partnership than any course in the Ivy Tower. And thanks also to Lisa Considine, surrogate editor and number one fan. She jumped on board late in the game to help us light this thing up on the marketing front. Thanks Lisa!

Despite the criticism of the institution of education in this book, it would never have been possible without Brown University, one of the most progressive universities in the country. I thank the transfer admission committee for the year 97. They took a huge risk with my admission (thanks, Dean Annie Cappuccino!). I also thank Peter Hocking, boss, reader, mentor, and friend. I thank Walter Davis, who sponsored a class that started it all, for better or worse. Finally, I thank two of my most dedicated readers: Cynthia Garcia Coll, who pored over Chapter 3, and Elizabeth Taylor, who helped me tell my story. She read every word of this book twice.

Landmark College is one of the best institutions of alternative learning. It gave us an office and room and board during the summers of 98 and 99. Thanks to Frank Sopper, reader, friend, and fellow soldier in the good fight; Linda Katz, president; and the entire staff of the admissions department.

The Harry Truman Foundation supported this and my future work. Thanks to Louis Blair, executive director; Mary Tolar; and all current and future Truman Scholars committed to public service.

And for the people who do not quite fit into any neat category: thanks to Gina Macris of the Providence Journal for great coverage; Helaine Schupack for her support of Eye-to-Eye and lifelong commitment to students with learning disabilities/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (LD/ADHD); John Green for his support of Eye-to-Eye and for running one of the best LD/ADHD schools in the country; the Royce Swearer and Echoing Green Fellowship for strengthening my resolve and reminding me how important this work is; David Eliot for steering me down the road to emotional clarity; the Gateway School parents, Ellen Roseman and Dr. Sherwood; Malcolm Taub for his legal services; all the parents across the country who have written to me and supported my work; Karen Thomas of USA Today for a courageous article; Eric Hunt for his support when the book was just a dream; Ilise who met me when I was an intern at Simon & Schuster (reading Moesha books all day) and gave her time to help me develop the proposal; and kids who wrote to me and shared their stories. They kept me going.