From VOA Learning English, this is
the Health Report.
Five million American children and teenagers1
have Attention Deficit2 / Hyperactivity Disorder, commonly known as3 ADHD.
ADHD makes it difficult - if not impossible -
to stay with a duty4 until it
is complete.
Katherine Ellison knows the problem well.
She is another who was always yelling at her son5 to
be quiet, to sit still6,
to stay on task7.
She did not know that he had ADHD.
She also did not know that she had it too. Ms. Ellison wrote a book about the issue8 with her son,
Buzz. VOA’s Faiza Elmasry talked to her about,
"Buzz: A Year of Paying Attention9."
Buzz Ellison is a child10 who had many problems in
elementary school. He could not sit still. He was constantly jumping up and down11 in class.
He did not pay attention to his teachers and could not focus12 on
the task at hand13.
As a result, his mother says,
he was always in trouble14.
He also got bullied15.
And his teachers gave him a lot of negative
feedback16.
"His attitude towards17 school really changed.
I think he got bullied both by his
peers18 and his teachers who insisted that
he could do things that he really wasn’t capable of doing19 at that age and remembering things and they gave
him a lot of negative
feedback."
His mother, Katherine Ellison, is
a Pulitzer Prize-winning20 reporter.
She did not understand why he behaved21 the way22 he did. And
she admits that her behavior23
was only making the situation worse24.
"I
was making things worse often by being anxious25 or being impatient or
not understanding him. And I realized26 at some point that
I really hadn’t hugged27 him
in a while28.
And I wasn’t smiling29 when he came into the room because we were
just having such a hard time30."
When Buzz was nine doctors identified his problem. They said he
had ADHD.
And, like many parents of children with ADHD, Ellison learned31 she
had the disorder as well32.
She was in her late 40s.
She says that like many people with ADD or ADHD life can be
“a roller coaster ride”33 –
a life with many ups and downs, high points and low points34. When life has many ups and downs we call it a roller coaster, just like
the amusement park35 ride.
“I, like many people with ADD,
had a roller coaster of
a life. For instance36,
I got sued37 for
11-million dollars for a reporting error that
I made in one of my first years as a newspaper reporter.
And two years later, I won38 a
Pulitzer Prize. So these are the kinds of things39 that often happen when you got this disorder; you’re
capable of really amazing40 things and very humiliating41, terrible things."
So, the mother and son teamed to42 write a book about
their experience. Ms. Ellison says she
was happy that ADHD became43 a
project for them instead of44
a fight between them.
"My son and I started out by45 writing a contract together, which was terrific46 because it changed the perspective from being a shameful47 problem that
we had to a joint business48 project.
And I also knew49 that
he would cooperate with me.
He wanted a percentage of the profits50 from the book. I was willing to do that51 because all of a sudden52 we’re partners rather than antagonists."
They explored the world of ADHD for
a year. They researched treatments anddoctors.
Vocabulary
1. children and teenagers = crianças e
adolescents
2. Attention Deficit = deficit de atenção
3.
commonly known as = comumente
conhecido como
4.
duty =
tarefa
5.
yelling at her son =
gritando com o filho dela
6.
sit still
= sentar-se calmo
7.
task = tarefa
8.
issue = questão
9.
Paying Attention
= prestar atenção
10.
child =
criança
11.
jumping up and down =
pulando para cima e para baixo
12.
focus = focar , concentrar
13.
at hand = disponivel, à mão
14.
in trouble
= encrencado
15.
got bullied = sofria bullying
16.
negative
feedback = resultado, retorno negativo
17.
towards =
com relação a
18.
peers =
colegas
19.
wasn’t capable of doing
= não era capaz de fazer
20.
Prize-winning =
vencedor de premio
21.
behaved =
comportou-se
22.
way =
forma
23.
behavior =
comportamento
24.
worse = pior
25.
being anxious
= sendo ansioso
26.
realized =
percebi
27.
hadn’t hugged
= não tinha abraçado
28.
in a while = por algum tempo
29.
smiling =
sorrindo
30.
such a hard time = uma
época tão dificil
31.
learned =
ficou sabendo
32.
as well =
também
33.
“a roller coaster ride” = um
passeio de montanha russa
34.
low points
= pontos baixos
35. amusement park ride = parque de diversões
36.
For instance
= por exemplo
37.
got sued
= fui processado
38.
won = ganhei
39. kinds of things = tipos de coisas
40. amazing = impressionante
41. humiliating = humilhante
42. teamed to = uniram-se para
43. became = tornou-se
44. instead of = ao invés de
45. started out by = começaram por
46. terrific = incrivel
47. shameful = vergonhoso
48. joint business = negócio em parceria
49. knew = sabia
50. profits = lucros
51. willing to do that = disposto a
fazer aquilo
52. all of a sudden = de repente
