Ben Polis is the kid who was always meant to fail. He attended 6 schools, killed a dog when he was 4 years old, brought down electric power lines with a spear gun and was constantly in trouble with the authorities. He is the poster boy for what the media would like us to believe an ADHD adolescent is meant to be!

At 19 years old Ben Polis wrote about his struggle with ADHD and how, through persistence, he was able to finish his schooling and eventually made it into an elite business college. His book ' Only A Mother Could Love Him - My Life and Triumph Over ADHD' explains and explores ADD/ADHD from a first hand perspective. It quickly became a best seller in his home country of Australia .

It was a TV program which finally pushed Ben Polis to write his memoir. While watching an expert on the show explaining how "kids with ADD/ADHD felt", Ben became angry with what the expert was saying. He thought to himself: "Why doesn't someone just ask them?" So he searched the internet for a book written by a young person explaining the disorder. To his surprise there was no such book! The next day Ben Polis set out on writing the world's first book by an adolescent explaining this complex disorder from the inside out.

His book is now published in over 12 countries. Articles about Ben Polis have appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, the Detroit Free Press, and others.

Ben Polis has lectured internationally on ADD/ADHD and other learning problems. He has extensive experience addressing teachers, social workers, counselors, parents, and students and the high school and college level.

Young and Impulsive - For a Student Audience

Many students know they can do better, but don't for an array of reasons. Everyone has the potential to do great things, but sometimes internal barriers can seem impossible to overcome. Ben shares his own struggles with schooling and success. He accidentally killed a dog when he was 4. He brought down power lines. He served over 300 hours of detention. He was continually in trouble with the law, gave hell to his teachers, and experimented with drugs. Finally, using determination and self-taught behavioral and learning techniques, he finished school with top grades and went on to college. Ben has the ultimate credentials - he has been there. And he turned it around. In this humorous and inspirational presentation, Ben asks every audience member to fulfill their potential, and uses audience participation to share skills that all students can develop to become better students.

ADD/ADHD For Professionals & Parents

Ben Polis has a unique perspective that parents, educators and college students who are training to become educators need to hear. Educators find it very refreshing to be able to ask questions of an adult who can articulate the feelings of these students who do not have to ability to explain their emotions.

Teachers spend so much of their time trying to deal with students with learning and behavioral problems but only spend a few hours of their teaching degrees studying these students who are struggling to fit into the mainstream education system. It is his goal to open the minds up of teachers and parents to the difficulties these children with learning disabilities face, ultimately creating a better educational environment for all parties involved.

Ben shares the first hand experience of an ADD/ADHD student. He explains the feelings and attitudes that students hold towards educators, and provides useful tools and strategies to break down these barriers in the class room. Topics cover

• Why standard behavioural modification techniques don't work.
• Challenges that ADD/ADHD youth face in life.
• What does it feel like to have ADD/ADHD?
• ADD/ADHD youth and illegal drugs.
• How to teach an ADD/ADHD Child.
• Practical behavioural strategies.
• Conflict Resolution.
• Medication.

Ben Polis has lectured internationally on ADD/ADHD and other learning problems.

REVIEWS:

"Ben Polis is a hero. His account of growing up with ADD is spellbinding, as well as immensely useful in its practical advice."

Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., author of Driven to Distraction and Delivered from Distraction

"Mr. Polis' Book will help so many parents who keep asking, 'Why do you do that?' Parents have told me that his explanations have given them new insight into their children. Despite hundreds of books on the disorder, adolescents have written few, if any. until now."

The New York Times

"I've read so many books and articles written by professionals, but this book makes it all come together. Among the most revolutionary points for parents, she says: Polis' description of why kids with ADHD have after school tantrums, with often explosive and destructive results."

USA Today

"Only a Mother Could Love Him is a wonderful and very poignant view of ADD from the inside looking out, with wisdom that could come only from someone who has lived with ADD. Polis's combination of honesty and perceptiveness makes this an inspirational book for anyone who has ADD, but especially for anyone who must deal with an ADD child."

Anthony E. Wolf, Ph.D.

"In his funny, honest, and moving account of growing up with ADD, Ben Polis speaks with the wise voice of a young man who has struggled hard with invisible demons-but also with the wisecracking voice of a smart and perceptive child. . . . He makes you laugh, and he makes you admire his courage, his talent, his tenacity, and his sense of humor."

Perri Klass, M.D., medical director and president, Reach Out and Read National Center, co-author of Quirky Kids