ADD expert to give talk at school awareness day'

The fourth annual Education Awareness Day will take place this Saturday, March 11, from 8 a.m. to noon.

The featured speaker, Dr. Ned Hallowell, is a nationally-recognized expert on the topic of attention deficit disorder and has written several books on the topic. He is a former member of the staff at Harvard Medical School and the founder of the Hallowell Center for Cognitive and Emotional Health in Sudbury, Mass.

School Superintendent Kathy Sipala said that Hallowell's expertise is not just about children.

"ADD doesn't go away when someone turns 21," Sipala said, noting that Hallowell will address the problems associated with adult ADD in his second workshop, called "Delivered from Distraction," which is based on his best-selling book.

Hallowell has also made appearances on television shows like "60 minutes," "Oprah," "20/20," and "Good Morning America."

Sipala said she hoped the audience would include grandparents of children with ADD, partners of adults with ADD, and educators from around the area, as well as anyone with an interest in the topic. Hallowell's talk is co-sponsored by the Jamestown School Department, the PTO, and the Jamestown Education Foundation.

"It's unbelievable" that Hallowell, who spoke to an audience at Brown University just last weekend, is coming to Jamestown "for a talk that's free," Sipala said.

She hoped that many people would take advantage of the chance to see him, she added.

The event will begin at 8 a.m. with registration and refreshments. Superintendent Kathy Sipala will give her opening remarks at 8:45 a.m., and she will be followed at 9 a.m. by Hallowell's first address, which is based on his children's book "AWalk in the Rain with a Brain" that deals with how each brain finds its own way to learn.

The psychiatrist will give an additional talk at 10:30 a.m. called "Delivered From Distraction," which will focus on what it is like to have ADD, including how it impacts learning, produces anxiety, and in adults, affects relationships.

A question and answer period will be held from 11:30 to noon.