Day 1 - This diary thing

Mom's yelling that I need to turn out the light, but I know I'm supposed to write this diary thing for Dr. Baker. He says that if I write about what was good and what was bad every day, then he can help me more. He says that I'll be able to figure out how to use strategies to help myself during the day (WGBH Educational Foundation). Dr. Baker is a behavioral psychologist; I've been going to Dr. Baker for a while now, ever since I was told that I have ADHD. ADHD means that I have trouble staying focused on the right things at the right times, that I look like I'm not following directions or listening, and that I forget stuff a lot. Every year, it seems, teachers have been telling my parents the same things: "if Jon would just try harder" or "Jon needs to take time to do his work better" or "Jon constantly distracts the class by interrupting" (Friend & Bursuck, p. 282). Dr. Baker told me that I shouldn't feel bad about all those things the teachers have said because it wasn't like I was choosing to act that way. So he told me to do this diary so that he can help me see what happens each day and what I can do to help myself -- he calls it learning coping skills.