Wendy Coyle with her book The Naughty Kid, inspired by her son with ADHD.
WENDY Coyle didn’t like the way other people treated her son Jack, who had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Mrs Coyle, of Mepunga West, acknowledged Jack’s behaviour sometimes made him difficult to get along with, but she wanted people to know why.
So she wrote The Naughty Kid to help people understand.
The picture book will be launched today in Warrnambool and is based on the experiences of Jack and his family with the illness.
Mrs Coyle said Jack was often isolated by his peers when he was younger because of his anti-social behaviour and would “muck up” in class.
“He could never really sit down. He was really impulsive,” she said.
“He tried to do naughty things to get attention to get friends.”
She said his diagnosis of ADHD at the age of seven had helped his teachers deal with him and improve his learning
Jack received medication until he was 11 years old and became much calmer and progressed at school.
“Before he had no friends. Now he has friends,” she said.
The book is aimed at readers from the age of seven to 11 but Mrs Coyle said she hoped it would also help the families of those with ADHA and wider school communities.
She said she had already received positive feedback from schools to early releases of the book.
Mrs Coyle said she had not liked giving her son his ADHD medication because of the impact it had on his personality but it had allowed him to progress at school.
“I hate to think where he would be if he did not have medication.”
The Naughty Kid will be launched at Warrnambool Books in Fairy Street at 4pm today.