Laurie Dupar Spreads Awareness….And So Can You!

Five years ago Laurie Dupar realized that, even after working hard as an ADHD coach for years, most people knew very little about ADHD. And they certainly had never heard of ADHD coaching. It became her personal goal to reach as many people as she could, in whatever way she could, to spread awareness.

One of the ways that Laurie set out to expand ADHD awareness was the creation of the ADHD Awareness Book Project. The first book was called 365 ways to Succeed with ADHD: A Full Year Of Valuable Tips and Strategies From The World’s Best Coaches and Experts. As Laurie explains, “I knew that there was a lot of great information [out there] that many people I knew had [to offer]. I thought it was a shame that everyone else didn’t know about it.” The book seemed to be a win-win proposition: People who contributed to the ADHD Awareness Book Project had an opportunity to share, while the people who read had the opportunity to get this great information. Contributors included members of many different professions, ranging from coaches to attorneys and academics, from doctors to academics, and even nutritionists. The book was compiled in a brief format that was intentionally ADHD friendly.

Last year’s book, the fourth of the series, was titled Inspirational Ways To Succeed With ADHD: Real-Life Stories and Strategies To Help You Thrive With ADHD. For the first time, Laurie included inspirational stories in addition to tips and strategies. Contributors ranged in age from 16 to 70. The inclusion of stories resonated with readers and this year’s book will include this personal element once again. Laurie found a lot of people who otherwise wouldn’t have trusted themselves to publish their writing, were willing to step out and try it. One of the benefits for newer writers is that the team Laurie has developed does the editing proofreading and formatting, so contributing to the project can be fun and expressive without getting bogged down in the details. As Laurie says, “I want everyone to look their best. The process of publishing has given people confidence. Several of the people that have been involved in the book projects have gone on to write their own books.”

This year Laurie is working on the fifth book in the series, Wacky Ways to Succeed with ADHD. The book will be published in October in conjunction with ADHD Awareness Month. Laurie is still looking for people willing to share their wacky ways in the form of tips, strategies, or stories. As Laurie describes it, “I’m tapping into the fun, creative, outside the box things that we do that we may not even tell someone else. But these unique things we do help us get motivated, help us complete a task, or help us focus. Let’s pull the curtain back and share these quirky ways.” She hopes that readers will discover strategies they may not have thought of or perhaps get reconfirmation that what they already did wasn’t as weird as they thought. After last year’s focus on inspirational ways, the idea this go around is to look at the lighter side of ADHD.

Every story, tip or strategy will include a short bio so that readers know more about the contributors and how to get in touch with them. For those who want to share one of their wacky ways of successfully dealing with their ADHD, there is more information at theadhdawarenessbookproject.com.