Alternative ADHD Treatment

Some stories are just so easy to put together.  All the elements fall into place, the interviews are scheduled early and the writing comes to you like that.  That's how it was when I got to turn my first story since college for my TV Station.  (In case you missed it, my bosses are letting me out of the newsroom to field produce a few stories.  It's been a fun break from my regular job as the 5 O'clock News Producer.)  However, not all stories are easy to turn.  And I certainly struggled with my second story.

It all started when I heard a story on NPR about a tech start up in the Bay Area.  They are working to get a game approved by the FDA with the hope of using it to treat kids with ADHD.  Say what??  I had to talk to them.  And I had to talk to a doctor to find out if there was really a need for something like this.  And so, my story was born.



Getting the idea was easy.  Getting the people I needed to speak with to call me back and agree to speak to me before 5pm on Friday was a completely different story.  I struggled big time with this.  But I eventually got one of the game's creators and a doctor to speak to me.

This piece was much more complicated than my first.  There was so much information, and such a lack of visuals-- but I think we pulled it off:



This story originally aired on August 18th in our 5 and 10 O'clock Newscasts.  I got to work with one of our more experience photographers, Jeff.  It was fun getting to know another of my coworkers, and I got to learn a little more about the reporting process.  You can also find it our our website, by clicking here.

The day the story aired, I had this gnawing feeling in my gut that something was wrong with my story.  There had been a lot of drafts, a lot of graphics and a lot of information-- and I was afraid I had gotten something wrong....

It wasn't until a few days later that I got an email from the doctor I interviewed.  I had spelled his last name wrong in my script.   I was in such a hurry to get everything done, I didn't take the extra time to triple check everything.  I wrote him and apology, and he was very gracious.  But I learned a very valuable lesson about my gut, and how right it could be.