From: Ramakant Vatturi <vvs.ramakant@gmail.com>
Date:Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 2:48 PM
To: Kathleen Granchelli <kgranchelli@draper.com>, Keath Low <add.guide@about.com>, Natalie Knochenhauer <info@adhdaware.org>, Gina Pera <Gina@adhdrollercoaster.com>, Tara Parker-Pope <well@nytimes.com>
Cc: 1201 Alarm Press <info@1201alarmpress.com>
Sub: From an ADHD Adult with a degree in Aerospace Engineering
Hello Ms. Granchelli, Ms. Low, Ms. Knochenhauer, Ms. Pera and Ms. Parker-Pope,
I am sure you must be surprised to open and read this mail. My background is that I am from India, was diagnosed with ADHD in Sep 2007 and have a degree in Aerospace Engineering. In a way, my background allows me to write this mail about a matter that might be of importance or concern to each of you. If not then please accept my apology and kindly ignore this mail.
The matter is regarding a publisher called 1201 Alarm Press which publishes a book on Adult ADHD called "Is It You Me or Adult A.D.D". Its Website and its page on Facebook mention how in their opinion "1201 Alarm" is related to Adult ADHD, a serious mental health condition. I have mentioned below, a relevant portion of the write-up in these websites for our discussion -
Had the 1201 alarm—a warning that the computer’s calculations were off and could not be trusted—not gone off, the lunar module likely would have crash-landed in a field of boulders, and astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong would have perished.
1201 Alarm Press views this near-catastrophic event as analogous to the human condition called Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), in which the brain is mis-processing information and causing vexing behaviors, but often so subtly that it appears to be functioning normally.
Ms. Granchelli it will not be necessary to explain you that the write-up above contains false information about 1201 Alarm. Scientists from your lab designed the Apollo Guidance and Control software and you know they did a remarkable job. For the sake of other recipients of this mail, in this Webpage , I have correlated the write-up with its possible source, a science humour site and also mentioned an article by the designers of the software who used to work for Draper Lab.
I thought of bringing this information to your attention Ms. Granchelli as you are the Director for Corporate Communications and Community Relations at Draper Lab. You can take any action you think appropriate, which includes ignoring this mail altogether. But I also think that you know the seriousness of ADHD and how many parents, adults and families are looking for reliable information on this condition. Claims like those made by 1201 Alarm Press which correlate a fictitious event to a medical condition are in my opinion "disingenuous at best and criminal at worst" (a quote I took from Jon Stewart's recent Daily Show). I hope you will act in a manner which reflects your concern to protect your Lab as well as those affected by ADHD.
Ms. Low, you write a blog on ADHD at About.com and Ms. Knochenhauer and you run a non-profit organisation called ADHD Aware which Ms. Low mentioned and promoted in her blog. I see that you are both fans of 1201 Alarm Press in Facebook. I wonder if both of you knew About 1201 Alarm before (pun intended). In the light of the above information would you still remain its fans?
Ms. Pera, you are the author of the book published by 1201 Alarm Press. We have interacted earlier on the mail group called ADHD India. I see that the Facebook page was made on a day when we exchanged a difference of opinion on the mailing list. In this Webpage I have compiled our correspondence in order to raise a certain question - Was it you who created the Facebook page of 1201 Alarm Press? This might be of relevance to Ms. Granchelli.
Ms. Parker-Pope, I have read all your articles on ADHD in The New York Times website. Your articles and the comments which you make for your readers give the feeling that you are genuinely concerned about their welfare. Every author of books on ADHD makes that claim. One such book is "Is It You Me or Adult A.D.D". In this Webpage , I have compiled information about its publisher and people involved with it. Your colleague Mr. Gardiner Harris might find some parts of the page, a collection of comments made by Ms. Pera relevant.
With regards and best wishes,
Ramakant
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Follow your dreams........You wouldn't want it so bad if you couldn't have it."
- Michael Flatley
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~