This is the first "answer to a request" that I have felt compelled to do. I'm not sure how many people really care how or why Hub-Pages has affected me, but my answer will at least not go unnoticed by one or two.

If any of you have read my profile, you will by now know that I am a single mom, raising a behaviourally disabled 12 year old. Unfortunately, due to the effects of the disability, I am unable to work outside my home, so am on a very limited and fixed income, which at times can be a real pain in the butt! So I have, for the last 10 years, been exploring work from home possibilities, home based businesses, entrepreneurial pursuits etc., etc, none of which seemed to fit the bill. (I'm sure there are a few people out there who have experienced some of these disappointments, so you know where I'm coming from.)

I didn't roll over and play dead, however. I continued searching, and along the way discovered that I was talented enough to design jewellery, paint, and write. My family had been trying to tell me this for years, and although I listened, I didn't hear them. (We come from a long line of artists, singers, dancers...well you get my drift...)

Around the time I joined Hub-Pages, I had discovered that in order to promote my jewellery online, I needed to market myself and my work. I had been writing a children's adventure series, and thought Hub-Pages would be a good platform to promote myself (apparently people like to know about the person they are buying from,) and keep my hand in with my writing at the same time.

So I signed up, agonized over my first hub, (I finally decided to write about living with my son) and posted it. I kept checking back, several times a day, to see if anybody out there was actually interested in what I had to say, and was very pleased to see that, indeed, there were a few kind people who read it and offered encouragement. This, of course, gave me the impetus to write and publish more.

I started getting comments on my hubs, but most of them appeared to be coming from people who weren't Hub-Page members, so I began checking my stats to see how these people were finding me. I admit it took me a long time to figure that out!

After a few months, it became apparent that these people were searching for answers to their own challenges (living with ADHD and its attendant disorders.) That, coupled with the notion that a published article could possibly help me get some attention for my children's series, I decided to submit an article about living with my son to online magazines.

I took my first hub, polished it, and submitted it to Synergy Magazine. Low and behold, they published it! I was ecstatic! Someone, other than my family and friends thought my writing was good enough to appear in print. After this success, I was even more fired up to write, and posted a couple more hubs.

I also began thinking that maybe I could turn my article into a book, if, of course, I had enough information to fill that many pages, and my next project was born. Over the ensuing months, I wrote down what it was like raising my son, from birth to present, researching his disability, validating my experiences, and increasing my knowledge.

I began to realise that my words, ideas and solutions had value. I saw how much my first little hub helped to bring comfort and in some cases inspiration to other families who were going through similar challenges to my own and that fueled my desire to reach out and let them know they were not alone in their struggles.

The realization of the bigger picture jumped up and bit me. Not only could my words offer solace and support, they could be used to bring my son's disability, and millions more like him, the attention they deserve. I could use my little soap box and tell the world what it is like for these children, teens and adults to live, not only with this disability, but with the stigma of being an awful person whose parents obviously didn't raise them properly.

Not only have I undertaken the responsibility of writing a blog that offers solutions and support for families living with ADHD, and continue to maintain my website for my jewellery, I have succeeded in publishing a self-help book, One Step Forward Two Steps Back - Living with ADHD/ODD: a Mother's Perspective. With the help of friends and family, I am beginning the task of marketing it. (Ok, here is the blatant advertisement...Please check out Robert Kelleher's hub, "ADHD/ODD, a Mother's Perspective". He has graciously consented to interview me as a start to my marketing campaign. :D:D Many thanks Rob for your kind and wonderful support!)

As of now, with my soap box firmly tucked under my arm, I am embarking on an exciting, life changing, and at times, very scary journey to spread the word. I have set my sights on Oprah, and "God willing, and the creeks don't rise", I hope to be sitting on her couch, waving like a kid at her first Christmas concert, to my family and friends who have helped make this possible.

For everyone who has stopped by to comment on my writing, leave words of encouragement, join my fan club, or in essence offered their support in any way, please accept my heartfelt 'thank you'!

The artwork depicted on this hub is copywrited, 2006 Enelle Lamb