David's Having Distractions (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781974611072)

Teresa Oliver was born in Gary, Indiana, but she considers herself to be an Atlanta native. She has been in the city for almost 30 years. Although Teresa grew up with two very supportive parents, she was raised in a single parent home by her mother Judy Lovette. As a young child, Teresa often expressed her creative side through singing and dancing. She was involved in several girl singing groups, and was in chorus from second grade through her senior year in high school. Also as a young child, the author attended Marlene Rounds Dance School in inner city Atlanta. She studied ballet, tap, jazz, and Afro-centric dance.As Teresa was getting older, her mother moved her and her older sister to the suburbs in hopes to provide a better life and for them to have a better education. Shortly after high school, Teresa gave birth to her son Jayden Oliver. During this time, Teresa discovered her true passion- education. Teresa began her freshman year at Clayton State University in 2005, as an education major. After considering the teacher education program, she decided that education was too rigid and she wanted something with more flexibility. Therefore, she changed her major to psychology. Shortly after graduating, she decided to re-enroll at Clayton State University for a Master's degree in Applied Developmental Psychology. Before entering the program, Teresa spent one year as a teacher at a school for students who had unique learning profiles or who were formally labeled "learning disabled." Shortly after working there, she noticed that many, if not all, of the children, were not learning disabled. They simply had a unique way of viewing the world and learning. She knew then it was herjob and duty to understand their minds. She also began to notice her son struggling in school. Teresa wanted to use the knowledge she gained in the Master's program and combine it with her creative writing skills to tell a story.She wanted students who were struggling, whether academically, physically, socially, or emotionally, to have someone or something that they could relate to.Teresa believes,"As a society, we make big deals of individuals who are the best or those who are number one, and we have empathy for those disabilities that are easily seen or easily detected. However, it is the invisible `disabilities' that are swept under the rug and overlooked." So her first novel is for those individuals!