Rating: Summary: Good but can be hard to get through Review: My daughter has ADD, and I probably do as well, so I've read quite a bit on this subject. While the book is very informative and does give personal accounts of what it's like to live w/ AD/HD, I found it hard to get through. It seems to ramble a bit at times and the organization and even the choice of print size and font made it hard for me to stay interested after a while. Basically, it reads as if was written by someone with AD/HD-- (which of course, it was), but that's what makes it hard to get through at times! I found Driven to Distraction by Hallowell and even Women With Attention Deficit Disorder by Solden much easier to read and just as (if not more) informative, especially for an ADDer with a tendency to lose interest if the book doesn't captivate me early on. Also, if you are very well informed on the biology/neurology etc. of ADD the first three chapters don't offer anything new. Bottom line, worth reading, but there are better choices out there.
Rating: Summary: An powerful and practical tool for anyone with ADD! Review: You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Crazy or Stupid! is a great tool for anyone who wants to rise above the troubles related to life with ADD/ADHD. The title alone helps folks--especially those of us who suffered from the shame of a moral diagnosis. The authors are right--the official ADD/ADHD diagnosis helped me focus on my future, not my failures. But I found that the second half of the book is even better. It is a power and practical guide for living daily life with ADD/ADHD. Compensating skills are found in abundance! I love the idea of a "take-away-list" by the door. I don't have to drive off wondering if I left the oven on! God bless Kate and Peggy for a job well done!
Rating: Summary: Wow what a new leash on life!!! Review: Oh my God what a book. I was shocked to learn that I have many abilites and not disabilites. I now have a positive outlook on ADD. This book has changed my life and I came back to Amazon to order 4 more for some of my freinds that struggle with ADD. I now can have my sons teachers read this and they will finnally understand my sons. I am so moved by this book and if you have ADD or know someone who does you should order this book today. I have read other ADD books but this is HANDS DOWN THE BEST EVER!!!
Rating: Summary: A TERRIFIC resource! Review: "You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy! " belongs on the bedside table of every ADDer and of every parent, spouse or teacher who is trying to understand the ADDers in their lives. It was cutting edge when it was written and its information is still right on target. As an ADDer, ADD Coach, and founder of a company that trains ADD Coaches, I not only recommend "Lazy/Crazy" to anyone who asks for an ADD book recommendation, it has been required reading for OFI's 18-month ADD Coach Training program since the first beta classes in 1994. (Kate joined us several years later and is now President of OFI; Peggy joined us in 1999 and now heads up OFI's Sliding-Scale Coaching Clinic -- all the more reason I can recommend this book WITHOUT reservation!) An extremely readable book, obviously written from an "insiders" viewpoint, this book made me feel understood and validated -- like great advice from good friends. When I stumbled across it on the "New Books" table at a large Manhattan Bookstore (before I had met either of these authors) I started reading immediately. It was almost an hour before I finally forced myself to close the book, pay for it, and take it home. My copy is well-worn and multi-colored from all the highlighting I do to focus my attention. DO take the time, as the authors advise, to carefully read the first chapter. Although it is a little "heavier" reading than the rest of the book, the ADD information it provides will prove well worth the concentration it may take to go through it. (Helpful Hint: If your dominant modality is visual you will either LOVE the graphics or hate them. For my clients in the latter group, a sticky-note covering the graphics allowed them to focus more easily on the text.) Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, MCC -- founder & CEO of The Optimal Functioning Instituteā¢
Rating: Summary: The best book on ADD self-help I've read! Review: I have read more than ten books about adult ADD since I was diagnosed a few months ago. While this one does not provide a lot of technical information about ADD, it is by far the best self-help book I've read. Hundreds of pages are devoted to teaching the ADD adult better ways to manage paperwork, housework, time management, social events, relationships etc.etc. It highlights the many positives of ADD, and sheds light on how to control the negatives. If you feel that you are fairly well-educated about what ADD is, but want to know what you can do about it to improve your life, this is definitely the book for you.
Rating: Summary: Reading this aggrevated my ADD symptoms... Review: I have been trying to get through this book for a long time. I am comforted by reading and identifying with parts of it but I also loose my interest and start to drift away during areas that drag on or have old information. Since drifting away is a very typical symptom of ADD I would have preferred the authors spend extra time on condensing areas that rambled or contained information already well known by us all. I also want to say that the illustrations in the book were offensive to me. I think they were meant to be comical. However, not only was I not amused I found them demeaning and patronizing. Whenever I came across a drawing of the befuddled Mitchelin man with ADD I was so offended that I started to scratch them out with felt tip markers so I could maintain my focus and read.
Rating: Summary: Could've stood MORE detail! Review: Looking at this book online it sounded very interesting, but I bought the audio tape and was VERY disappointed. OK, we ADDer's may get impatient with too much detail, but this work didn't have ENOUGH! The authors give basic outline advice, but they don't go much further. In addition, the advice they do give is sometimes rather obvious. I am just beginning learning about adult ADHD, and this book didn't near satisfy my craving for insight and information. It seems once I reach a subject I'm interested in, the authors dump it and move on to another! A fair starting point I guess, but if you want to go deeper, this book doesn't do it.
Rating: Summary: self-help for dummies Review: The authors write: "Since one of the hallmarks of ADD is impulsivity, you may buy first and think later. Simply being aware of your tendencies may help. Train yourself to stop and think before buying anything..." [DUH!] "If impulse buying is a problem, you may have to stay out of stores, cut up your credit cards or plan your shopping trips with an empty wallet!" If advice like this is helpful to you, then this book is full of it. I found the information here to be too dumbed-down to be useful. The "simulated subtypes" offered as examples of adult ADDers were not as helpful as the real people testimonials you will find in "Driven to Distraction". If you dont find 12-step programs with their underlying quasi-religious overtones helpful, then this book is not for you.
Rating: Summary: Loses steam Review: The part of this book that I didn't skip or just ignore were really helpful. It starts out great, but it really slows down. Would it kill the authors to maybe get some pictures in there? The part where it really starts to grind to a halt is right around when "The Simpsons" marathon started. Bad timing for this book, that much I can tell you for sure, but I guess the authors couldn't have known that it would be coming on that night or that I'd be trying to read their book. I pretty much put the book down right there. By the time the episode where Homer and Barney go to the Duff Brewery started, I was not only completely over this book, but I was also over the fact that the marathon started with the notoriously weak episode where the Simpsons go to Brazil. That was a bad episode and I give it two stars.
Rating: Summary: Vindication Review: This book will confirm what you've known for years. You will benefit more if your loved ones read it.
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