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Summary: ritalin is not the answer
Review: I have read a number of books about ADD/ADHD, and this one has made the most sense to me. Stein makes a very good case--citing research and studies I hadn't heard of before-- for the belief that ADHD is not a medical condition but a behavioral one, a learned one, and that there's nothing physiologically wrong with ADD/ADHD children. The hope he gives is that as a learned behavior, AD/HD can be changed. What I really liked about this book is that Stein then goes on to give an extremely useful, very detailed list of things parents can do to change the behavior of their AD/HD children. And his ideas are inovative and geared very much to the AD/HD child. All of his ideas made a lot of sense to me, given my daughter's behavior and history, and we plan to go ahead and implement his program. This is the first book I've read on ADD to really give me hope. If you are looking into books to help with your child, I'd highly recommend you start here!
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Summary: great parenting advice
Review: I like Dr. Stein's philosophy of giving kids responsibility and giving them chances to think about and process their own behaviors. His approach is full of love and wisdom and is helpful even if your children are not on medication.
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Summary: A real solution with specific instructions
Review: I strongly recommend this book to anyone with a child under 6 years that is not responding to discipline. It is a single approach (time outs) with very specific instructions for doing it effectively. Your child will definitely respond if you follow the book. (You can ignore the first few chapters on Ritalin).
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Summary: i think this book would be helpful
Review: i thought this was a good book. i am surprised by the negativity in some of the reivews. it has solid information for helping parents discipline and lead their child. don't read this book unless you are ready to take the plunge and really change some things in your life and your child's. it requires the parents to increase their self-discipline too, by being consistent.
Rating: 
Summary: for the good of the child
Review: I was not lazy, stupid, or anti-authority. My parents are very strict, I still cannot watch R rated movies in my parent's house even though I am in college. In my entire public school career, I have only gotten one referral, it was for throwing things on the bus. Oddly enough, I was absent the day our school bus driver gave it. It was "recanted" by the school. My IQ is very high, 130 without medication, 140 with medication. Nevertheless, I never succeeded in school. I got Cs, Ds, and the occasional F. Not for lack of effort, I spent hours on homework every night. I remember the miserable hours in elementary school when my mom worked with me to learn the spelling words. In addition, I was spanked, it did not help my grades or anything else that was caused by ADD. As for my kids, I will probably spank them for the things that spanking can help. In the eighth grade I got medication for ADD and everything changed. My grades jumped to As and Bs. I became much more social and athletic. Right now I cannot decide if I want to study symbolic logic or physics in college. Obviously I am an extreme success case for ADD medication. I'm writing my story here in the hopes that some parent wont be duped by Dr. Steins prejudices and prevent their child from getting the medication he or she needs. Having ADD is miserable without medication. Now I am working my way through Immanuel Kant's Critiques for personal enjoyment, the Critiques are perhaps some of the most difficult books of Western philosophy ever written. I am a lover of learning, but I could not learn without help. From someone in the inside: take it from me, if your child needs medication do not deprive him or her of it because of a Dr. Stein's superstitions.
Rating:
Summary: Ritalin is not the answer
Review: I was sorely disappointed in this book. I was searching for a book that would help me find alternatives to Ritalin. Instead of helping I found it extremely insulting. David Stein's attitude it that because there is not much know about ADD/ADHD that it must not really exist and because these children have impulse control difficulties the parents are bad parents for not disciplining their children. This man has no idea what takes place in my home. My son is ADHD and this so called author trivializes my son and his accomplishments. David Stein try doing some actual research. The medical communitee has already proven that child who are ADD/ADHD produce more alpha and theta brainwaves, rather than beta waves, therefore the success of Biofeedback as an alternative treatment.
So parents if you are looking for alternatives to Ritalin, then this book is not what you are looking for nor this man's advice. Your child is not broke and does not need to be fixed. Your child is special and needs you help to find ways to function in society that will work for him/her. Give him/her a chance, but steer clear of David Stein.
Rating:
Summary: Ritalin is not the answer
Review: I was sorely disappointed in this book. I was searching for a book that would help me find alternatives to Ritalin. Instead of helping I found it extremely insulting. David Stein's attitude it that because there is not much know about ADD/ADHD that it must not really exist and because these children have impulse control difficulties the parents are bad parents for not disciplining their children. This man has no idea what takes place in my home. My son is ADHD and this so called author trivializes my son and his accomplishments. David Stein try doing some actual research. The medical communitee has already proven that child who are ADD/ADHD produce more alpha and theta brainwaves, rather than beta waves, therefore the success of Biofeedback as an alternative treatment.
So parents if you are looking for alternatives to Ritalin, then this book is not what you are looking for nor this man's advice. Your child is not broke and does not need to be fixed. Your child is special and needs you help to find ways to function in society that will work for him/her. Give him/her a chance, but steer clear of David Stein.
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Summary: The most Fantastic book !!
Review: I wasn't able to put this book down, until I finished it. My husband couldn't beleive how firm I became with my son, no matter how much I wanted to give in so many of the times. My first experience after reading the book was that it took my son I'd say about 45mins-1hr. till he finally sat on time out quietly, and finally realized that I wasn't going to give in even if it took forever. I have been following everything by the book, and my son know knows, that when I say something, I'm really going to be firm, and he's not going to get his way. Dr.Stein writes about Bargaining. Well my son always did that with me. I'd say one thing, and he would go half way on the idea. Example: " you have 10 mins. left, and he would say "can I have 12"? Well, to me that was no big deal, but now my answer is no!! My giving in in his head, only realized that I was giving in, the time didn't really matter. So, when it was something big he used to get upset. This book has taught me more than any child psycologist ever did!!!! I think if one follows all the advice in the book and practices it, and still has problems with the child that they feel is A.D.D./A.D.H.D. that only then, should they look into Natural Alternatives, first looking into imbalances in the body chemistry by going for a hair analysis, to a reputable place to see if the body's chemistry is out of balance and full of toxins. The natural answers are out there. This is a FANTASTIC book for every Parent, and Parent to be!!!!!
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Summary: BEWARE! This book will OUTRAGE good parents.
Review: If you have poor parenting skills, if your child displays only mild behavior problems, if you are seriously questioning your child's ADD/ADHD diagnosis, suspecting he/she has fallen victim to the trend of over-diagnosing this disorder, then this book may provide some direction in helping curb problem behaviors. For the rest of us who have children with serious ADD/ADHD problems, those who have been searching for and trying numerous behavioral approaches for years to no avail, and those who have already forged excellent parenting skills, do not buy this book!In Dr. Stein's book, "Ritalin is Not the Answer", he purports that there is no such thing as ADD/ADHD and he has chosen to rename it "IA/HM" (inattentive/highly misbehaving). He maintains that there is no biological or neurological basis for ADD/ADHD, but rather the symptoms are the by-products of our modern culture -- TV, video games, a stressful lifestyle, traffic jams, and specifically and particularly -- ineffective and neglectful parenting! He believes that parents are guilty of actually creating the syndrome in their child. He makes absurd, sweeping generalizations such as, "children who come from homes where education is valued do not end up diagnosed as ADD/ADHD", and "I doubt very much that children who's parents spend sufficient quiet time each evening talking with them will ever show IA/HM symptoms". If you can control your outrage at these inflammatory and damaging statements and proceed to finish the book, you will find it to read like a simplistic "Parenting 101" manual. Dr. Stein talks about how through his book you will "begin to learn how to parent your child". His assumption is that if you have a child with problems of this nature, you lack even the most basic parenting skills. His belives that ADD/ADHD can be erased through judicious use of both positive and negative reinforcements. He employs immediate time-outs at even the smallest hint of misbehavior, believing this will force the child to remember how to behave on his own rather than making them reliant on caregivers for prompts or reminders. While his behavioral approaches are reasonably sound, employing firm limits, consistent and predictable consequences, and generous use of positive social reinforcement for correct behavior, there is nothing new in this book that has not been presented by other authors in one form or another. I suspect that most parents looking for a book on this subject have already mastered these techniques and more, but still have not been able to make a significant impact in correcting their child's problems. While every child -- ADD/ADHD or otherwise -- needs a solid parenting and discipline plan, this book is likely to only work for children who are either not truly ADD/ADHD, those who's problems are relatively mild, or for parents who do indeed need to develop a basic foundation for parenting their child. In this book, Dr. Stein presents numerous case studies where after just a few weeks (or even a matter of days!) of employing his methods, the child's problems vanished completely and they suddenly became a shining example of the happy, accomplished, and well-adjusted child. His book is filled with so many of these simplistic stories of miraculous, instantaneous recovery that it becomes laughable. While his 'magic bullet' claims may sell books by the score, beware. If something is too good to be true, it no doubt is.
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Summary: Facts, Please, Not More Fiction
Review: In reading the "Brief Description," three errors are blatantly evident. When Mr. Stein states, "Between a quarter to one-third of all school-aged children in the USA today are diagnosed as suffering from something called Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)," he is greatly at odds with documentation from the National Institutes of Health. In "Diagnosis and Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder" it is stated that ADHD is "estimated to affect 3-5% of school-age children." That is far from the figure of 25%-33.3% given by Mr. Stein. In addition, when Mr. Stein states that ADHD is "a diagnostic category that didn't even exist twenty years ago," he is mistaken. Since 1902, ADHD has been known by many names including Minimal Brain Dysfunction, Hyperkinetic Reaction of Childhood, and Attention-Deficit Disorder With or Without Hyperactivity. The current classification, as found in DSM-IV, is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, reflecting the inattentive characteristics as well as the characteristics of hyperactivity and impulsivity. His third, and most grievous, error is the false claim that "approximately two million of these children are being coerced by teachers, administrators and doctors into taking Ritalin or a similar type of mood-altering medication." This mistake is two-fold. The first thing to consider here is that there are not two million patients (let alone children) taking medication for ADHD. As per information from the Dept of Justice, there are approximately 17 million prescriptions written each year for all forms of methylphenidate and adderall combined. Because these prescriptions can only be written for a 1-month supply and must be renewed for each refill, that translates to approximately 1.4 million patients per year, 80% of whom are children. If you look only at the 11 million prescriptions per year written for all forms of methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta, etc), that translates to .917 million patients per year receiving methylphenidate prescriptions. 80%, or .734 million, of those patients are children. These figures include prescriptions for patients with depression and narcolepsy as well as ADHD.
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