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Summary: Outstanding common-sense approach to parenting an ADD child.
Review: At last a guide for parents who want an alternative to drug therapy. Drs. Sears and Thompson focus on practical strategies which improve cognitive abilities while improving attention and reducing hyperactivity. Tips include motiviating your child in the classroom, helping your child with frustration, ways to improve communication, selecting the right professional help, using neurofeedback through computers. I have first-hand experience as my son was treated by Dr. Thompson with very positive results. Brian Lowry
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Summary: Neurotherapy works
Review: I didn't find this book until my son was a junior in high school. He was not a behavior problem and his IQ was above average but he just had trouble with listening and focusing. He was nearly failing all his classes at the time and was very upset because he truly wanted to do well. I reviewed the neurotherapy section of the book and decided to give it a try. He did the sessions over the summer and it made all the difference in school. He had good grades his senior year and now has a full academic scholarship in college. He is happy and proud of himself. This book helped me understand him better and gave me options. This book helped me help him. I highly recommend it.
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Summary: A Wonderful Resource
Review: I have found the book to be written in an easy to follow format. The authors warn the reader not to be hasty in making decisions about a diagnosis. It explains all the different avenues. I think it is a very good REFERENCE.
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Summary: The A.D.D. Book: New Understandings, New Approaches...
Review: I have found the book to be written in an easy to follow format. The authors warn the reader not to be hasty in making decisions about a diagnosis. It explains all the different avenues. I think it is a very good REFERENCE.
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Summary: Not as helpful as I had hoped!
Review: I have read a lot of books by Dr. Sears, and was excited to hear of this one, since we may be facing this diagnosis with our 6 year old. In many ways, the book was very helpful, and I particularly like the alternatives to drug therapy advice. However, I would like to have seen some more documentation for some of the strategies. Neurofeedback sounds promising, but it might also be hocus-pocus! I am also not sure of the reliance on "behavior mod" and reward systems -- anybody with a kid like this has "been there, done that." All in all, this is a good book for helping you focus on what is RIGHT with your ADD kid and for showing you how to function better as a family, but it isn't a definitive work complete with references.
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Summary: Gives hope and Direction for Parents and Therapists
Review: I have used this book extensively in my practice. It is a WONDERFUL book for parents. One of the truly special points is that it enumerates some of the positive outcomes which can occur for kids with ADHD if we can get them through adolescence, in contrast to many books which seem to assume that any child with ADHD will end up in the criminal justice system. The exercises are useful for both those with children who have not been diagnosed and for those whose children have the disorder. Additionally the information on Neurofeedback is very useful for explaining this modality to parents and children as well. Overall this book gives hope and much needed practical information. It is obvious that the authors have worked with these children extensively. Additionally, it is written in an easy style and can be understood by the majority of parents and even the children themselves!
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Summary: Excellent book for Parents of ADDers
Review: The A.D.D. Book offers hope and solid practical advice, while at the same time, not describing A.D.D. Children as diseased. This book offers a view of ADD kids that gives them hope to be happy, successful adults. The interventions go way beyond the simplistic drug approach of some "experts" on ADD, including neurofeedback, a non-drug approach which can work better than drugs. This is one of several books with a more positive slant on ADD/ADHD, with others by Thom Hartmann and Lynn Weiss also viewing ADD without the pathologization you see in writings of folks like Russell Barkley.
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Summary: I was not "attached" to this book
Review: The Baby Book by Dr. Sears is still one of my favorite parenting books. So I was well-disposed toward this book. But it contains several blunders. 1. Dr. Sears claims he had ADD symptoms as a child, but he is vague about how they have affected his life, and he does not explain how he became a "hyperproductive adult, authoring 23 books and parenting 8 children." As a parent, I can see how this would be reassuring. As an adult with ADD, I am skeptical. 2. Likewise the parenting advice does not take into account that one or both of the parents may have ADD. He is very judgemental about poor parenting decisions, and does not really explain how to change a parenting style. 3. I would have liked far more information about distinguishing ADD in preschool children -- clearly a hot issue this year (Mar 2000). After all, Sears did write the Baby Book. But there is very little concrete information. 4. Almost all of the examples are about children with ADHD, although Sears pays lip service to ADD without hyperactivity. 5. Neurofeedback Techniques? Clearly Lynda Thompson is a proponent. She does not objectively discuss the pros/cons of this treatment. 6. Most of the other information is found in other ADD books. Frankly I'd recommend _You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy! _ by Kate Kelly and Peggy Ramun as well as _Scattered : How A.D.D. Originates and What You Can Do About I_ by Gabor Mate for parenting advice, and _Driven to Distraction_ by Hallowell for diagnostic information. That said, there are interesting tidbits. Handwriting of people with ADD (almost always in print); Tendancy for ADD'rs to skim instead of read. But Sears could have done a far better job. I am quite disappointed.
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Summary: Parents, Teachers, please read this book.
Review: This book is an excellent source of practical and understandable information for families dealing with children with ADD. The writing style is such that parents are able to understand the information about some of the more complex issues discussed like neurofeedback. There are many other techniques for parents and families to use daily to help these children while at the same time maintianing a positive approach and building the child's self esteem. This is a book that any parent would want to include in their reading about the subject of ADD. In fact it would be a good book to choose as the first book to read on this subject. It will help to clarify much of the other information parents are offered.
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Summary: Finally a book that tells the truth and GIVES HOPE !
Review: This Book is insightful and well-written. It tells the true facts of ADD. I've read MANY books on ADD and I can tell you this is the best book I have ever read. It gave me hope and a TRUE understanding of ADD. It gave solutions to problems and taught the parent to face the situation head on. It gives such an insight on these children, how they feel and how to help them. I will keep this book as a manual and whenever I come across an issue I will use it. This book has been my constant companion since I got it 5 weeks ago and I know it will stay that way for a long time to come.
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