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Summary: A clinical psychologist's view
Review: This book triggered considerable clinical debate in the agency where I work. Mr. Hartmann does over-state the evolutionary perspective here, and he ignores crucial interacting traits like intelligence, neurological intactness, and familial support. Despite these flaws, this books presents a very different way to look at Attention Deficit Disorder and does a great service to "hunters" in our society and to the families, educators, and professionals who work with them to guide them toward productive applications of their skills and traits. Here is a non-derogatory way to discuss ADD with kids and parents, and that has great value all by itself. Too many times I've struggled with kids with ADD because they were afraid I was labeling them as crazy, and this book gives me a way to present ADD in non-pathological language, in a way that these children can hear and accept what I'm saying without becoming defensive. If not over-simplified and over-stated, this evolutionary explanation has significant value.
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Summary: It fit me so well I laughed out loud.
Review: This is a great book for anyone that doesn't understand why other people don't think about ten things at the same time. When I read the description of a hunter living in the world of a gatherer, I started laughing out loud. It was an exact description of where I fit in the world. After reading this book I was not only comfortable with being an ADD adult, I became proud of it and enjoyed it.
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Summary: Latest research proves this book!
Review: When I first read ADD:ADP a few years ago, I was fascinated by Hartmann's hypothesis that the ADD/ADHD characteristics of distractability, impulsivity, and a need for high levels of stimulation may have been adaptive, useful characteristics for people in hunting/gathering societies, but became less useful in agricultural/industrialized societies. I also found practical application of his idea that "Hunters" should find "Hunter jobs" - areas of work with high levels of stimulation, lots of change, and highly self-directed (ER doc, sales, fighter pilot, detective, entrepreneur, etc.). It made sense and made me feel better and actually helped my life - but there were still those guys out there saying, "Get over it - you have a disordered brain and are deficient." They seemed so very, very scientific.Then earlier this year I read the report published in the National Academy of Sciences journal, by a team of geneticists from Yale and UCI Med School, that actually did the hard research on the DRD4 gene - the one that 8 previous studies have linked to ADHD. The 7R allele variant - the ADHD variant - was, they said, "under positive selection" and "adaptive": science-speak for, "This gene has been doing something useful for humans for at least 40,000 years." They even ended the study paper by suggesting that our schools are broken instead of our children! Now that Hartmann's original 1993 hypothesis has been scientifically proven, this book takes on even more value and meaning. It's important both psychologically and scientifically. Highly recommended.
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Summary: The best pep-talk you'll ever get on ADD.
Review: When is attention deficit disorder a disorder and when is it a virtue? Thom Hartmann points out the importance of context in coping with attention deficit disorder (ADD). A weakness, under a different set of circumstances, may be a strength. If we struggle with ADD, is the problem with us or with the context we're in? Hartmann describes how luminaries such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison displayed traits similar to ADD early in life, and how they used these traits to achieve greatness. Those of us with ADD (and parents of children with ADD) often put our most strenuous efforts into overcoming the limitations of a disorder. Hartmann reminds us to seek out an environment, a lifestyle, a life's work in which the limitations become talents, and the disorder becomes a gift.
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Summary: Least helpful of all the books I've ever read on ADD
Review: While I get the whole "farmer vs. hunter" analogy I feel that it is unnecessary to spend 171 pages elaborating on it. ADD is extremely complex and there are probably not two people who have all of the same characteristics of it. This book frequently made inaccurate generalizations like "ADD people are creative and therefore great at projects". While that may be true in many cases, maybe even most cases, it certainly is NOT true for all of us. My son HATES projects in school and is terrible at them for a number of reasons. Despite the title, I failed to find any "new" ways to work with my ADD child. Anyone who has been dealing with the complex accademic issues that often accompany ADD already knows this basic information. I might recommend the book only for those who are just beginning to learn about ADD. All others should save their money.
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