By Frank Jacobelli and L.A. Watson; 216 pages. Subtitle: Natural Alternatives and Practical Exercises to Help Your Child Focus
The second half of that subtitle -- "Practical Exercises to Help Your Child Focus" -- offers the best description of what this book has to offer. It is in no way the anti-drug manifesto the title suggests. The second half of the book's the best part, too, because that's where those exercises reside. The rest is a mishmash of caveats, contradictory theories, and case studies you can just as well skip.
- Once you get to the exercises, they're well thought out and useful
- Adapted version of multiple-intelligence questionnaire can help you understand your child
- The questionnaire might help you understand yourself better, too
- The authors establish a friendly, kid-sympathetic tone
- Exercises use stick figures, so kids who aren't artists won't be intimidated
- That title is a whopper, a huge and unnecessary misrepresentation of the content
- The first part of the book has little new to offer
- The workbook section would have benefited from a larger size and spiral binding
- Odd to have over half a book labeled as "appendix"
- Even "ADHD" is a little misleading, since the exercises will be useful for kids without that, too
- Chapter 1: When Medication Isn't the Answer or Isn't Enough
- Chapter 2: The "Challenging" Child
- Chapter 3: Your Child's Amazing Brain: Boiled-Down Neurology for Nonscientists ... by Nonscientists
- Chapter 4: Gabriel, Patrick, Denny, Tad, and Jeremy: A Few of Our Kids
- Chapter 5: About Learning Styles
- Chapter 6: Survival Skills 101 for Parents, Teachers, and Counselors
- Chapter 7: Reaching the Challenging Child -- and Avoiding the Traps
- Chapter 8: Getting Started
- Appendix I: Survey of the Seven Strengths
- Appendix II: "Brain-Exercising" Activities
Sometimes, a book leaves me not so much thinking about the useful content inside than wondering how on earth it got buried under so much that is not useful. The second half of ADD/ADHD Drug Free is a nice workbook of exercises to help kids deal with their feelings and increase their self-control, but it's saddled with a first half that's a mishmash of ADHD theory and case studies, and a title that seems to have more to do with grabbing attention and selling books than with describing the book itself. How does the meat of a book get labeled "Appendix"? How can appendices make up more than half a book? How can a book with "Drug Free" in big letters on the cover take no firm stance one way or the other, and if anything tend toward recommending medication? It's distracting, to be sure.
That said, if you start on page 89, skipping over all of the authors' disavowing of expertise in science or ADHD theory, you'll find some good work to do with your child, tailored to specific strengths and learning styles as determined through a quiz and coloring exercise. I'd have loved to have seen this section by itself, in a larger size, with a spiral binding to facilitate multiple copies of pages that kids will want to fill out more than once. The authors frequently describe their book as a "workbook," but it's only this back section that qualifies as such.
If you would normally avoid books that appear to espouse a drug-free approach to ADHD, be aware that this book may be more of interest than you'd think. If you'd normally seek those books out, you'll still find material of value here, but you'll also find case studies where the authors gently shake their heads at the convictions of parents like you. Don't worry, there are some good exercises in the back for defusing anger.
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