The Bottom Line
By Martin L. Kutscher M.D.; 189 pages. From the cover: "Realistic and optimistic, this book is the ideal source of information and advice for parents and professionals who are trying to keep up with children who are living without brakes."
Everybody thinks they know what ADHD is all about -- hyperactivity and inattentiveness, right? -- but Kutscher stresses that the disorder is even more about an inability to organize and an impairment of the brain's executive function. Applying that knowledge to your child can help you focus on ways to help and support, not stress and depress.
Pros
- Positive and compassionate approach to handling ADHD behavior problems
- Text is quick and easy to read
- Distills techniques from a number of different books
- Includes chapter to help kids understand themselves
- Summary contains all major points in a more compact format
Cons
- If you've read those books it distills, there's not much new here
- Quizzes at the end of chapters are really just heavy-handed summaries
- It's a good introduction to the topic, but also a somewhat oversimplified one
Description
- Introduction: Success Is When the Family Stays Together
- Chapter 1: The ADHD Iceberg: More Problems Than We Expected
- Chapter 2: Rule #1: Keep It Positive
- Chapter 3: Rule #2: Keep It Calm
- Chapter 4: Rule #3: Keep It Organized and Other School Treatments
- Chapter 5: Rule #4: Keep It Going
- Chapter 6: Medication Treatments for ADHD
- Chapter 7: For Kids to Read
- Chapter 8: Summary
- Appendixes: Behavioral Checklist, Childhood Index of Executive Functions, Further Reading
Guide Review - Book Review: ADHD - Living Without Brakes
Living with a child who can't control movements or thoughts or emotions can leave parents feeling pretty out of control, too. We may feel that negotiating with kids weakens us, and that providing a safety net weakens them, but without those things days can devolve into cycles of fighting and failure.
Maybe the most important thing about ADHD: Living Without Brakes is that it gives parents permission to give kids with ADHD -- and indeed, any disability that involves impairment of the brain's ability to organize and think ahead -- the sort of support and stress relief they need to function successfully. These children require a departure from the standard techniques of firm discipline and learning from mistakes, and if you've been fighting that bad fight without success, it's a relief to know there are other approaches.
Many of the ones included in this zippy little book come from other longer and less zippy works, making it a great introduction to a lot of texts you will want to examine in more detail. This is sort of the attention-deficit version of an ADHD help book, highlighted by cartoon illustrations and "quizzes" that summarize the chapter in a way that makes it very clear which answers are right and wrong.
And if the first 130 pages are still too much for you to wade through? The last thirty-five summarize the whole book in an even briefer package. That little bit may be perfect for passing on to teachers or family members who are really never going to read those other books you recommend. Particularly if they have a negative view of your child's behavior or your way of handling it, the positive attitude and simplified explanations here may turn their attention to a more productive path.
