Superparenting for ADD: An Innovative Approach to Raising Your Distracted Child
Review
Advance praise for Superparenting for ADD The shelves of most bookstores are lined with volumes that define, explain, and demystify attention deficits. But Superparenting for ADD is different. An upbeat, positive, and constructive guide, it offers parents strategies that will assist them in the day-to-day challenges of raising their ADD child and help him to reach his fullest potential. Richard Lavoie, author of It s So Much Work to Be Your Friend I once believed that understanding genes and their effects on the brain would be the only means to effectively help children with ADHD. But despite the strong role genes play, I wholeheartedly agree with Hallowell and Jensen that love trumps all else. This book is a must-r…
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Both fathers of ADD children themselves, Dr. Hallowell & Dr. Jenson, do an excellent service here reminding us parents to stay focused on the most important factor of all in raising any child (with or without ADHD) … Unconditional Love.
This book is upbeat, positive and easy reading. It helps you deal with all the parenting challenges you face at school and at home while raising a child with ADD. But more importantly it helps you see the gifts of these children in a much brighter light.
The practical strength-based techniques they give you in this book show you how to put the talents, charms, and positive essence of your child ahead of any shortcomings associated with ADD.
This book is clearly outlined and organized and gives you a specific game plan that includes:
* UNCONDITIONAL LOVE Tune out the diagnosticians and labelers and simply notice and nourish the spirit of your child for who he is. Providing this unshakable base of support will set the tone for all interactions to come.
* VIEWING THE MIRROR TRAITS There are positive sides of the negative symptoms associated with ADD: stubbornness = persistence; impulsiveness = creativity; intrusiveness = eagerness. By recognizing the mirror traits, you avoid the ravages of shame and fear.
* THE CYCLE OF EXCELLENCE Use this critical 5-step process to help a child develop self- and social awareness. Nurture an environment in which a child can safely take risks, reserve time to let a child dabble as a way to learn, encourage playful practice, support mastery of a skill (whatever the skill may be), and then recognize a child’s accomplishments.
* IDENTIFYING AND TAPPING THE SOURCE Pinpoint your child’s inner, conative strengths, which drive what he naturally and spontaneously does, as opposed to what he is told to do or feels he must do. Your child will do his best when allowed to use these conative strengths.
If you’re the parent of a child with ADD or ADHD you should definitely check out this practical step-by-step advice. May it help you transform what is too often labeled a “lifelong disability” into a “lifelong blessing.”
After a decade of experience as the parent of an ADHD child, I feel that Superparenting for ADD is the first book that parents new to ADHD should read. It offers valuable strategies to help your child reach his/her full potential. I wish it had been available when I was first learning about ADHD.
As a professional educator, I think this book should be at the top of the reading list for both parents and teachers that have and know children with ADHD. It offers valuable strategies to help in the day-to-day challenges of raising and teaching the ADHD child.
In addition to the message of Unconditional Love and other important themes in this book for raising a distracted child, Superparenting offers in Chapter 9, concise and valuable information about treating ADD: Changes in Lifestyle (Sleep, Diet, Exercise and Positive Human Contact), providing Structure, Counseling, and Medication. Appendix A offers equally valuable information on using Behavioral Strategies to help your child improve his or her behavior. These two sections alone justify the purchase of this book.
In addition to this and Dr. Hallowell’s other fine books, you should consider looking at books written by Thomas E. Brown and Russell A. Barkley. Hallowell, Brown and Barkley each have websites with informative articles for parents, teachers and others.
Please note that while Hallowell prefers the term ADD over ADHD, but this book is really Superparenting for ADHD.
There is a flooded sea of self-help books for families living with ADD. This book should be read first by anyone looking for answers, including parents of children without diagnosed “disorders”. As Dr. Hallowell so beautifully shares, ADD is not a “disorder” at all, unless you allow it to be. This easy-to-read book is a concise and organized “handbook” for parents, grandparents, teachers and students. Parenting these wonderfully spirited children is not an easy task, but so many gifts and wonders can slip away if we allow ourselves to get wrapped up in the negativity society spills out to us. This progressive book based on the oldest of foundations, love and acceptance, offers practical and open-minded solutions from experts who not only have the medical expertise and clinical practice, but most importantly, the life experience. Great for educators as well!