Really depressing

This book focuses 95% on the negative behaviors of children with ADHD and paints a dismal picture of their development.

I finished the book feeling like my child is “a problem to be solved” and didn’t have any sense of the unique gifts that come with a different brain. There is also a lot of parent blaming, implying that parents hold kids back and are the reason kids don’t learn to self-regulate or make decisions, focus, etc.

She emphasizes that ADHD is “not a medical diagnosis” and “not biological” which is just flat-out wrong and misleading.

She provides no strategies for helping your child beyond “don’t do X, you’re doing it wrong, your child will always have problems.”

Finally, the voice at times sounds like it’s text-to-speech software, very robotic.

I hated this book.

8 people found this helpful

I'm an adult with ADHD Terrible book.

Diagonsed at 5 after extensive testing by a family doctor, I'm now 28 and expecting my first child. I am *still* ADHD.

I'm not even sure where to start unpacking this. I knew after the introduction I was in for a ride and it kept on getting worse. I do not think the author has an understanding or grasp on ADHD or parenting with ADHD.

First of all ADHD is not a personality trait and you do not grow out of it. It is a neurological disorder, it is with you forever. Sure, over time some symptoms can be easier to control. The ADHD brain is not neurotypical, it functions and develops differently and the chemical makeup is also different. We lack dopamine, which is why medication helps us so much and thats why some will seek riskier behavior, hyperfocus on activities they love, ect... for those little spurts of dopamine while unmedicated.

The benefits of medicating outweigh any risks and there are multiple, multiple studies to back this up. Unmedicated ADHDrs are more likely to: take risks, have risky sexual encounters, engage in dangerous activities, have accidents, suffer from depression and anxiety, ect... I tried being unmedicated for a decade. Going back on medication and feeling calm, a feeling I hadn't felt in over a decade, was surreal. Treating your child's disorder is not 'doping' or harmful and this authors suggestion is incredibly harmful. Medication allows us to function like a neurotypical person because of our chemical imbalances. There have been numerous long term studies on the safety of stimulants. The stigma around them needs to be shattered.

If you follow this authors advice you will damage your child more than you will help them. You can see this on the 1.4 million member adhd reddit board. Do not tell them to try harder. Do not tell them its just a personality trait. Do NOT do what this author advises. Absolutely terrible book written by someone who, I highly doubt, has ever lived with or parented ADHD children.

7 people found this helpful

Computerized?

I'm sorry, I could not even get past the first couple paragraphs. I do not know if this was actually read, or if it was put in a program to be read from a computer. The fluctuation of words and tone were super off. my personal ADD just could not handle.

3 people found this helpful

Horrible

Horrible, negative, not helpful for parents. I do not recommend this book at all. A waste of time.

1 person found this helpful

Worst audiobook I have read

First, it was the worst performance I have encountered on Audible. I had a very difficult time following the narrator's extremely monotone reading.

Second, while it seems to identify the problem well, the solutions were not at all clear and actionable.

Given all the positive feedback I was very excited given that we struggle a lot with our ADHD child. This was unfortunately a huge disappointment.

1 person found this helpful

Some good tips

I found some of the tips helpful. However, it focused more on the hyperactive parts of adhd and didn't really give much advice on dealing with actual attention deficits problems. Like how to get a bored kid to stop daydreaming. The narrator had little inflection in her voice and was difficult to listen to.

1 person found this helpful

Great audiobook for caretaker of my dragon child

My son is a little extra at times! He’s very funny and into mischief, but sometimes just down right difficult. We are gentle and peaceful parents, and try to have endless patience. This audiobook is perfect for that sentiment.

1 person found this helpful

Some good insights, but poorly written and narrated

This book offered a hopeful perspective and practical tips for parenting through ADHD. The first two chapters had a lot of fear mongering and the last chapter in particular seems as if it was written by someone without a firm grasp of the English language. The narration is very 80s instructional video. Despite all of this I did find it useful and would recommend, especially for a parent who has the time to work with there child before medication and professional intervention are necessary.

ADHD not a medical condition

I’m sorry but as a medical professional I can’t get past this labeling ADHD as behaviors versus a medical condition. Couldn’t finish the book after that.

Terrible!!!! Do not read!

OK, so I tried to make it through the rest of the book, but after hearing multiple and factual statements I cannot bring myself to continue listening for any longer. I’m not sure if this author is a certified psychologist, a behavioral specialist, a licensed therapist, but the information she provided in this book is un-factual, un-scientific, and dangerous in my opinion. She starts out in the introductionstating that, “ADHD is not a life long disorder. ADHD is not something he has but rather some thing he does. It’s a behavioral issue.” My four-year-old son was just recently diagnosed with very severe ADHD by a licensed child psychologist and his pediatrician. We have been doing a lot of research and talking with the psychologist and a behavioral specialist to help us with our parenting skills. Anyone who has a child with severe ADHD knows that most of the parenting books you read will not work for your child. I’ve read countess books trying to help us be better parents, but most of the parenting books are not for ADHD and so miss a very critical component. “ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood. Children with ADHD may have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviors (may act without thinking about what the result will be), or be overly active.” This is obviously a very general basic definition of ADHD, but it is a Neurodevelopmental disorder. Children’s brains without ADHD do not function the way that children with ADHD do and so saying that ADHD is simply a behavioral issue is completely false and gives parents the idea that they can simply fix their kids behavior when their impulsive or hyperactive behavior is a symptom of their brain chemistry not functioning in a typical way. If you think this booked helped you then great, but please read carefully and understand the dangers of misinformation. To me saying a child with ADHD is just a simple behavioral issue is like telling a parent of an autistic child that autism is simply a behavioral issue. It would be extremely damaging to the child and the parent and be utterly false.