Customer Reviews
Conspiracy? 
2006-09-01
According to Armstrong ADD is a conspiracy theory? I just couldn't get past that! I looked at a few of the 50 ways... Less TV? Do you really need to include that? Common sense!!!
The Myth of the A.D.D. Child: 50 Ways to Improve Your Child's Behavior and Attention Span Without Drugs, Label, or Coercion 
2006-07-06
Summer Break just started, have not had time to read, but did skim through. The book looks very promising and I hope it will give me ideas on how to manage my largely ADHD afflicted classroom. I also hope to use as a reference for my students parents, who are often at their wit's end!
www.CONQUERESS.com 
2005-12-17
Someone I care about has a wife on Adderall - reading the note of VIRGINIA REIGN- I forwarded my friend all of her words and this website - opening with:
This below is a book review response - an adult woman and nine years of Adderall...her words are quite powerful- tragic. My experiences teaching - children- every child (and adult) has a unique key to access learning. Like snowflakes are multifaceted - but on a similar theme, all people are distinctive, all challenged with human nature- and becoming civilized! Human nature is universally tough.
Every student has a deep thirst for respect, acknowledgement and appreciation. My years teaching, those three have been core- the rest is an adventure of variations. Making sure those three have been served abundantly- the rest seems to fall in line. As a teacher on the quest imparting knowledge and skill- my job is to discover keys to opening a new subject, concept or ability.....the notion of ADD/ADHD has been an anathema to me since I first heard of the concept/diagnosis... we were made for more- drugs are settling for less- who is served?
In response to Steve...., August 16, 2005
In response to Steve.... 2005-08-17
This is funny, b/c I am writing a review for the first time, and I haven't even read the book. I am up at... let me go look..12:42am on a Tuesday night because I can't sleep.. looking for alternative to adderall. I loved the drug when I was 1st put on it... it was the answer to all my problems. I could finally do all the things that I had been wanting to do. My room was clean, my homework was done a week in advance, I could watch a movie all the way through, I could talk to people w/o fear, I remembered to brush my teeth... you get the point. But no one told me about the negative side of things such as the EXTREAMLY HIGH RISK of ADDICTION. Because everything is so much easier with the drug, I can no longer function with out it.
I started taking it at about 15. I'm 24 now, with two boys 3 and 4. The only time I wasn't on adderall from 15 to 24 was when I was pregnant and right before my 1st. I was not careless during my pregnancy, I read book after book, followed the "What to expect when your expecting diet, swore off caffine, made every prenatal appointment, took the last two months off of work, etc. "After I gave birth to my 1st son, I was put back on it when I was finished breastfeeding. But, a year later I found out that I was pregnant with my second (unexpected) and I was taking adderall during conception, before I knew. I remember my Doctors reaction when I asked if I should stop taking it,"You haven't already?!? You NEED to stop IMMEDIATLY, it is not safe during pregnancy!" It startled me... because this was 5 minutes after they told me I was pregnant. Even though that is all she said & despite the fact that I had no way of knowing what it could do...I worried. And on April 30th I gave birth to a son with a cleft lip. I have no knowledge that his lip can be attributed to adderall, but I intend to find out. Nature could be to blame, but I don't believe in coincidence. At 3 months of pregnancy, I payed a visit to the ER because I was bleeding heavily for "no reason," When I left, that was what I was told. Basically, we don't know, the baby is fine... see ya later.
It is a deformity that forms in the 1st month (when I was on adderall) there is no family history of it, and there were no other contributing dangers. My son will have to live with a scar on his face for the rest of his life because no one wants to aknowledge the dangers of this drug. That's not it though. My teeth are all decaying rapidly due to 9 years of dry mouth and clenching my jaw. (Another lovely side affect no one failed to mention)I was underweight and undernourished because of my lack of appitite. The older I get, the quicker I am falling apart. Dr. have no idea what this drug does in the long run, b/c no one has taken it that long. We, I, am a guinea pig. Now that I am 24 I get to worry about things like Hepatic Failure, liver transplant, kidney infections, etc. There are bruise all over my body becuase my liver can't function after withstanding years of this poison. I know at least 25 other people my age on the drug and al I can do is watch as they slowly poison themselves. As it ruins their personal relationships, keeps them up all night, prevents them from eating properly... keeps them focused on tasks, organization, etc. completly oblivious to the rest of the world around them. Causes them to become too focused on a task and/or the 100000 task on their list of things to do that they forget about the world around them. They go through life with blinders on.
But that's the whole point right? To remove the distractions?
I've been told that I "don't need medication,"
" can handle it yourself," " It's all in your head," etc. And have been very upset by it. There is something wrong with me, I didn't just make it up.... but do I really need to be medicated? Or does the rest of the world need to catch up? I don't really know... but I think that God makes us all different for a reason... and that when I take adderall, I loose a peice of my personality. I become a computer that follows the commands that the world keeps typing in. With no emotion, no anger, no passion... none of the aspects that make me different from everyone else. I think that if 30 million of America's 290,809,777 citizens are diagnosed with ADD / ADHD each year, the world needs to change, not us!
The Reality of Intolerance 2004-09-24
No parent wants their child to have a brain disorder of any kind. No parent wants to label their child. To think that ADD is a myth is ridiculous. Parents with raging, violent, inattentive, and difficult children deserve support. Yes, there are cases when ADD is misdiagnosed, but that doesn't make ADD a myth. In fact, more and more research is showing that ADD might actually be an early sign of something else, such as Bipolar Disorder, which this author probably doesn't believe in either! Parents--if you think your child needs help, find supportive guidance. If you choose not to put your child on medication, that's fine, but use resources that don't criticize parents who do.
Sheryl Gurrentz, Co-author of "If Your Child is Bipolar: A Parent-to-Parent Guide to Living With and Loving a Bipolar Child"
Another point of view 2007-10-10
Is a very helpful way to deal with "ADD". I agree with the author that there are several ways for us to learn and experiment our world.
Glad I read this book before medicating my son 2007-03-26
After being told by my son's second grade teacher that she thought my son had ADD, my husband and I took him to three different professionals. The first two wanted to medicate him. The third tested him and gave us this book to read. It turned out that our son had many allergies to both foods and environmental items. He also was above average intelligence and was bored with his classwork. We bought a computer and got him learning software. We also signed him up for piano lessons and had him read many books. We took care of his allergies through diet and shots. He is now a high school sophomore who is in all honors classes. He is planning on going to school to become a surgeon. Please take the time to investigate all your options before going straight to the Ritalin. Some children will still need the medication but use that as your last resort. Another good book to read is "Is This Your Child?" by Dr. Doris Rapp. She discusses the allergy aspect to behavior problems.
Excellent suggestions for managing ADHD 2007-01-31
I'm amazed at the negative reviews on this book. Apparently when a psychologist has the gall to suggest we should stop drugging our children, it causes an uproar.
Whether you chose to medicate your ADHD child or not, there is a wealth of information here. And it goes beyond the obvious of "limit TV." The 50 suggestions are a quick read, and they not only introduce things that might work, they explain WHY they work.
I especially liked his discussions on why ADHD kids are so kinetic and how they are haptic (hands-on) learners. Also, he explains why ADHD kids benefit from full inclusion in a regular classroom. And he introduced a concept I hadn't considered before, that ADHD kids might not get distracted from overstimulation, but from understimulation (i.e. they act out from boredom).
It's obvious Armstrong has learned a lot from his years of working with these kids. Reading this book and trying his suggestions has made us a beneficiary of that knowledge.
I've read many books on this subject, and I consider this to be one of the most useful. I recommend it to any parent raising a child with an ADHD/ADD diagnosis...whether or not your child is on meds.
The premise is wrong, but it still may be valuable 2007-01-22
There's a reason why I gave this book 3 stars, and it's because there are indeed other problems that share SOME of the symptoms of ADHD. And it's absolutely true that if you take Adderall, for instance, and you don't truly have ADHD, you can get into trouble you may never be able to get out of again. It's not necessarily a bad idea to read books like this. BUT... and it's a big but...
All you have to do is take ONE dose of a psychostimulant, and you will KNOW if you really have ADHD or not!! This isn't rocket science. It's EASY if you know what you're looking for. Let's look at Adderall, for instance. Virtually everyone who takes it will feel good. That's not what you're trying to figure out. You will feel only one of two possible ways. Either you'll be speedy high, rather manic, and unable to sleep for three days... and that's the NORMAL reaction... or you'll be relaxed, calm, and thinking seriously about a nice nap. (That was me.) This is how you know!! These meds are indeed addictive and dangerous for people with normal brains, but they are very safe for us ADHD folks. They've been around for one hundred and twenty years. They're not "new" or "untested" or "controversial." As a matter of fact, they are the only psychiatric medication that originally came from traditional Chinese medicine, which has been around for more like five thousand years. (Amphetamines were synthesized from ephedra.)
In addiion, the AMA and APA and all medical or psychiatric associations of EVERY kind accept the ADHD diagnosis. The basic ingredient in Adderall has been prescribed for seventy years, and the ingredients in Ritalin for thirty. There's a lot that still isn't known about ADHD; I, for one, think it is a much more comprehensive disorder of personality that anyone realizes, especially in adults. But saying ADHD doesn't exist is in the same category as young-earth creationism. No thinking person has any obligation to respect that kind of assertion.
To sum up, correct diagnosis and medication saved my mind, my sanity, and my life.I have tried every natural remedy, elimination diet, supplement, herb, fast, cleansing regimen, therapy, and exercise there is to help ADHD. Many of them help. They really do. But they work as SUPPORTS to the right medication. I would REALLY like to see this author live with my ADHD without it. I guarantee that he would get off the high horse VERY fast. So apart from the fact that yes, you really do have to be sure you or your child have/has ADHD before you take the meds, this book deserves a rating more like a hundred negative stars.
Concerned 2006-09-12
If you suspect you or your child has ADHD ("A.D.D." is not the correct acronym), please look elsewhere for treatment and practical strategies. Any ADHD intervention book worth its salt includes a variety of approaches to treatment. If you want to avoid medication, there are plenty of options - this book is nothing novel. However, medication does work best for many children and adults and the benefits definitely outweigh the "costs" (which are relatively minor - these medications are considered quite safe). Stimulant medications do not "change" children's personalities or "break" their spirits - they help them improve their ability to function academically, emotionally, and socially. Why wouldn't you want these things for your child? Please talk to a physician or psychologist and ask for book recommendations. This book is a waste of time!
