Customer Reviews
ADHD advice from Evangelical Christian publisher? 
2004-08-28
What a disappointment. After reading the great reviews on Amazon, I was very much looking forward to this book.
After reading one chapter though, I went to the Internet to do a little research -- I was sure this book must be self-published, as it reads more like a term paper than like a professionally edited book about autism and ADHD. In fact, what I found is that publisher WaterBrook Press is "an autonomous evangelical religious publishing division of Random House." OK, that would explain the bible quotes. I would've preferred to know that before I bought this book. But to be fair, the religious overtones are fairly innocuous. No, my real problem is that I don't believe the publisher/editor has any deep understanding of the subject, and therefore didn't hold this book to the same standards that Future Horizons or JKP would have.
I DO believe that the connection between ADD/ADHD and Autism/Asperger needs to be delved into. Unfortunately, this book doesn't do a very good job of it. While the author points out the many things that ADHD and autism/Asperger Syndrome have in common, she virtually ignores their differences (e.g. an aspie's intense resistence to change, or their preoccupation with specific subjects -- very defining elements of the disorder). If this was the only book you read about autism and asperger, you'd come out with a very poor understanding of those diagnoses.
Brilliant Book!! 
2004-05-29
Diane Kennedy's book will get us to think. Kennedy is dedicated to the idea that our classification systems with autism and ADHD may be off kilter...way off kilter. I think she is right. We have so much to learn about autism and ADHD. The medical community is not buying into pseudo research, and much of the non scientific community has walked into this malignant mindset, a blatant mistrust of doctors. Where do we go from here? What Kennedy suggests is we look again at our paradigms. Parents need to trust teachers and teachers must trust school officials. You'll find many more answers in this book. The book also spurs us to ask more questions...and yes, the politics of special education, that is entirely a different subject.
If you have a special child, this is a MUST READ!! Bravo Diane!!
Jeffrey McAndrew
author of "Our Brown-Eyed Boy"
Brilliant research 2003-11-19
The author did a brilliant job of drawing the connecting lines between Autism and ADHD.
She deserves a whole bunch of credit.
-oddizm
More that ADHD 2003-09-22
This book took us out of the dark and into the light and we could finally put into words exactly what our child couldn't. He is now almost 11 and we have struggled like every parent out there that knew their child was more than ADHD. This is my second time around with a boy diagnosed ADHD and I kept trying to tell the doctors that there was more to it than that. Armed with this book and the ideas and references provided, we started showing doctors that these children are different and they do exist and there was ways to help them. Last week he was nominated to advanced placement classes. It took a long time to bring him "out" and with the proper care he is getting now it looks like he will be with us for good.
WONDERFUL, THANK YOU 2003-06-21
As a parent whose 8yrs child was diagnosed with alphabet soup ADHD, TS, OCD, ODD, BP, Anxiety, Dyslexia, seizures, ataxia, left hemiparesis, developmental delay, Post tramatic stress disorder from the birth of his sisters or a rough in pre-or inutero environment etc by doctors, neurologists, ot, pt from the time he was 18 months - 8yrs etc
His final dx of PDD-NOS at 8yrs 9 monthsw believe it or not made the most sense out of them all. It explains all of his behaviors at different times of his life. It explains how he is one way one day and another way another day and the range and variety of odd behaviors. Before getting the PDD-NOS dx I started looking towards the possible autistic treatments always reminding myself and others "not that he is autistic" and always found how amazing it was that he seemed to respond to the biomedical treatments of autism. Many parents could not understand why I would be interested in autism treatments when my son was dx with all the other stuff. I just told them that autism community is on to something right now in genetic research in looking at diet, biochemical treatments. It is a neurological disease and it has NOTHING to do with the way parents raise their kids.
This book automatically confirms my beliefs that 1) there is a connection between adhd, bp, autism-not just behavioral but medically and genetically 2)that children are often misdiagnosed as only adhd, or bp and not even look at the autism part(thinking) as what is causing some of the adhd, bp symptoms 3)that a child may look adhd as a preschool, change to ODD, and then when he is older and frustrated and full of anger-become dx with bp when originally he has autism.4)there are a lot variabilities in autism -autistics are not all quiet withdrawn kids who stim all day long with poor speech-many don;t have any speech problem at all and in fact has a high vocab., they can be very social but can be somewhat social awkward or not understand some social situations, some can be very active and not stim at all 5)behavior modifications may not alway work and when it doesn't it means there is something else going on rather than just adhd and odd. Sometimes behavior mod can be more harmful to the self esteem when the child has something more going on than just adhd and odd.
Basically this book provides evidence and concrete visuals and confirms many of my thoughts and theories regarding this subject.
Thank YOu Diane Kennedy!
disappointing 
2007-03-29
As a parent of a son diagnosed with ASD and ADHD this book sounded very promising to me.
Unfortunatly I found it less than helpful. It is part personal story, part quotes from research and neither works well. Had it been a story of her personal experiences of raising three kids on the spectrum it might have been more interesting and less confusing. Had it presented true research instead of anecdotes and quotes from other books it could have been interesting. Instead the whole thing sounded like a mediocre term paper to me. The chapter on developmental stages throughout childhood stages would have been a wonderful idea but instead I got to read short descriptions of her sons. Since kids on the spectrum can vary widely this ment nothing to me and my experiences. The frequent mentions and quotes from her personal religious beliefs felt unproffessional and out of place.
There are many books on adhd and autism out by now and there was nothing in this book that was new or compelling or interesting as a personal account. It might be my first book on this topic that will get thrown out. For anyone looking: 'Kids in the syndrome mix' is a much better written and researched book on the topic of neurobiological disorders.
Great insight 2006-11-04
I am the parent of an 11-year-old boy with Asperger's Syndrome, or high-functioning autism (diagnosed at 5). We have struggled mightily in recent years, despite reading virtually everything out there on Asperger's (God bless Tony Attwood!), and have been perplexed as to how to address the ADHD symptoms my son displays. I couldn't understand (nor could any doctors) why ADHD treatment failed him, and often seemed to backfire and produce an opposite of the desired result. I found this book very enlightening. I think that the possibility that ADHD and autism spectrum disorders are part of the same continuum is quite feasible. Nowhere does the book say that they are the SAME disorder. I have 3 nephews who are autistic (all brothers), and even thought they fall under the general category of "autism", they have some very differnt behaviors from one another. So to say that ADHD CANNOT be "related" to autism (as some reviewers have claimed) becuse some behaviors are different is fautly reasoning, in my opinion. The term "continuum" implies that there are a wide range of behaviors, different with each child based on their intensity and a child's personality. If I've learned anything about autism over the years, it's that you cannot put autistic children in a "box" in terms of their behaviors; this is one thing that makes the disorder so difficult to understand.
I especially liked the section of this book that covers medication. The author (becuase she is not a doctor) does not attempt to deal with this herself, but has a specialist address meds. After many trials of Ritalin-based meds and Strattera with my son, we always got a more hyper, frazzled child. The book suggested that perhaps because many children with autism have "amplified" senses (my words), a little medication will go a long way. We cut my son's medication down to a quarter of what we'd originally tried, and saw improvement right away. So I guess I tend to lend some credence to the author's ascertations. I'd been lost in the topsy-turvy world of Asperger's vs. ADHD (and whether my son had BOTH, or if they were related)for a very long time, and while this book does not lend any conclusive answers (and doesn't claim to), it certainly gets the debate going, and offers some preliminary proof that they may be realted. Autism is so little understood, that I welcome the kind of research done by Ms. Kennedy. She does not have a degree in neurology, nor psychology, but she is thouroughly well self-taught (as all parents of a child with autism need to be!). I feel that this book has helped to at least direct our path of treatment with my son, and for that I am grateful.
What? 2005-05-17
As someone whose adult ADHD diagnosis changed and enriched my life, I feel called to write a reaction to this book. I truly feel I am part of the increasingly small number of people who HAD A TRUE and ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS. Also, at my employement, I work with a guy who is diagnosised autistic, and feel I know him fairly well.
In contrary to what I feel this book is saying, I have been incredibly baffeled as to what autisim is, or any understanding of it what so ever. I even told my parents, "I think autism is the opposite of whatever ADHD is." I don't think I have ever been as shocked to read something as when I came across this book. What comes to mind, is that ADHD is actually a rare disorder/blessing that many non-ADD (as well as autistic) children and adults are being falsly diagnosed as. ADHD has been as abused and misunderstood as much as the way most of our modern educational systems have been to the true ADDers themselves!
I am curious about more on this topic, and will be watching for it. On a personal level, however, all intution tells me that that ADHD, and especially ADD, are being twisted and contorted farther and farther away from its original discovery and meaning!
Beyond Excellent 2005-04-09
I cannot give enough praise for this book. It is one of the best written books for ADHD/ Asperger's/ Autism and considering the amount out there that's saying a lot. It opened up a whole new world for me; a world that made sense where everything finally clicked into place after so long. This is not the book for the traditionalist, but if you dare to defy convention and "think outside the box" then this book is for you.
Great book. Very Enlightening 2005-02-28
I found this book to be quite interesting. My son and I both own the titles of ADD, but I knew that was not the complete story. After accumulating my own personal library of practically every self-help book on AD-HD, and every other family and/or relationship issue, in a desperate attempt to find exactly why things got so crazy in our family, this book really changed my thinking.
It may not delve deeply into answers to issues, but this book brought to light a lot of characteristics describing my husband and many of his idiosyncrasies which previously I attributed to a shortcoming in myself which living with ADD has a tendency to do .
Trying to raise four kids, with a spouse who was either oblivious to his surroundings while pandemonium broke loose around him; or walked away when the noise level got to be too much; who couldn't communicate well with his children, never yelling, but talking "at", them, if at all; who is generally "compliant", but never once has sought out anyone else out for interaction; everything fell into place for me suddenly as I read this book.
Only someone with ADD, I think, could continue on with someone for years without receiving so much as a single token of affection, be it a candy bar or compliment, and still place the fault with themselves.
As a reviewer mentioned earlier, I too, after having purchased the book realized the occasional Bible quote, which always sends a warning flag to me. But I wouldn't let this be a reason to avoid the book. The focus is, as the title says, and stays on topic. Perhaps such references were meant catch the Christian eye for enlightenment. Autism doesn't' differentiate. And anyone dealing with these issues has the mutual bond of grasping at straws.
This book can't make life any less lonely, but if it might alleviate someone's self blame it is certainly worth reading. If necessary more in depth answers could be sought elsewhere, and there are certainly many references listed in the book for further information.
