there is a lot of good information here, primarily around defining adhd and what is happening neurologically, as well as information about medicine. if that was all that was in this book, it'd be 5 stars for me. so that's what i'll take from it, and will continue to find useful.

as far as the ideas for behavior modification and reward/punishment go, i guess some of it was good to read, but most of it was not useful. partly because thankfully, we don't have an oppositional and violent antisocial kid, and partially because never ever would we give candy and video games as rewards. and there's even less of a chance that we'd convince the teacher in his school to allow video games in the classroom as a reward. that entire part of the book was beyond ludicrous to me. i do think we might need to consider something other than medicine to get more of the behavior we want, so maybe i'm just not ready to hear it yet, but regardless, candy and video games are out of the question. and for that to be the suggestion, it's not confidence inspiring.

but the information about adhd itself and what is happening in his brain, along with what we might see as he ages, all was really important information that i needed to read. and there's great value in having learned this.

"ADHD is a developmental disorder of self-control. It consists of obvious problems with attention span, impulse control, and activity level."

"...the challenge of raising a child with ADHD elevates parenting to a new, higher plane. Bringing up a child with ADHD may be the hardest thing you ever have to do."

"...working memory - the capacity to hold in mind what one is supposed to be doing and use it to guide his ongoing behavior."

"...when children with ADHD play or work with other children on a task, the information they communicate to others is less organized, less mature, and less helpful in getting the activity done than the information communicated by children of the same age without ADHD."

"...ADHD is a disorder of self-control, executive functioning, willpower, and the organizing and directing of behavior toward the future..."

regarding dopamine and norepinephrine: "We now know for certain that this problem of brain underreactivity to stimulation is reasonably typical of children with ADHD. The results tell us that the problem here is not at the initial level of perception or in detecting the stimulus but at the level where the prefrontal lobes of the brain would enhance attention to that stimulus. This enhancing effect seems to be less in those with ADHD."

"How is it, many parents still ask, that children with ADHD, who are more active and energetic than children without ADHD, could have brains that are less active? Remember that the areas of the brain that are not as active as they should be are the parts that inhibit behavior, delay responding to situations, and permit us to think about our potential actions and consequences before we respond - the executive brain. The less active these inhibitory and executive centers are, the less "top-down" self-control a child will be able to demonstrate."

"...ADHD is a developmental disorder of self-control - or what some professionals call the executive functions critical to planning, organizing, and carrying out complex human behavior over long periods of time. That is, in a child with ADHD, the "executive" in the brain that is supposed to be organizing and controlling behavior, helping the child plan for the future and follow through on those plans, is doing a very poor job."

"Most misbehavior stems from your child's biological deficits in inhibiting behavior and sustaining attention."

In my library I have a group of books that I turn to for guidance from time to time when I am having difficulties with my daughter. My 7 year old daughter has been diagnosed with severe ADHD, learning disabilities, and expressive language disorder. We are currently being referred to a diagnostic center to get further assessments done on her. Before she was diagnosed I purchased this book to assist me on her behavior. I had a mother's instinct that told me their was a massive chance she had ADHD. This book was a wonderful tool for me and really helped me deal with her behavior. It taught me that having ADHD was something that she was born with, but could be handled. I used to think that my daughter had no real future, but I am proud to say she does. She is flying by and making dramatic improvements. As a mother of two special needs children I feel that I am obligated to recommend this book. I know what it is like to want to pull your hair from pure frustration and stress. There is hope and this book is yet another example of what does work for our challenging kids. ( )

This book offers sound advice for parents of ADHD children. It does contain a fair amount of medical jargon. I also feel like Dr. Barkley includes a lot of information that should have been edited out. I like clear, concise information. Have a hi-lighter handy to easily focus in on the meat of what he's trying to say. ( )

ADHD, odd, 2018 ( )