1000 Best Tips for ADHD, by Susan Ashley, PhD, a psychologist specializing in behavioral disorders in children, is a practical book that has helpful tips for improving various aspects of life for parents of kids with ADHD.
The book has an introduction on how to use the book, followed by a list of tips categorized by the issue at hand. The introduction is crucial to using the book, otherwise, the book is a reference style manual meant to help parents with specific common problems faced by children with ADHD. The book avoids being trite and it acknowledges the hard work that sometimes comes with implementing behavioral strategies, so in a sense, while this is a book of tips, it is not a book of hacks. Some of the suggestions given are easier to implement than others, and some of them will not work for a given child's situation.
The book has many strengths. It is very practical and is not a long treatise on a certain approach or philosophy. The main philosophy in this book seems to be, "Do what works." Many parents with ADHD willl appreciate that fact that this book is reference style, so you don't have to read the whole book to understand or get to the part that you want, which is a fix for your child's problems. The book offers a wide variety of tips in a wide variety of areas such as medication, behavioral issues, school, diet, and social issues.
There are several downsides to this book. I was looking for a book about managing behavioral issues specific to older children and teens with ADHD, things like hygiene, organizational skills, and driving. Those issues are not specifically addressed in this book. I would love to see the author write a similar book about teens with ADHD. Another omission was that the book only talked about children having difficulty in brick and mortar school situations and did not address how to alter home schooling to help a child with ADHD. It does refer the reader to a website and there are some tips on homework and specific subjects which could be helpful, however.
Overall, though, the book offers many useful behavioral strategies you can try to help your child with ADHD. While it is not the only book you will ever need, and not really a "complete reference for parenting a child with ADHD" as it is advertised to be, it certainly is a solid starter book for parents new to dealing with ADHD in a younger child.
No comments:
Post a Comment