Maybe You Know My Teen: A Parent's Guide to Helping Your Adolescent With Attention Deficit HyperactivityDisorder - Softcover

Fowler, Mary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0767905148 ISBN 13: 9780767905145

Publisher: Harmony/Rodale/Convergent, 2001

Synopsis

From the author of the highly successful Maybe You Know My Kid comes a desperately needed follow-up–the first comprehensive guide for dealing with the unique challenges of raising an adolescent with ADHD.

Adolescence is a tumultuous turning point for everyone, but for teens with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, it can be especially challenging, and for some of their parents, downright terrifying. Predictably, stress ensues over inconsistent or poor school performance and over inevitable decisions regarding higher education and life after high school. Adolescents with ADHD get more traffic tickets, have higher school-expulsion and drop-out rates, and are more likely to experiment with alcohol and drugs.

Maybe You Know My Teen brims with management strategies for parents new to ADHD as well as those who have coped with it throughout their child’s life. Explaining the roots of the disorder clearly and extensively, while discussing situations most likely to cause symptoms to manifest themselves, ADHD authority Mary Fowler presents step-by-step advice, along with in-depth personal stories and first-person advice from leading experts in the field. This is the one-of-a-kind lifesaver thousands have been awaiting.

About this title

Reviews

Unlike her first book, Maybe You Know My Kid, which described her personal experience in rearing a son with ADHD and sold more than 75,000 copies, here Fowler distills the most up-to-date information from researchers worldwide and testimony from parents of teens with ADHD in a comprehensive resource. In part one of her book, Fowler reminds readers that ADHD is a result of neurobiological events that affect a teen's actions, "rather than deliberate choice or stupidity," and provides an overview of the disorder and the available medical treatments. In part two, she skillfully guides parents through various ADHD-related issues how to decide which medical treatment to pursue and what to do if the teen is uncooperative; sexuality; money management; schoolwork; college searches; jobs; legal issues stressing that while there is still no cure, parents can help their teenage sons and daughters measurably improve the quality of their lives. A former secondary-school teacher and tireless advocate for children with ADHD, their parents and their teachers, Fowler is not the smoothest writer, but her personal voice offers a welcome respite from the parade of experts quoted. Providing a wealth of realistic, compassionate strategies and tactics for caring for an adolescent with ADHD, Fowler has created an all-encompassing yet easy-to-use guide. Parents would be wise to read this book from cover to cover first and then refer to the "information links" or special highlighted sections that lead to more in-depth information as necessary. (On-sale date: Aug. 21)

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Seasoned parents know that teenagers are different from children. The management strategies that work well with grade-schoolers need to be modified as they grow. Unfortunately, parenting books often don't acknowledge this change. The mother of a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a parent advocate, and a former middle-school teacher, Fowler has clearly had plenty of real-life experience in dealing with teens. Her suggestions for coping with the chaos of life with a difficult teen are all eminently practical. The chapter on medication, for example, not only discusses the types and dosages but also goes into great detail about how to deal with a teen who is reluctant to take pills. The chapter on out-of-control teens is honest in explaining that resources for helping them are woefully limited while emphasizing that many such young people can indeed turn around and become well-adjusted adults. Offering a welcome narrower focus than Paul H. Wender's ADHD in Children, Adolescents, and Adults (LJ 10/15/00), this is highly recommended for public library parenting collections and academic libraries serving educators. Mary Ann Hughes, Neill P.L., Pullman, WA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harmony/Rodale/Convergent
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0767905148
• ISBN 13: 9780767905145
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384