The Gift Of ADHD: How To Transform Your Child's Problems Into Strengths - Softcover

Lara Honos-Webb

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1572243899 ISBN 13: 9781572243897

Publisher: New Harbinger Pubns Inc, 2005

Synopsis

Reviews new ADHD research and explains how parents can treat the disorder as a gift rather than a hindrance, including channeling ADHD-related traits into productive outlets and coping exercises for children and parents.

About this title

About the Author

Lara Honos-Webb, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Walnut Creek, CA. She is author of The Gift of ADHD, the forthcoming Gift of Depression (New Harbinger, 2006), and more than twenty-five scholarly articles. Her work has been featured in Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, and Publisher's Weekly as well as newspapers across the country and local and national radio and television. She specializes in the treatment of ADHD and depression and the psychology of pregnancy and motherhood; she speaks regularly on her areas of expertise. Honos-Webb completed a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship at University of California, San Francisco, and was, until recently, an assistant professor teaching graduate students. She offers telephone therapy to residents anywhere in California. For more information, please visit her Web site visionarysoul.com.

From the Back Cover

Attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is thought to affect between 3 and 6 percent of school-aged children. The symptoms of the disorder difficulty paying attention, impulsivity, and agitation lead others to brand them as difficult, unfocused, and unruly. But the clinical studies and experiences of the author of this compassionate book suggest that many of the traits that label kids with ADHD may be an expression of deeper gifts: powerful imagination, searching insight, and unusual intuition. The goal of this book is to help readers recast the paradigm they use to think about the condition, encouraging them to help ADHD kids develop their unique gifts.

The book begins with an overview of current ADHD diagnosis including definitions and a sample of a case study. Each subsequent chapter reframes certain ADHD symptoms in a positive way and reinforces this transformation with awareness exercises designed to increase the appreciation of the child s traits. These techniques include action strategies for channeling ADHD traits into productive outlets. And the book doesn t limit itself to a discussion of kids with ADHD: It includes exercises to help parents cope with any feelings of failure they may be experiencing and to reverse any negative patterns associated with ADHD that might be at work in their families. The book offers advice on how to navigate education and mental health systems to the best advantage of ADHD kids and how to understand and make the best use of conventional ADHD therapies, including prescription drugs.

Reviews

A diagnosis of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) does more than label a child's behavior problems—it affects his or her self-esteem, relationships and future, says psychologist Honos-Webb. The way parents and teachers treat an ADHD child can mean the difference between a successful life and an unnecessarily difficult one. In this sensitive exploration of ADHD, Honos-Webb uses case studies, field research and her personal experience as a clinical psychologist and sister of a brother with ADHD to teach parents how to become advocates for their children and "reframe" their view of the disorder. While most people are familiar with the dramatic behavioral symptoms of ADHD—severe inattention and impulsiveness—there is a less-reported flip side: children with ADHD exhibit exceptional strengths that Honos-Webb sees as opportunities. These gifts include emotional sensitivity toward others, passion and exuberance, unusual problem-solving skills and a love of nature. Honos-Webb's goal is to bring these traits to light and help parents transform "symptoms into talents—or at the least, lovable eccentricities." Through interactive exercises, such as directed daydreaming and storytelling, she helps parents and children work together to rise above the negativity so often directed at them by "an outdated education system" that does little to accept and support children with ADHD. This unique book stands out from the sea of books in its field. (Mar.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: New Harbinger Pubns Inc
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1572243899
• ISBN 13: 9781572243897
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 199