Taking Charge of ADHD, Revised Edition: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents / Edition 1

by Russell A. Barkley PhD, ABPP, ABCN

Overview

A treasured parent resource since its publication, Taking Charge of ADHD provides authoritative information on ADHD and its treatment. From internationally renowned ADHD expert Russell A. Barkley, the book empowers parents by arming them with the knowledge, expert guidance, and confidence they need. Included are:

*A step-by-step plan for behavior management that has helped thousands of children.
*Current information on medications, including coverage of Strattera and extended-release stimulants.
*Strategies that help children succeed at school and in social situations.
*Advances in research on the causes of ADHD.
*Practical advice on managing stress and keeping peace in the family.
*Descriptions of books, organizations, and Internet resources that families can trust.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781572305601
Publisher:	Guilford Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	09/02/2000
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	331
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Russell A. Barkley, PhD, ABPP, ABCN, is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Barkley has published numerous books and five assessment scales, plus more than 260 scientific articles and book chapters on ADHD, executive functioning, and childhood defiance. He is also the editor of the newsletter The ADHD Report. A frequent conference presenter and speaker who is widely cited in the national media, he is past president of the Section on Clinical Child Psychology (the former Division 12) of the American Psychological Association, and of the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology. His website is www.russellbarkley.org.

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Guiding Philosophy for Parents of Children with ADHD
I. Understanding ADHD
1. What Is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?
2. What's Really Wrong with My Child?: Poor Self-Control
3. What Causes ADHD?
4. What to Expect: The Nature of the Disorder
5. The Family Context of a Child with ADHD
II. Taking Charge: How to Be a Successful Executive Parent
6. Deciding to Have Your Child Evaluated for ADHD
7. Preparing for the Evaluation
8. Coping with the Diagnosis of ADHD
9. Fourteen Guiding Principles for Raising a Child with ADHD
10. Just for Parents: How to Take Care of Yourself
III. Managing Life with ADHD: How to Cope at Home and at School
11. Eight Steps to Better Behavior
12. Taking Charge at Home: The Art of Problem Solving
13. How to Help Your Child with Peer Problems
14. Getting through Adolescence, with Arthur L. Robin
15. Off to School on the Right Foot: Managing Your Child's Education, with Linda J. Pfiffner
16. Enhancing Education at School and at Home: Methods for Success from Kindergarten through Grade 12, with Linda J. Pfiffner
17. Keeping School Performance in Perspective
IV. Medications for ADHD
18. The Most Effective Medicines: The Stimulants and a Nonstimulant
19. Other Medicines: Antidepressants and Antihypertensives
Support Services for Parents
Suggested Reading and Videotapes
References

Interviews

Parents who are ready to take charge of their child's life with the help of a world renowned expert on ADHD, as well as health care professionals.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Harlan R. Gephart, MD (University of Washington School of Medicine)
Description: This book, an update of a 1995 publication, gives an overview of current thinking and research regarding ADHD and outlines medical, educational, and behavioral techniques for treating this disorder.
Purpose: The author's stated purpose is to educate parents about what is currently known and to give them tools to help them raise their ADHD child. Those objectives are very worthwhile, and the author in my opinion certainly meets those objectives.
Audience: This book is written for all parents of ADHD children, as the title states. In my view, it is also a valuable teaching resource for all health professionals dealing with ADHD. The author is recognized as a world authority on ADHD.
Features: This book is organized in sections that provide an overview of current thinking regarding ADHD; specific parenting techniques; educational interventions; and the use of medication in the treatment of ADHD. The best features of the book are the chapters with specific guidelines, for example: "Fourteen Guiding Principles of Parenting"and "Eight Steps to Better Behavior." A unique feature at the end of the book lists parent resources, organizations, additional reading, videos, books, etc. A possible shortcoming is the initial 100 pages dealing with current ADHD knowledge that is didactic, scientific, and perhaps too sophisticated for many readers.
Assessment: This book is an invaluable resource for parents and healthcare providers in the care and management of children with ADHD. Dr. Barkley is an internationally recognized authority in the field, whose research and writings have contributed immensely to current knowledge regarding this disorder. This revised edition contains the latest information about ADHD and its straightforward, practical guidelines are not only easily understood but immensely helpful to parents in the daily care and management of their ADHD children.

Doody's Review Service

"Russell Barkley might well be known as the patron saint of ADHD for all that he has done to advance our understanding of this fascinating condition. Dr. Barkley's name is synonymous with quality, integrity, and reliability. He is meticulous in his research and unfailing in his willingness to offer his time as well as his knowledge to all who ask for help. Anyone who writes about, researches, or lives with ADHD owes a deep debt to Dr. Barkley."—Edward M. Hallowell, MD, coauthor of Driven to Distraction

"This very clear and well-written guide is filled with useful strategies and all the reinforcement that ADHD parents need."—Jane Marks, author of The Hidden Children

"Russell Barkley's extensive experience as clinician, researcher, and teacher really shows. This is the most up-to-date story on our understanding of ADHD and its practical management. The readable reviews would inform most therapists. Dr. Barkley shows parents the way toward a positive approach to ADHD, from which the whole family will benefit."—Judith L. Rapoport, MD, Chief, Child Psychiatry Branch, NIMH, Bethesda, Maryland, author of The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing

From the Publisher

"A solid resource guide for parents."

Contemporary Psychology

"This is not just another book. This is a great book....Although aimed at parents, [it] has something for everyone involved with ADHD kids: teachers, psychologists, doctors, and family."

Pediatric News

"Russell Barkley, considered one of the leading authorities on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), provides a clear and well-written guide that encourages, exhorts, and inspires parents. This book features pioneering research that provides new insight into preventing ADHD from becoming a major obstacle in a child's (and parent's) life."

Intervention in School and Clinic

Reviewer: Harlan R. Gephart, MD (University of Washington School of Medicine)
Description: This book, an update of a 1995 publication, gives an overview of current thinking and research regarding ADHD and outlines medical, educational, and behavioral techniques for treating this disorder.
Purpose: The author's stated purpose is to educate parents about what is currently known and to give them tools to help them raise their ADHD child. Those objectives are very worthwhile, and the author in my opinion certainly meets those objectives.
Audience: This book is written for all parents of ADHD children, as the title states. In my view, it is also a valuable teaching resource for all health professionals dealing with ADHD. The author is recognized as a world authority on ADHD.
Features: This book is organized in sections that provide an overview of current thinking regarding ADHD; specific parenting techniques; educational interventions; and the use of medication in the treatment of ADHD. The best features of the book are the chapters with specific guidelines, for example: "Fourteen Guiding Principles of Parenting"and "Eight Steps to Better Behavior." A unique feature at the end of the book lists parent resources, organizations, additional reading, videos, books, etc. A possible shortcoming is the initial 100 pages dealing with current ADHD knowledge that is didactic, scientific, and perhaps too sophisticated for many readers.
Assessment: This book is an invaluable resource for parents and healthcare providers in the care and management of children with ADHD. Dr. Barkley is an internationally recognized authority in the field, whose research and writings have contributed immensely to current knowledge regarding this disorder. This revised edition contains the latest information about ADHD and its straightforward, practical guidelines are not only easily understood but immensely helpful to parents in the daily care and management of their ADHD children.

This book, an update of a 1995 publication, gives an overview of current thinking and research regarding ADHD and outlines medical, educational, and behavioral techniques for treating this disorder. The author's stated purpose is to educate parents about what is currently known and to give them tools to help them raise their ADHD child. Those objectives are very worthwhile, and the author in my opinion certainly meets those objectives. This book is written for all parents of ADHD children, as the title states. In my view, it is also a valuable teaching resource for all health professionals dealing with ADHD. The author is recognized as a world authority on ADHD. This book is organized in sections that provide an overview of current thinking regarding ADHD; specific parenting techniques; educational interventions; and the use of medication in the treatment of ADHD. The best features of the book are the chapters with specific guidelines, for example: "Fourteen Guiding Principles of Parenting"and "Eight Steps to Better Behavior." A unique feature at the end of the book lists parent resources, organizations, additional reading, videos, books, etc. A possible shortcoming is the initial 100 pages dealing with current ADHD knowledge that is didactic, scientific, and perhaps too sophisticated for many readers. This book is an invaluable resource for parents and healthcare providers in the care and management of children with ADHD. Dr. Barkley is an internationally recognized authority in the field, whose research and writings have contributed immensely to current knowledge regarding this disorder. This revised edition contains the latest information about ADHD and its straightforward,practical guidelines are not only easily understood but immensely helpful to parents in the daily care and management of their ADHD children.

Harlan Gephart

Studies find that ADHD affects three to ten percent of the school-age population, making it the most common psychiatric diagnosis in children. Treating it with Ritalin and other stimulants remains both common and controversial. With a stream of books and videos touting unproven "cures," the publication of these three accessible, scientifically based titles is particularly welcome. Each covers much of the same material: ADHD's causes are biological, mainly genetic; affected individuals are impulsive, unable to concentrate and follow instructions, often hyperactive, and oppositional (there is a subgroup who are "dreamy" but not disruptive); and medication doesn't cure ADHD but does ease the child's difficulties, especially when used in conjunction with home- and classroom-based systems of immediate positive and negative behavioral consequences. Each author, however, has a unique emphasis. Wender, one of the first advocates of using stimulant medication for hyperactivity, emphasizes that ADHD is a lifelong problem for many sufferers and that many ADHD adults would benefit from stimulant treatment. While the title of Haber's book might lead one to assume that he is opposed to the use of medication for treatment of ADHD, this is not the case. Haber, a developmental/behavioral pediatrician, believes that there is a group of children who do indeed suffer from ADHD but that this group is much smaller than other experts estimate. Also, he argues that epilepsy, hearing loss, Tourette's syndrome, and psychological distress owing to family instability or trauma are being mislabeled as ADHD. Barkley (psychiatry and neurology, Univ. of Massachussetts Medical Ctr.) theorizes that the cause of the various behaviors associated with ADHD is the inability to plan ahead--that these children have a very short "time line." His suggestions for treatment don't diverge from the mainstream, however. Because ADHD is such a hot topic, most public libraries should purchase all three titles. As a starting point for parents, or for smaller libraries that can only afford one title, Barkley's book is the first choice; it offers details about finding the right kind of specialists, putting together a disciplinary program, coping with adolescents, and building positive relationships with school personnel.--Mary Ann Hughes, Neill P.L., Pullman, WA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Empowers parents of children with ADHD by giving them a step-by-step plan for behavior management, hard data on diagnosis and treatment, strategies for helping children succeed at school and in social situations, and information on advances in genetic and neurological research that enhance understanding of the causes of ADHD. Includes an annotated list of books, organizations, and Internet resources. This edition is revised to incorporate the most current information. Barkley is director of psychology and professor of psychiatry and neurology at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews