James W. Forgan

I won this book as an Early Reviewers book.I was quite excited to get it as my 6 year old grandson has been diagnosed with ADHD and will be entering elementary school this fall.
This book is written in an easy style for parents to understand. It has both clinical information and practical approaches to address this issue in a school setting.
I am very excited to pass this book on to my daughter. She is always seeking new answers to dealing with her son.
A must read for parents, educators, and grandparents.… (more)

Alternative subtitle: The shit-for-brains guide to parenting hyperactive types.

Honestly. I'm getting a bit grumpy about these books that we purchased, as recommended by Canberra's top expert on ASD and ADHD.

Here's a quote from the summary chapter:

"Now that you are taking steps to teach your child executive functioning skills, remember that the process is ongoing. It's very common in many areas of the country for women to visit nail salons. Women with acrylic nails require booster sessions every few weeks to fill in the nails. Sports teams train during the off-season and players receive booster sessions. Children receive booster immunizations. As you know, a booster is designed to refresh and maintain."

Is the word 'booster' not a regular, widely-understood layperson's term in the English language? Do we really need to be given three different examples of boosters in order to understand the concept? This is just one small example, but I'm trying to illustrate that this book is a full-length volume but so full of waffle that it could be summarised in a single chapter.

I think I can do even better than that:

Don't do your child's tasks for them, but provide scaffolding.
Stick to routines.
Don't argue; don't 'nag'. (A word I despise as it's so gendered.)
Write lots of list.
Involve your child in making these lists.
Don't do things for your child that your child can do for themselves.
Spend lots of time planning in advance and teaching time management.
Focus on what the child is good at and build on that.
Avoid calling your child lazy and disorganised and other negative terms.
Take scaffolding away once the child is able to achieve a task.
Keep a positive attitude, because the brain continues to develop into the twenties and even into the thirties.

Also, 'if you live in a metropolitan area' you might want to hire a life coach.

Read the suggested books before reading them to your child. (If you have a heavy reader, ain't no one got time for that -- even me, a bona fide kidlit fan.)

'If you can afford it', you might want to hire a private tutor. This reminds me of advice in that bestselling *What To Expect When You're Expecting*, which was given to me eight years ago and so I dutifully read it -- that advice to install a sink in your child's bedroom to make diaper changing easier. That book has since become a notorious example of middle-class tripe, and my midwife advised me to steer clear of it. (Long after I'd read it.) Do people who can afford a private tutor for their failing children really need to be told about this groundbreaking idea?

By the by, I'm sick of talk about 'limiting screentime' as if 'screentime' is all equal. Especially when it's accompanied by lists of suggested apps which are in effect... screentime.

*

A formatting suggestion for any subsequent edition: A list of recommended resources all in one place at the back of the book instead of scattered throughout.

The appendix contains magazine-style images which have very small font.… (more)

I received James Forgan, PhD and Mary Anne Richey's book "The ADHD Empowerment Guide: Identifying your child's strengths and unlocking potential" from LT's early reviewers program. I am thankful for receiving this book. I received this book late, it was a good read that I enjoyed. This book is filled with pragmatic, informative, talks about developmental, IQ, medication and other useful information from a strength based approach. The extensive keys to success, informative resources, a plan for success that is very useful resource in your library.… (more)