This book has a great focus on dealing with things with ADHD plotting and planning. I'm hoping it helps just normal focus issues, but so far, it's still dealing with the writer's past stories and how she worked through her ADHD struggles. Still waiting for the strategies to begin.

Normally, when books like this are written, even a person with a more normal brain can take things away. I don't know if it's the reader, the subject, or what, but I just can NOT get into this book. They talk coaching for getting through ADHD, but it just sounds like babble. I'm marking this a dud. Moving on. ( )

If you think someone with ADHD writing about ADHD, aimed at an audience who have ADHD would be a colossal mess.

You would be right.

Ratey meanders from topic to topic such as she will spend a paragraph discussing how terrible her dyslexia and ADHD are and hurting her academic life, then OMG. SHE GOT INTO HARVARD! Another paragraph how she spent her entire life living with military precision but once she got into college, she would spend hours shuffling papers about preparing to study. So she went from 18 years of living a very organized, timed, military life to a slob in under a semester? Really?

Once you get past the meandering, unrelated chit-chat and her overuse of her clients for examples, she has some good strategy to manage your ADHD and how to make it work for you. But I couldn't get past the touchy feely attitude and the poorly organized book to get to the meat of the matter. I also found the content structured to be distracting which makes reading this tile, a book on helping those with ADHD, a joke.

( )

I've just finished reading The Disorganized Mind by Nancy Ratey. It's filled with practical suggestions for living with ADD/ADHD based on the author's years of experience with the condition, both in her own life and in the lives of her clients.

The best part about the book is that it's filled with ideas that are explained in detail, based on actual people and the strategies they've developed for living successfully in a non-ADHD world. Ratey's advice is, above all, realistic and clearly stresses the importance of developing an awareness and understanding of one's own individual issues. Once we understand our own needs, we can each consider, choose, and adapt from the strategies Ratey outlines for us.

I wish I'd said it first, but as one Amazon reviewer said, "Nancy Ratey rocks!" The book is kind and compassionate, but also firm about the need for taking personal responsibility. It is well-written and easy to read, but filled with useful information.

This book is helpful for people living with ADHD, either in themselves or someone they love, but it could be just as helpful for anyone dealing with the daily stresses and demands of living in modern society. Each of you should read this book! ( )