The Survival Guide for Kids with ADD or ADHD

I recently had the distinct please of reviewing The Survival Guide for Kids with ADD or ADHD. The publisher, Free Spirit Publishing, recommends this book for children ages 8 - 12. Since my 11 year old son has learning disabilities in addition to his ADHD, we read this book together. It's a wonderful book that fully captivated him and kept his attention. I think the child-like illustrations helped accomplish that difficult task.

One of his (and my) favorite chapters was chapter 7: Seven Ways to Make and Keep Friends. This is an especially difficult task for my son. He found the seven tips within this chapter to be easy to understand and even easier to follow. Here's a little sneak peek of the tips....

1. Feel good about yourself
2. Use polite and kind words
3. Listen and show you care
4. Take turns and share
5. Try new activities
6. Offer to help others
7. Solve conflicts peacefully

Of course the book goes into detail and explains how to accomplish each of the seven tasks effectively.

Other great features of the book are:

• It is relatively short at 107 pages. Keep in mind that many pages have creative graphics as well as "check this out" and "quick tip" side notes. Your child will not be reading strictly text from beginning to end.
• The Introduction of the book explains three things to your child: how it can help your child, how to use it, and how to succeed with ADHD. The Intro is short, to the point and encouraging.
• Each of the eight chapters are followed by a short, four question quiz. This is an excellent tool and will enable you to see if your child understood what he has just read.
• There is an awesome "Progress Chart" at the end of chapter eight that is reproduceable. It is meant to help your child work on his/her ADHD challenges.
• "A Note to Parents, Teachers, and Counselors" is included at the back of the book. This provides a summary of each chapter. Let's say your child is capable of reading the book on his own. By reading the "Note" you will be able to ask questions and discuss what your child is reading with him. Is that great or what? A Cliff Notes for parents!
• Finally, throughout the book there are certain words in bold print. These are words that may be unfamiliar to your child. Your child can easily refer to the Glossary in the back of the book for a definition of these words.

I can honestly and enthusiastically recommend this book. The author, John F. Taylor, Ph.D., thought of everything when writing this book. He does not use medical jargon or fancy smancy words. He keeps it simple and understandable for children. He truly relates to them on their level while teaching and encouraging them. This is one book that will remain in our personal library for year to come!

You can view an excerpt from the book on Free Spirit Publishing's website or at amazon.com. This book is very reasonably priced and retails for only $13.95. Happy reading!