The Gift of ADHD, 2d » (2)

Lara Honos-Webb, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is author of The Gift of ADHD, The Gift of ADHD Activity Book, Listening to Depression, and The Gift of Adult ADD. Her work has been featured in Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, and newspapers across the country. She has appeared on national radio and television programs.

Foreword writer Scott M. Shannon, MD, is a founding member of the American Holistic Medical Association and served as president from 2000-2001. He started the country's first academically based integrative clinic in child psychiatry at the University of Colorado Children's Hospital in Denver, CO, where he works as assistant clinical professor. He is author of the book Please Don't Label My Child and was recently named president-elect of the American Board of Holistic and Integrative Medicine.

In the second edition of The Gift of ADHD, Lara Honos-Webb offers strategies for shifting parents' understanding of their child's attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to focus on the positive traits of this diagnosis. The book also provides step-by-step cognitive behavioral exercises for helping children function effectively and improving the parent-child relationship.

As a parent, you already know that your child has many gifts. What you may not know is that attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related symptoms—the very qualities that lead him or her to act out and distract others—may be among them. This second edition of The Gift of ADHD includes compelling new research indicating that the impulses that lead your child to act exuberantly may correspond with unusual levels of creativity and a heightened capacity for insight into the feelings and emotions of others. Could it be that ADHD is not a hindrance, but an asset in our fast-paced digital age?

ADHD expert Lara Honos-Webb presents the evidence for this revolutionary concept and explains how you can help your child develop control over inattentive, hyperactive behavior and enhance the five gifts of ADHD: creativity, attunement to nature, interpersonal intuition, energetic enthusiasm, and emotional sensitivity. Filled with easy skill-building activities you and your child can do together, this book will help your child transform problematic symptoms into strengths, then build the self-esteem they need to let those gifts shine.

Publishers Weekly

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.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Acknowledgments v

Foreword vii

Preface to the Second Edition xi

Preface to the First Edition xv

Chapter 1 Difference Is Not a Disorder or a Deficit 1

Chapter 2 How You Can Transform Your Child 23

Chapter 3 Reclaiming Self-Esteem for Your Child 45

Chapter 4 How to Become Your Child's Advocate, Not Apologist 65

Chapter 5 The Gift of Creativity 89

Chapter 6 Showing the Way: Ecological Consciousness 107

Chapter 7 Interpersonal Intuition 127

Chapter 8 Your Exuberant Child: Reframing Hyperactivity 145

Chapter 9 Your Emotionally Expressive Child 161

Chapter 10 How to Navigate the Educational and Mental Health Systems 179

References 197