Sunday, January 4, 2015

Driven to Distraction

by Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey

Thoughts: Interesting book on ADD, or Attention Deficit Disorder (sometimes with an added H, ADHD, for Hyperactivity).

I don't feel too qualified to judge this book, as I don't have ADD myself, or any family members with ADD. I had some notes written down anyway, but... I lost them. I'm not doing that well with these end of the year books, sigh. So by skimming through the book again, here are a couple points I came up with, so my review isn't completely boring:

  • It is a great general overview. It talks about children vs adults, ADD vs ADHD, the many different manifestations of ADD, treatment of ADD, and is filled with personal examples as well as documented facts and facts discovered through the author's years of helping people with ADD. It comes at it from all angles, which is very useful.
  • However, I think personally I wanted something with a bit more on how to help/communicate with/understand people with ADD, from a non-ADD person's point of view. It was why I started reading this book in the first place. It's not the type of book this is, though, even though it definitely includes some helpful info in this regard.
  • I have heard from an ADD friend that this is pretty much the best book on the subject there is. So with that in mind, I recommend it. It is, as I mentioned, full of useful information that comes at this from many different angles.

Grade: ?? Maybe ... 3 stars for enjoyment, I guess?

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