ADD Success Stories: A Guide to Fulfillment for Families with Attention Deficit Disorder [Paperback]

Thom Hartmann (Author), John J. Ratey (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 9, 1995

From the author of Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception and Focus Your Energy come inspiring real life stories which show how people with ADD can succeed in school, at work, and in relationships. "An excellent book. Inspiring and validating; I recommend it highly!"--Edward Hallowell, M.D., coauthor of Driven to Distraction.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Thom Hartmann is the creator of the Hunter-Farmer theory about ADD, profiled in Time magazine, which theorizes that today's Attention Deficit Disorder is a remnant of the hunter/gatherer society of ancient times. His pioneering book has sold over 100,000 copies. He is the author of six books on ADD. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover

"You absolutely must read this book! Thom Hartmann provides people with Attention Deficit Disorder great hope, encouragement and a sense of direction." -- Paul Elliott, M.D., ADD specialist. "This book is in large measure a presentation of shared stories about individuals who have succeeded in engineering their environments to help them both overcome and utilize the characteristics of their ADD. -- John J. Ratey, M.D., co-author of Driven to Distraction. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Underwood Books (August 9, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887424032
• ISBN-13: 978-1887424035
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #315,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thom Hartmann, who started in radio in 1968, is also an internationally known speaker on culture and communications, an author, and an innovator in the fields of psychiatry, ecology, and economics. The co-founder (with his wife, Louise) of The New England Salem Children's Village (1978) and The Hunter School (1997), he has led national innovations in the areas of residential treatment for abused children and private/public education for learning-disabled children. Hartmann is the four-time Project Censored Award-winning, New York Times best-selling author of nineteen books currently in print in over a dozen languages on five continents. He is the former executive director of a residential treatment program for emotionally disturbed and abused children, and has helped set up hospitals, famine relief programs, schools, and refugee centers in India, Uganda, Australia, Colombia, Russia, and the United States through the German-based Salem International program. Formerly rostered with the State of Vermont as a psychotherapist, founder of The Michigan Healing Arts Center, and licensed as an NLP Trainer by Richard Bandler (who wrote the foreword to one of Thom's books), he was the originator of the revolutionary "Hunter/Farmer Hypothesis" to understand the psychiatric condition known as Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). A guest faculty member at Goddard College in Vermont, he also synthesized the "Younger/Older Culture model" for describing the underpinnings - and possible solutions - to the world's ecological and socio-political crises, suggesting that many of our problems are grounded in cultural "stories" which go back thousands of years. His most recent books are "Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class," "The Edison Gene," "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight," "Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights," "We The People: A Call to Take Back America," and "What Would Jefferson Do?"

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A really useful book!, July 2, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ADD Success Stories: A Guide to Fulfillment for Families with Attention Deficit Disorder (Paperback)

I have to admit that I was prepared not to think much of Thom Hartman's hunter vs. farmer theory. I wanted something that seemed more "real" (now I'm not sure what I meant by that). So I saved this book for last and read Russell Barkeley and others first. To my surprise, this was my favorite of the six books on ADD I read, maybe because I did save it for last. I read all the pathological stuff first and it made a lot of sense to me, but it also made me feel overwhelmed about the job ahead of me raising two sons with ADHD. Then I read Hartman and immediately felt a sense of relief. This I can deal with, I thought. (And to my real surprise, I realize now that I'm a hunter, too!)

Specifically, this book is full of "tips" from folks with ADD themselves (mostly adults, with a few high school and college students mixed in) about how they manage various aspects of ADD in their lives. The book presupposes that you know what ADD is and accept that you will have to manage it or it will manage you (if you haven't gotten that far yet, read Driven to Distraction first). It does not expound his hunter/farmer theory in great detail (that's in ADD- A Different Perception) but gives you enough of this theory that you can "get it" without reading his other books. (In my opinion, you can skip his other books and go straight to this one.) Hartman does not suggest (as I thought he would) that folks with ADD don't ever need to consider medication, nor does he gloss over the fact that life with ADD presents many challenges, difficulty, and pain for "hunters" and their families, teachers, and friends. (Note: this book is oriented more toward teens and adults than young children in terms of the "tips" but I also think it is valuable for folks with young children who can benefit from the "long view" of life with ADD.)

So many books out there are about theory, and this one is about real life management without elaborate point systems and IEPs. The message is to understand yourself, find out what you're good at and what you're not, and then try to find a path through life where you use your talents. Understand that you're not good at everything, and get help with things you need help with, but basically, get out there and channel that energy and enthusiasm and locate what someone called "right livelihood."

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The BEST collection of suggestions for dealing with ADD, November 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: ADD Success Stories: A Guide to Fulfillment for Families with Attention Deficit Disorder (Paperback)

Of the 4 ADD books I've read so far, I've definitely enjoyed this one most. I think it has the most practical tips, a good explanation for what's known about ADD, and a supportive, but not condescending tone.

I even liked the Hunter/Farmer model/theory/metaphor/mythology of ADDers just being another type of person, rather than a defective one. He makes some convincing arguments for the plausibility of this theory, yet doesn't hit you over the head with it. I don't personally need the ego boost of saying I'm a Hunter, versus those slow Farmers. :-) But it is somewhat comforting to think you're just wired differently, instead of wired defectively.

Anyway, the best part is the tips from his previous readers. I've read through them and highlighted a lot. Now I have to go back and write summaries, and try to apply one idea a week, rather than trying to do everything at once.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book for ADD'ers, June 16, 2002

By 

Robert Kall "Rob Kall of Opednews.com" (Newtown, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: ADD Success Stories: A Guide to Fulfillment for Families with Attention Deficit Disorder (Paperback)

Thom Hartmann is one of the best writers on ADD, for ADD'ers. Why? Because he doesn't label people with ADD as having brain disease and broken. His Hunter in a Farmer's World Model makes so much sense. It's been dissed by Barkley and others, but in the last year hard genetic research has come in proving the theory, and other ADD researchers have reached the same conclusions.
But that's not why you should buy this book Buy it because it gives tons of examples of people with ADD who have had success in all different aspects of life. The fact is, ADD people are the ones with ants in their pants who change the world. Who don't sit there and settle for the ordinary. They do things-- start companies (entrepreneurs,) make noise about problems (call them politicians and activists,) investigate stuff (detectives, reporters, scientists who don't wash test tubes and replicate the ADD scientists visionary work.)

So read about how ADD'ers make it, how they succeed, and start feeling not only hopeful, but perhaps even a bit cocky about being an ADD'er or knowing one.