Customer Reviews

Answers to Distraction

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The book's question and answer format is a perfect vehicle for finding and refinding essential information about ADD.

"Answers to Distraction" relies less on the first person stories of "Driven", focusing instead on delivering the appropriate amount of information for a specific question.

The books logical organization around chapter topics lets you concentrate your reading. It's a great book to keep handy.

If you have Driven to Distraction, don't waste your money on Answers. Dr. Hallowell directily quotes passages from his own book. It's just more of the same, only phrased as questions and answers. Much of the book is filled with repetition even from chapter to chapter.

Again, Drs. Hallowell and Ratey provide ADDers with another essential tool in dealing with their disability. Those who have ADD really should have this book and Driven to Distraction if they haven't it. Even if I reread the book, it continues to provide me with and remind me of helpful principles in living as an ADDer. One thing the books have taight me: ADDers are normal! We are trapped in a structure-trapped, overformalistic world that causes us to be distracted, yet has little tolerance for it. Yet the ADDer can survive - successfully. Thanks again to Drs. Hallowell and Ratey for such a relevant and helpful book - their books in fact!

This tape along with it's predecessor Driven To Distraction are must "reads". Like many others that are faced with the fact that they have ADHD or ADD, I too have difficulty getting through an entire book that is so full of information. But this audio version was a savior for me. I am a firm believer in books on tape and these ones helped me learn about myself so fully that it brought tears to my eyes (thankfully I wasn't driving at the time). I have two sons that have been diagnosed with ADD and have made marked improvement in school since we found out and started treating them. But these tapes helped me focus on the fact that I too suffer from the disorder and how it has channelled my life through the years. I would whole heartedly reccommend these tapes for anyone that has an interest in these disorders, from teachers to parents to sufferers like myself. Also the books by Russell A Barkley, he is a VERY thoughtful man that also has tapes available.

Dr. Hallowell & Dr. Ratey have written two books that are considered the gold standard of material on the subject of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This book, and its predescessor Driven To Distraction, share equally in providing the basics about the disorder in children, and adults. The format is easy to read and gives people who are new to understanding the disorder an overview of what it feels like to be ADHD. The chapter on Anger, "The gemlike flame", will take you step by step on how the ADD mind processes an incident that results in frustration and temper outbursts. Only from working with hundreds of people could Hallowell & Ratey detail this information in such an understandable format. In fact, this is the book that allowed me to be diagnosed with ADHD as a 36 year old adult, even though I had been diagnosed "hyperactive" as a young child back in the seventies when it was assumed the disorder went away with the onset of puberty!

This a great AD/HD resource. The book is written in a very ADD friendly Q & A format. This book will anser many commonly asked AD/HD related questions. Many of the questioned answered are ones that you may have always wanted to know but were afried to ask.

This a great book to add your AD/HD Library.

I purchased this book when my husband was diagnosed with ADD. I had very little experience with the condition and didn't know how to help him. The book was wonderful. It includes so many helpful tips for non-medical management that I was almost overwhelmed with ideas. We slowly tried them out and kept the ones that worked for us and discarded those that didn't. The book also helped me understand the condition. I had a hard time understanding what his world was like but the book really helped with that. It is a must read for any parent or spouse living with an ADD sufferer.

I was diagnosed with Attention Deficeit Disorder at age 51. Although my son has suffered from this disorder all his life, it wasn't until I was diagnosed with the same problem that I fully realized what he has gone through his entire life. I discovered that while I was NOT aware of having ADD until age 51, the signs have been there all my life. This book, taken from questions submitted by the audiences to the author's lectures, was a fast, entertaining & meaningful read for me. It is in short "bites" that are easy to understand & helpful for those of us with short attention spans. I learned a lot about the disorder and about myself from reading this book. This is the first book on ADD that I have been able to actually finish without giving up in sheer boredom.

I am a 26 year old who found out at 21 that ADD was the reason for all of my adolescent years of frustration. I was playing on an uneven playing field. This book helped me understand what I was diagnosed with as well as how to deal with many of the effects of the "disorder," which I know view as a blessing. I would recommed this book to anyone with ADHD or anyone in a relationship or family with a person who has been diagnosed or who they believe has the symptoms of ADHD.

Please disregard the top statement about ADHD being a medical fad. Obviously, he/she has never gone through a day of having ADHD. If this ADHD thing is such a fad, as he/she claims, then explain why studies have shown that well over 50% of those diagnosed with ADHD report major improvements after medication. ADHD research is not perfect, but it has benefited way too many people in this world to pass it off as just an excuse to sell pills.

I guarantee that the reviewer would not be diagnosed with ADHD, as he/she suggests. Doctors go through a series of questioning, and you will only be diagnosed unless your symptoms go over a certain threshold. You don't just get labeled with ADHD because you're forgetful or sometimes hyper; you have to display a certain level of symptoms. In extreme cases, it's almost impossible to deny: blurting out comments for no apparent reason, complete inability to sit still, etc....

ADHD research is not perfect. But just because it doesn't work for you or your family does not mean it applies to everyone. I'm sorry that your child was misdiagnosed, but a lot of people are diagnosed and helped. But for those who want to find information, I have (and most psychologists I know) recommended "Driven to Distraction". It's pretty much the most basic book you can find on the subject. If you are one of the fairly small percentage of adults who are constantly frustrated by a brain malfunction that makes you feel stupid (even though you know you're not), then please at least do the research. It couldn't hurt you to arm yourself with more information.