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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent introduction to the neurobiology of ADD, February 26, 2006
Over the last two years, I have been immersed both professionally and personally in exploring the relationship between executive functioning in the brain and personal functioning out in the world. This book is one of the most accessible volumes I have found on the neurobiological aspects of ADD. I especially appreciated the chapter on co-occuring conditions. There are many related neurological conditions such as such as depression, anxiety, and autistic spectrum disorders, that combine with ADD to make an individual's situation more complicated than is usually presented in books. My only quarrel with Brown is in his enthusiasm for stimulant medication to the virtual exclusion of other treatments. Stimulant medications can be wonderful when they work. Even when they work however, the person with ADD can benefit from his one designed counseling, training, and treatment. With that caveat, I highly recommend this book.
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42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Accessible Brilliance, December 23, 2005
As a college student who suffers from ADD, I have heard just about every myth you could imagine related to ADD in our popular culture. Professionals and authors I've come across often provide tedious, contradictory opinions, which is why I was so happy to find a book that offers real clarity.
With a combination of rock-solid scientific research and accessible anecdotes, Dr. Brown removes the clutter from understanding the cluttered ADD mind. He debunks myths systematically, and more importantly offers enlightening explanations that can provide real help.
Serious professionals will identify Dr. Brown as an accomplished expert who clearly speaks their language, while those seeking guidance for their own ADD, or for a loved one, will be able to learn a great deal. I am not someone who is majoring in psychology and have only a limited background with the terminology, and I found the book to be written at a level someone of my experience could understand. I would advise those interested in learning about ADD to pick it up and give it careful consideration.
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80 of 92 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A clinical sobering view--somewhat helpful, at times misleading, December 2, 2005
Brown eschews the spate of ADD books that champion the idea 'How wonderful that I have ADD. I'm unique, creative and all I have to do is learn to adapt myself to the world and I will have a great life' hype that sells copies for people with ADD seeking a cure-all. Brown is an empiricist and does not subscribe to anecdotal evidence such as prominent people who have ADD to suggest everyone can. In fact, his sobering view is that the executive functions of the brain are compromised in the ADD mind, and therefore, 'training' is of little use nor are the newer strategies of neurofeedback or exercises that purport to 'balance the cerebellum,' which he likens to trying to treat autism by providing courses in communication skills. Rather, his emphasis is that ADD is a serious disorder, or rather a syndrome since there are many parameters to it, or in other words, many roads that lead to it. On the positive side he denounces the deniers of ADD like scientologists and 'common sense' observations that you just need to give a child some motivation and will power. He believes thus far medication is about the only good treatment, and wryly states stimulants and other medical treatments are fine for 8 out of 10 people with ADD, fine that is, if you happen to be one of the eight. He presents advice to families that has been covered already in much of the literature. While his views are conservative--and he does not discuss various severities of ADD--this is a helpful book if you need a good outline of the available evidence on the subject, and will be a welcome ADDition to your library, particularly if you have been frustrated by the upbeat hype, and begin blaming yourself for not 'getting with the program.' At times, however, he overreaches his thesis, making suggesting that the 'executive functions' in people with ADD are so compromised they are practically hopeless. He does not mention degrees of ADD although he mentions types of ADD. He also does a bit of contradicting by first stating that it is a syndrome with multiple causes but then treats it as though all the variables result in basically the same condition. He also fails to address sufficiently the cultural variable of a world saturated with information that can exacerbate the condition, nor does he mention the idea that ADD may evolve during the lifespan, regardless of medication or behavioral training.
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