Customer Reviews

Beyond Ritalin: Facts About Medication and Other Strategies for Helping Children, Adolescents, and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorders

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After months of searching for information on the subject of Ritalin, I found this book. Beyond Ritalin is the only book I've found that presents the facts of Ritalin and not the myths. Someone very dear in my life has struggled with the stigmatism of having Attention Deficit Disorder his whole life. Many people look badly upon him for taking Ritalin, but as the book points out you have to find what works for you. This book helped us sort through all the stories, you hear from both sides of the issue and for once lets the reader decide for themselves. I recommend this book to anyone who has ADD or loves someone with ADD. It will give you the facts and help you make an educated decision of your course of treatment for ADD.

One evening when a coworker was studying for a CEU course on ADHD, I happened to peruse the text she was using for her course. It contained a lengthy list of behavioral symptoms for the sufferers of ADHD, and I suddenly realized that an acquaintance exhibited nearly all of them. When I mentioned it to the individual, they replied that they'd always thought that they had the disorder, but that it had never been diagnosed. Since it was obviously very disruptive of their life, I decided to do a little research to see if I could find out anything that might conceivably help.

Although "Nature's Ritalin for the Marathon Mind" was my first book (chosen since it dealt with the use of physical exercise in helping focus the sufferer) the book "Beyond Ritalin" by Garber, Garber, and Spizman was my second. What I found especially impressive was that the authors did not espouse any given method of treatment. They were not "all for' or "completely against" medication as a method of approach, and they were up-front with what medication could and could not do for the sufferer of ADHD.

More than anything the authors made it obvious that ADHD is a DIAGNOSIS and NOT AN EXCUSE. It is not an excuse for the sufferer to "drop out" of the world or give up because it's "hopeless" and certainly not an excuse for parents to give up on parenting the child with ADHD just because he/she is "on medication" or "impossible."

The discussion of the various types of medications available was very honest, describing potential side effects, variation in individual response, and effective limitations. Most importantly, as they point out in some of their section headings: "Medication does not teach socially acceptable behavior (p. 130)," "Medication does not help ADHD youth or adults feel happier (p. 130)," "Medication does not teach reflective thinking (p. 144)," "Medication does not teach you how to control where to focus attention (p. 145)," "Medication does not make the individual organized (p. 161)," "Medication doesn't improve self-esteem or self-confidence (p. 206)," etc. In short, both the sufferers and their families have a lot of work to do, and it's hard work. However, not to do that work is to spend the rest of ones life spinning ones wheels.

Among the suggestions for treatment of the disorder are those that the authors have found effective in their clinical practice. Their observations about complications arising from learning disorders and skills deficits were very cogent. Certainly the individual suffering already from ADHD is beat before they start until learning problems are addressed and missed skills are remedied possibly with the aid of special tutors.

Suggestions for behavioral training (with respect to remembering things, completing projects, organizing the environment and ones day) were all very helpful as were the social skills training for individuals who have difficulty making friends and "fitting in." The problems with task commitment and test taking were especially informative. The authors' point out that many individuals can do the work but may find testing situations frustrating and overwhelming. I especially found the hints about limiting and defining the task, sometimes even visually (by covering part of a page with a piece of paper) were helpful, as were those offered for developing organizational skills. As they write with respect to the latter, "Most people find getting organized difficult. The difference is that whereas most people can get away with being disorganized, those with ADHD cannot. Since ADHD people are easily distracted, disorganization can 'do them in (p.173).'"

The authors also point out that living with ADHD can be very stressful and irritating. Their chapter "Taming the Tiger Within" points out that medication can be somewhat lumpy in its effects throughout the day. It also may make the person look and act calmer, but may leave them actually feeling just as they always do. They can listen better, accomplish more, get better grades, but still not feel calm or relaxed. The authors suggest some progressive relaxation training, or imagery: "Relaxation exercises remain one of the best ways to manage symptoms of ADHD and to permit the individual to acquire feelings of control (p. 186)."

The last chapter pertains to ADHD among adults. Here the authors note that ADHD is not a disorder that the sufferer just "grows out of with time" but continues to effect the individual into adulthood. Most significant are the findings that in adulthood the outcomes of the disorder do not seem to be distinguishable between those individuals treated with medication as children and those who were not. It seems that multidimensional treatment modalities have a greater chance of improving outcomes and that it's never too late to get help.

I had great expectations for this book. Unfortunately, it was not what I had hoped for. It is very dry, and doesn't come across as in language appropriate for the general public. I found myself disagreeing with the author throughout the book. I respect those who try alternate methods of treating ADD/ADHD. However, I think that most parents have tried everything, and that for some Ritalin has been a godsend. Of course there are many other medications now on the market, but putting my child on Ritalin three years ago made all the difference. He has his confidence back, and I believe that it will lead to a successful future. No parent wants to medicate their child, but for those who do it is not a negative thing. I found myself feeling guilty while reading this book that I had done something wrong. The last thing a parent needs is more guilt. I think the author could have been more politically correct in writing this.

This is an excellent, well-balanced book for parents, or anyone else who works or lives with a child with ADHD.
What I found particularly helpful in this book were some of the excercises the author described to help children with ADHD compensate for their restlessness, impulsiveness and distractability.
They recommends the children's game "statues" to help a child stay still longer. A stopwatch is used in most of the activities, and the goal is to "beat the clock". With statues the goal is to see how long the child can hold their "statue" position. While playing a game, the child is also practising standing still.
There is a lot of good information about medication in this book. The author is neither for or against medication, but instead provides good information on what medication can and can't do.
As a parent of a child with ADHD, I found this a very useful book.

This book provided little help to us in the years we were desperate for assistance.

For one thing, it focuses to narrowly on the ADHD as a disease, and not nearly enough on the possible causes. For another, the book completely dismisses the fact that by the time most parents get around to using Ritalin for their kids, they have already tried all the behavioral modifications suggested in this volume. We certainly did, to the extent of hiring a private physician to observe our child in the classroom and carefully lay out strategies to help the teacher and school staff constructively contend with our child's issues.

Now it is certainly true that medication is NOT a be all and end all, and most parents who do put their children on Ritalin or other stimulants, do so with the hope that they can eventually develop coping strategies that will enable them to function without the medication.

Having said that, however, behavioral modification is no more a be all and end all than the medication! And in some cases, for a host of reasons, it simply does not work on its own.

Sure, it is important to teach children the proper rules of behavior and conduct. Of course, medication cannot do that. But for heavens sakes, does anyone really think that it would? We certainly did not, and in the same way, we were open to considering anything that showed proven efficacy in dealing with the medical realities.

One of those, which few medical doctors discuss, is neuro-biofeedback, of both the eeg and heg varieties, which we have found exceedingly helpful. and continue to use. Doctors, too, should expand their horizons---not only beyond medication, but beyond behavior modification.

Diet and vitamins are also important factors, for example, considering that the human brain continues to grow and develop until a person is about in his or her mid 20s. That's another thing this book does not discuss, and very few physicians mentioned to us, either. But nutrition is very very important.

If we had put our daughter on ritalin she would have gone into a full blown manic attack. She was diagnosed with depression with ADD as a side-effect. If you look carefully at the DSM-IV criteria for either depression or a BiPolar disorder it is easy to see how the classic symptoms of mania or depression can be misdiagnosed as ADHD/ADD. There is a current study out that shows that nearly most of the children diagnosed as bipolar have ADHD/ADD as a co-existing condition and if mistreated with a stimulant like ritalin, can further push a child into mania.