Bright Not Broken: Gifted Kids, ADHD, and Autism [Hardcover]

Diane M. Kennedy (Author), Rebecca S. Banks (Author), Temple Grandin (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 13, 2011

The future of our society depends on our gifted children--the population in which we'll find our next Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, or Virginia Woolf.  Yet the gifts and talents of some of our most brilliant kids may never be recognized because these children fall into a group known as twice exceptional, or "2e." Twice exceptional kids are both gifted and diagnosed with a disability--often ADHD or an Autism Spectrum Disorder--leading teachers and parents to overlook the child's talents and focus solely on his weaknesses. Too often, these children get lost in an endless cycle of chasing diagnostic labels and are never given the tools to fully realize their own potential.

Bright Not Broken sheds new light on this vibrant population by identifying who twice exceptional children are and taking an unflinching look at why they're stuck.  The first work to boldly examine the widespread misdiagnosis and controversies that arise from our current diagnostic system, it serves as a wake-up call for parents and professionals to question why our mental health and education systems are failing our brightest children.

Finally, the authors show what we can do to help 2e children, providing a whole child model for parents and educators to strengthen and develop a child's innate gifts while also intervening to support the deficits.  Drawing on painstaking research and personal experience, Bright Not Broken offers groundbreaking insight and practical strategies to those seeking to help 2e kids achieve their full potential.

Diane M. Kennedy, author of The ADHD-Autism Connection, is a long time advocate, international speaker/trainer, and mother of three twice-exceptional sons.

Rebecca S. Banks, M.A., co-author of The ADHD-Autism Connection, is a veteran educator, national speaker/trainer, and mother of two twice-exceptional children.

Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is a professor, prolific author, and one of the most accomplished and renowned adults with autism in the world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book addresses an important, under discussed topic, supporting children with social and attention problems but who have good cognitive skills. With discussion of who they are and why they end up stuck and frustrated, this highly readable book fills an important need."
-- Fred R Volkmar, MD, Director, Yale Child Study Center

This book is essential for parents and professionals.  It is both theoretical, practical and creatively updates thinking on autism spectrum disorders.  In our experience change in the field only happens when parents campaign which these authors are doing with such enthusiasm.
 
 
Dr. Lorna Wing and Judith Gould, PhD
The National Autistic Society

"A work of tremendous scholarship and passion that deserves to be a seminal and paradigm-shifting work. It should be read by all parents of gifted children with coexistent disabilities--and the professionals who work with them."
William Sheehan, MD, Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Services, Willmar, MN


"This book is an outstanding analysis of the flaws in the educational and psychiatric approaches to children's challenges. It gave me excellent insight into my more challenging cases and has had a profound impact on my personal and professional life."
Ruth Goldberg, PhD, clinical and school psychologist, mother of three 2e children

"Bright Not Broken is a unique resource for parents and professionals who seek to understand children's behaviors.  The authors are to be applauded for their clear-thinking approach to the jungle of DSM labels--a must read for the open minded!"
Lydia Furman, MD, Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Cleveland OH

"This book is truly inspiring and it shows that by simply changing our perception of these children, and then the testing and education that stems from that perception, we can help them become successful, contributing adults." (psychcentral.com, March 13th, 2012)

From the Inside Flap

The future of our society depends on our gifted children—the population in which we'll find our next Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, or Virginia Woolf. Yet the gifts and talents of some of our most brilliant kids may never be recognized because these children fall into a group known as twice exceptional, or 2e. Twice-exceptional kids are both gifted and diagnosed with a disability—often ADHD or an autism spectrum disorder—leading teachers and parents to overlook the child's talents and focus solely on his weaknesses. Too often, these children get lost in an endless cycle of chasing diagnostic labels and are never given the tools to fully realize their own potential.

Bright Not Broken sheds new light on this vibrant population by identifying who twice-exceptional children are and taking an unflinching look at why they're stuck. The first work to boldly examine the widespread misdiagnosis and controversies that arise from our current diagnostic system, it serves as a wake-up call for parents and professionals to question why our mental health and education systems are failing our brightest children.

Most important, the authors show what we can do to help 2e children, providing a whole child model for parents and educators to strengthen and develop a child's innate gifts while also intervening to support the deficits. Drawing on painstaking research and personal experience, Bright Not Broken offers groundbreaking insight and practical strategies to those seeking to help 2e kids achieve their full potential.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (September 13, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470623322
• ISBN-13: 978-0470623329
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.1 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Preaching to the choir and very thin on solutions August 14, 2011

By Todd Justman VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

The notion of a book focusing on the giftedness that accompanies ADHD/ASD was exciting since that's the kind of child we have. But despite the title clearly indicating guidance on how to help twice-exceptional children, I found very little in this book to do that. Even scanning the 10 chapters you see that the last two belong in the section "how to help them" and one of those chapters deals with diagnosis. And the other chapter is very thin on solutions; much come across as platitudes. Ultimately the book comes across as a rant against people being defined by their disabilities instead of their gifts. Wonderful message. I got there on my own years ago. Anyone who has seen the film "Temple Grandin" has gotten there, as well as anyone with a child who fits this 2e classification. We get it. But in case you don't, this book will drill it into you until you cry no mas.

The reason I got this book is that my child has already gone through plenty of testing, and it's become apparent to me that he fits this taxonomy. I suspect many, many others do. So I don't need repetitive chapters describing the type. I know the type. I live with the type. I probably *myself* fit the type. I got that. And our IEP team (fortunately) gets it too - but what we need are specific solutions that we can sell to the educators who implement the IEP. And anyone who has dealt with their IEP team and school knows, most the great ideas in the IEP meeting don't get implemented, and the ones that do, most don't get implemented properly, and of those, even less are measured. So platitudes and directional guidance are of little use. When it comes to special education, school districts love to live in the world of platitudes and no accountability because it's easier for them. What is needed is a bulleted list of 20 specific, measurable actions the IEP team can take to implement a "2e" accommodation strategy. This book falls incredibly short of that, which is shockingly unbelievable given that the book is written by parents of 2e children. I would expect this kind of writing from psychologists who are somewhat detached, or educators who don't pine for tight accountability, not from fellow parents in the trenches. Perhaps their original book they wrote covers this ground, but this one certainly doesn't.

Some of the key takeaways that didn't help me included making sure your kid gets IQ tested (IEP already did that twice - part of the original screening from psychologists), evaluate social skills deficiencies (IEP team already picked up on that years ago and included training in the IEP), and use multiple modalities (fairly basic teaching methods). If your school district has an abysmal special education team you will get more use from this book than I.

One nice takeaway for me was the notion that an IEP should contain accommodations that focus on a strength of the child. That is new thinking to me, and helpful. The book pointed me to a $15 article in the "Intervention in School and Clinic" journal. I'd prefer this information be included in the book, however. And I still am left with the challenge of including something that amounts to a "nice to have" into an IEP plan where we struggle to even drive progress towards the "must do" goals.

All in all, a disappointing title given its focus area and pitch to help parents help their 2e children. I will be looking for the specifics soon.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Encouraging book September 22, 2011

By MB VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Having children on the spectrum, I see a lot of books that are full of information about what Autism or related disorders are. They spend a lot of time telling you to seek professional help or how the journey is going to be long and hard, but never giving a real sense of hope to the readers that their kids are special. Bright not Broken is a book that not only is informative, but also a resource filled with hope. It gets hard hearing how my kids are broken and the outcome devastating, but this book gave me a different outlook: My kids have a lot of promise. The authors tackle the school system and parent's way of thinking about their children. They encourage you to look deeper and see the skills and talents and uniqueness of your children. Instead of focusing so much on what they can't do, the authors challenge you to see what they can do--most times they do it better than most. I appreciated this book for the hope it holds out to parents and for not filling our minds with one more devastating fact about autism. Our children have special needs but the key word is that they truly are special.

This book goes into many different learning disabilities and disorders. I'm not sure its a cure-all if that is what you are looking for. Instead, its a different way of looking at kids with learning disabilities or on the spectrum. There is so much negativity and this books sheds a new view on these kids. For that, its well worth the read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a focus on strengths! September 28, 2011

By C. Wollin VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I got the chance to review this book just in the nick of time. I have two children with Aspergers Syndrome and their school meetings were coming up. This book covers so many issues that we've delt with throughout the years. First diagnosis seems to be ADHD, then perhaps Aspergers and a mood disorder. And no other source has ever given us any good ideas for dealing with all this packaged together, especially if they happen to be gifted as well.

Of course, as I began reading this, I teared up because I finally felt like someone understood what it was like to deal with the doctors and school systems. It's been a long and emotional road for us, but I think finally, we're on the right track. This book gives practical and encouraging advice and realizes that our systems aren't perfect, but there are additional things that can be done to help if you have the means. For us, we figured out a rewards system for the oldest. He does well in school, but refuses to do homework, so his grades are usually close to failing. He learns best by teaching himself (reading and hands-on) and we found, after discussing it over with him, that he would agree to do the homework that he finds an utter waste of time if we'd let him study on his own in advanced fields by allowing him to order textbooks and programs that he was interested in, mainly 3-D rendering and computer programming. It's working well so far, but it took some close monitoring in the beginning. He also has started repairing computers and game systems in his free time.

We're in the process of having the younger sibling evaluated now, and hoping to get an IEP in place for her. There are a great many ideas for younger children included, and I wish we would have had this book around when my older Aspie was younger. I have high hopes for her IEP, and I feel armed with information this time around!