Customer Reviews

Genius!: Nurturing the Spirit of the Wild, Odd, and Oppositional Child

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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I am a parent who has read many parenting books looking for help with my extraordinary daughter. Off and on I would tire of reading and trying to find answers, and just wing it. Other times I would come back around to books, often gleaning just one new idea or suggestion of use to me, in a book loaded with information otherwise useless to my parenting challenges. My family and I plodded painfully on.

This book takes a very positive perspective on kids with neurological brain disorders, choosing to call them "attention different", rather than disordered, which is so completely accurate, I love it! When in the trenches working with, or raising, a child with severe difficulties a fresh view like this can be a real life line.

We hear every person has a "genius" to discover and nurture. Children with attention differences need extraordinary support and guidance in finding and growing their "genius". Learning the most effective ways to support them, helps them move forward to independent and full lives. The book is full of practical methods to do just this.

Maybe the part I like the best is the focus on finding our own genius, and practicing a high level of wellness in our own lives, being the best gift we give our kids to help them do the same for themselves. When you are in the thick of the struggle, and there is hardly time to breath for yourself, this is a message that is so needed. And there are detailed suggestions to practicing such wellness.

The Lynns share from their own family life adding a very personal touch that rings true for those of us who have "been there". This is a great read for anyone looking for new inspiration and directions for their family.

There are really no words that could even begin to describe my feelings after I finished this book tonight. I just sat there and held it to my heart and said "thank you" for telling my child's Great Story, for telling their child's Great Story. For each of our special children have their own Great Story to be told.

George Lynn and Joanne Barrie Lynn have unfolded their wings and allowed the incredible story of their son Gregory to be shared with all of us. This powerful book will move you to a deeper awareness, and maybe truly realize for the first time that our special kids are so much more than their diagnosis! Pay attention world, they have so much to teach you.

This book is like no other I have ever read on special needs children. It truly is a light in the darkenss, and the greatest message of hope for our children's future. I am deeply greatful.

I have a collection of law books but my collection of Bipolar Disorder books far outnumbers any interest of law I may have. I have twins, boy/girl and my boy was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 6. I have read practically every book written about this disease so that I can advocate and speak to the professionals about my son from a human point of view as well as diagnostic. Bus this book...Genius! had me near tears before I ever got to chapter one. The married authors each tell their story of their bipolar son who has graduated from high school, a mere miracle in our world. The authors told me something I need to hold on to as a face yet another IEP with a school who has no idea about bipolar children. My son is not some kid that can be ignored but that he has wonderful talents that need to be nurtured and not buried under a pile of suspensions, suicide attempts and grandiose remarks he makes to the 92 year old lady in the elevator "You're old!" He can sing perfectly in Japanese when the japanese cartoons come on (yugi-oh) He can talk with the knowledge and sencerity about the galaxy we live in and its beautiful planets, the "other" worlds, as well as the pyramids of Eygpt. Did I mention my son is 9? George Lynn and his wife know and I hope if you are a parent, teacher or friend of a bipolar, ADD, OCD, tourettes, aspergers- all on the scale of autism READ this book with a well deserved smile.
PS I am not related in any way to the Lynn's, however if I find in some way that I am I stand only in pride for their eloquent writing and knowledge of a very confusing disease...to outsiders.
Louisa Lynn
GRATEFUL mother of a bipolar child

Most helpful, thought-provoking, positive book I've read in a long while. Almost didn't because although my son is bi-polar, he's not wild and is only mildly oppositional, but all the many things George Lynn touches upon in his book hit me right between the eyes. POW! His view of these kids as not damaged but as biochemically different, perhaps for good reason, was refreshing. His tips for finding and nurturing their special gifts were concrete. He's the only author that's really helped me "get" my son. Few other books look forward, as does this one, into young adulthood. Few interweave pain and promise so eloquently.

I intend to buy copies for all the folks in my son's circle of support...med doc, counselor, teacher, grandparents.
Not just yet ready to pass my copy around because I find myself returning to it time and again for support and renewed insight.
Thanks to the Lynns for a great book!

Genius goes beyond most books about parenting the "wild" child--or any child. It goes way beyond simple techniques and support.

Genius goes deep into the purpose of parenting (hope for the future) and the poetry of parenting (experience of the present).

George Lynn deliniates the theory--the brilliant permutations in the various disorders. Joanne Barrie Lynn shares stories and poetry of her son--her resounding words echo her brave heart and mind. You can see how they've both sought genius and a peace in their parenting journey.

The authors wrote for my whole brain and heart. Now I can look at the "wild" children I love with a new embrace--and I can glimpse what their worlds can be.

This book will be high on the short list of titles I recommend to parents of challenging children who ask "which books are worth reading?" This title is clearly worth the investment of time, not only because George Lynn is a skilled therapist who has seen and helped scores of neurologically challenged kids, but because he has lived it as a parent. In addition to wise advice, this book records a very personal journey in which we can see what he and his wife experienced from the inside out.

I was particularly struck by his reminder that every human being needs a "Great Story" with which to frame their talents and strengths, something to serve as a beacon in darker times, a reminder that we each are much more than the sum of our liabilities. Kids with multiple difficulties need such a beacon especially, but while dealing with the stresses of daily living, it is all too easy to forget.

In the process of reminding parents and kids to seek the Great Stories they all have to tell, George Lynn has given the gift of a Great Story for himself.

I love this book. My 10 yr old is highly active & on a very low dose of adderall. This book helped me realize that I'm not alone in the fight for my child to have the life he deserves & not one someone else thinks he should because they don't see the spark as a good thing. Anyway, the biggest help with this book was with my mother. She cannot seem to wrap her head around my son's highly active nature & embrace him for who he is. This book has helped her see his differences as the treasures I have always known them to be.

This book is very positive about our children who think differently. It's easy to dwell on the limitations my child has, but this book encouraged me stop and think about the positive side of his "quirkiness." It doesn't deny the difficulties faced by "attention-different" children, but points out that there is a flip side to their way of thinking. And in fact the book helps you look at how the "solution" to the child's difficulties may actually lie in the "problem" itself. Best of all, it gives specific directions for helping your child create a well-grounded sense of himself, which I believe will be the key to success for my son. I first checked this book out from the library but realized I will be coming back to it again and again. I bought one for myself and copies for each of two friends with difficult children.

As the mother of a challenging teenager with a long list of `disorders', I cried while reading GENIUS! George and Joanne Lynn write with a raw honesty that cut straight to my core.

In the Editor's Preface, Joanne writes "Families such as ours live in a crucible, that chemistry lab vessel made of a material, steel or platinum or porcelain, that doesn't burn away in a furnace...George and I live in the furnace of our son's wild neurology, and our job is to contain him so that he can grow, without burning up in his own heat. And we must not burn out in the nurturing of him."

This beautiful book, is written from the intimate perspective of parents who have lived in the furnace with their own son, as well as their perspectives as therapist and poet. George Lynn writes with professional authority about attention differences - in particular AD/HD, Asperger Syndrome, bipolar disorder and Tourette Syndrome. Yet this is not just a book about coping with syndromes and disorders. It is about seeing the brilliance within our child. It is also about how we parents need to focus inward, nurturing our own genius, and giving it expression. Taking care of our own health, mind and spirit strengthens us to meet the challenges of living amidst the daily chaos. This book is like finding an oasis in the lonely desert of cultural misunderstanding and judgement. Thank you George and Joanne for this gift.

George and Joanne Lynn know first hand that the process of taking care of a neurologically eccentric child is emotionally taxing and all consuming; so much so that the child's deficits tend to take center stage at the expense of an appreciation for their gifts. Many of these gifts, they explain, are the results of the very eccentricities that brought on the diagnoses. With empathy and amazing insight, Lynn helps us to appreciate and learn to cultivate these gifts in our children so that our children may develop the positive self image necessary to reach their potential. This potential may exceed our wildest imaginings. Their disabilities are an undeniable part of their genius and the tapestry of their lives telling a story of where they have been and where they are going. With care, their genius can be cultivated and become a powerful and positive force in their lives. The Lynn's emphasize strengthening the positive without denying the challenges of these children, as both contribute to the child's sense of self and their path thru life. In-as-much as every virtue when examined from a different perspective can be seen as a flaw, so the struggles and "symptoms" of these remarkable children can influence them in very positive ways. A very encouraging read for the parent who is lost in the sea of doctors, diagnoses, frustration, and hopelessness and may have lost touch with their child , their family, and even themselves in the process.