The Gift of Adult ADD: How to Transform Your Challenges and Build on Your Strengths [Paperback]

Lara Honos-Webb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008

If you have attention deficit disorder (ADD), you may act impulsively, daydream, and have trouble focusing, but clinical studies suggest that these same symptoms may make you exceptionally creative, intuitive, and energetic. In fact, many people with ADD claim to have become successful because of their ADD, not in spite of it.

In The Gift of Adult ADD, Lara Honos-Webb adapts the revolutionary approach first introduced in the parenting book The Gift of ADHD to the lives of adults with ADD. Instead of focusing on your weaknesses, this book shows you how to transform symptoms into strengths to improve your relationships, job performance, parenting skills, and overall quality of life. You'll also read inspiring stories of real people with ADD who have become successful in part because of their ability to meet the challenges of ADD and make the most of its gifts.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Lara Honos-Webb shows us how the demands of a global and digital culture may make the signature traits of ADD—inventiveness, need for stimulation, and interpersonal intuition—in high demand."
—Daniel H. Pink, author of A Whole New Mind

"If you have ADD and have been looking for the meaning of your struggles, this book will change your life. You will see, beyond doubt, that it’s time to stop patching up your weaknesses and start learning about your many gifts."
—Carol Adrienne, PhD, author of The Purpose of Your Life

"Honos-Webb’s book is a wonderful guidebook for optimistic living. What one chooses to focus on grows, and Honos-Webb has provided the framework for others to learn this important philosophy. It is especially important for those with ADHD to embrace the positive side of their personalities."
—Stephanie Moulton Sarkis, PhD, author of Making the Grade with ADD and 10 Simple Solutions to Adult ADD

"In her newest book, Honos-Webb builds on the core principles of her previous work to show how adults with ADD can find fulfilling and rewarding lives by being who they are. ‘Find what you love and are good at, and let that guide you,’ she advises, offering real-life stories of people who have done just that. In this inspiring book, Honos-Webb provides a host of specific activities to help adults with ADD use self-reflection, insight, and creativity to address weaknesses without letting those weaknesses overshadow their strengths and talents. The Gift of Adult ADD is a welcome addition to the growing body of literature that shows how to go beyond limiting—and misleading—diagnostic labels."
—Barbara Probst, MSW, LCSW, author of When the Labels Don’t Fit

"A revolutionary, paradigm-shifting book that will undoubtedly change the way we think about ADD. Honos-Webb’s contribution is a gift, providing no-nonsense strategies and inspiring examples of how to transform apparent deficits into strengths and assets."
—Kelly Howell, president, Brain Sync

"Talk about a gift! This book will be a true gift for anyone with ADD. While it can be discouraging to live with ADD, Honos-Webb’s wise and helpful book will show readers how to use their ADD to improve their relationships and work lives. She then goes on to identify and explain the five specific gifts that adult ADD brings. This wonderful book has the power to transform the life and consciousness of anyone dealing with ADD."
—Mira Kirshenbaum, author of When Good People Have Affairs, Too Good to Leave, Too Bad to Stay, and Everything Happens for a Reason

"Are you ready to let this precious volume transform you, your world, and your ‘adult attention deficit disorder’? Here is a gift that can be magical and life changing, both for you and your ‘adult attention deficit disorder.’"
—Alvin R. Mahrer, PhD, professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa, author of The Manual of Optimal Behaviors

From the Publisher

From a best-selling author and ADD expert, The Gift of Adult ADD helps adults with ADD focus on the positive traits of this condition and offers effective strategies for managing some of the challenges that often come with the different set of perspectives that are shared by people with ADHD.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications; 1 edition (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572245654
• ISBN-13: 978-1572245655
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #40 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > Attention Deficit Disorder
  • #71 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Special Needs > Disabilities

More About the Author

I'm a psychologist, author, speaker, mother and wife. My areas of expertise are ADHD, Depression, Balance in Motherhood and mind-body connection in physical illness. My first book, The Gift of ADHD was featured in Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, Publisher's weekly as well as newspapers, radio and tv across the country. My due date for my second book, The Gift of Depression is October 2006.
I have a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and did my postdoc at the University of California San Francisco.

Learn more about my work at www.visionarysoul.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, September 26, 2010

By 

Michael D. Brown "brownie points" (Carmel, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Gift of Adult ADD: How to Transform Your Challenges and Build on Your Strengths (Paperback)

I think this book is amazing because it goes far beyond explaining what ADD is. It shows the reader how to focus (and capitalize) on the strengths that the condition brings with it while also minimizing the impact of the drawbacks. It's not necessarily easy to follow all the advice; but implementing the suggestions one at a time so that they become a natural habit, helps to accomplish those exact goals.

Reading this book was a breath of fresh air in a world where so many with ADD are given pills to keep their "disorder" "under control". In reality, the author takes a step back and suggests that just because people with the condition don't fit within societal norms doesn't mean that making them "normal" is necessarily in anyone's best interests. Instead of feeling powerless against the "disorder", this book helps the reader to feel empowered by the way their brain is wired by giving actionable items that turn the chores of daily life into a game or a challenge (which really appeals to the ADD mind) while given examples of people who have been great successes who attribute their success as "because of" not "in spite of" ADD.

26 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book - Who Want's to Live Down to Someone's Else's Definition of "Disorder"?, December 19, 2009

By 

G. George Bertram (Kentucky USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Gift of Adult ADD: How to Transform Your Challenges and Build on Your Strengths (Paperback)

This is a great book. It develops a lot of the ideas I first read in "The Edison Gene". The "disorder" comment is exactly the type of judgmental negativity that books of this type helped me recognize for what they were. So what if adults with ADHD only have a few close friends! I've had large numbers of ongoing superficial relationships at various times in my life, and actually ENJOY having just a few close ones. Books like this helped me understand that its "OK" for me to relax and enjoy my true nature, instead of trying to change it. Also, the book actually does cover the "negative" aspects of ADHD, the importance of recognizing them and minimizing their disruptive impact on your life.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Gift of Adult ADD, February 2, 2009

By 

PB (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Gift of Adult ADD: How to Transform Your Challenges and Build on Your Strengths (Paperback)

This book offers an invaluable perspective on ADD for adults. It also deals with the byproducts of the affliction such as depression, anxiety and other complications that can come with ADD. The book offers very positive and easy to apply methods to benefit from ADD and enjoy life more with it.