Customer Reviews

Ritalin Is Not The Answer: A Drug-Free, Practical Program for Children Diagnosed with ADD or ADHD

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If you have poor parenting skills, if your child displays only mild behavior problems, if you are seriously questioning your child's ADD/ADHD diagnosis, suspecting he/she has fallen victim to the trend of over-diagnosing this disorder, then this book may provide some direction in helping curb problem behaviors. For the rest of us who have children with serious ADD/ADHD problems, those who have been searching for and trying numerous behavioral approaches for years to no avail, and those who have already forged excellent parenting skills, do not buy this book!

In Dr. Stein's book, "Ritalin is Not the Answer", he purports that there is no such thing as ADD/ADHD and he has chosen to rename it "IA/HM" (inattentive/highly misbehaving). He maintains that there is no biological or neurological basis for ADD/ADHD, but rather the symptoms are the by-products of our modern culture -- TV, video games, a stressful lifestyle, traffic jams, and specifically and particularly -- ineffective and neglectful parenting! He believes that parents are guilty of actually creating the syndrome in their child. He makes absurd, sweeping generalizations such as, "children who come from homes where education is valued do not end up diagnosed as ADD/ADHD", and "I doubt very much that children who's parents spend sufficient quiet time each evening talking with them will ever show IA/HM symptoms".

If you can control your outrage at these inflammatory and damaging statements and proceed to finish the book, you will find it to read like a simplistic "Parenting 101" manual. Dr. Stein talks about how through his book you will "begin to learn how to parent your child". His assumption is that if you have a child with problems of this nature, you lack even the most basic parenting skills. His belives that ADD/ADHD can be erased through judicious use of both positive and negative reinforcements. He employs immediate time-outs at even the smallest hint of misbehavior, believing this will force the child to remember how to behave on his own rather than making them reliant on caregivers for prompts or reminders. While his behavioral approaches are reasonably sound, employing firm limits, consistent and predictable consequences, and generous use of positive social reinforcement for correct behavior, there is nothing new in this book that has not been presented by other authors in one form or another. I suspect that most parents looking for a book on this subject have already mastered these techniques and more, but still have not been able to make a significant impact in correcting their child's problems. While every child -- ADD/ADHD or otherwise -- needs a solid parenting and discipline plan, this book is likely to only work for children who are either not truly ADD/ADHD, those who's problems are relatively mild, or for parents who do indeed need to develop a basic foundation for parenting their child.

In this book, Dr. Stein presents numerous case studies where after just a few weeks (or even a matter of days!) of employing his methods, the child's problems vanished completely and they suddenly became a shining example of the happy, accomplished, and well-adjusted child. His book is filled with so many of these simplistic stories of miraculous, instantaneous recovery that it becomes laughable. While his 'magic bullet' claims may sell books by the score, beware. If something is too good to be true, it no doubt is.

In reading the "Brief Description," three errors are blatantly evident.

When Mr. Stein states, "Between a quarter to one-third of all school-aged children in the USA today are diagnosed as suffering from something called Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)," he is greatly at odds with documentation from the National Institutes of Health. In "Diagnosis and Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder" it is stated that ADHD is "estimated to affect 3-5% of school-age children." That is far from the figure of 25%-33.3% given by Mr. Stein.

In addition, when Mr. Stein states that ADHD is "a diagnostic category that didn't even exist twenty years ago," he is mistaken. Since 1902, ADHD has been known by many names including Minimal Brain Dysfunction, Hyperkinetic Reaction of Childhood, and Attention-Deficit Disorder With or Without Hyperactivity. The current classification, as found in DSM-IV, is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, reflecting the inattentive characteristics as well as the characteristics of hyperactivity and impulsivity.

His third, and most grievous, error is the false claim that "approximately two million of these children are being coerced by teachers, administrators and doctors into taking Ritalin or a similar type of mood-altering medication." This mistake is two-fold.

The first thing to consider here is that there are not two million patients (let alone children) taking medication for ADHD. As per information from the Dept of Justice, there are approximately 17 million prescriptions written each year for all forms of methylphenidate and adderall combined. Because these prescriptions can only be written for a 1-month supply and must be renewed for each refill, that translates to approximately 1.4 million patients per year, 80% of whom are children. If you look only at the 11 million prescriptions per year written for all forms of methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta, etc), that translates to .917 million patients per year receiving methylphenidate prescriptions. 80%, or .734 million, of those patients are children. These figures include prescriptions for patients with depression and narcolepsy as well as ADHD.

As a psychologist with twenty years' experience counseling ADHD children, I found Dr. David Stein's book, "Ritalin Is Not The Answer," an easy-to-understand, insightful and viable solution to the controversy surrounding the use of Ritalin with ADHD children.

He first outlines the fallicies of the disease or chemical imbalance model for ADHD, and then introduces his "Caregivers' Skills Program," the ultimate goal of which is to enable children to self-monitor their behavior. To achieve self-monitoring, however, he stresses that medication must be withdrawn completely so that new skills can be learned independent of the drugs.

He shifts the focus from the "symptoms" which imply "disease" to a list of targeted behaviors. The goal is to either improve or eiminate the targeted behaviors. This approach avoids the prevalent but disenfranchising tactic of labeling ADHD behaviors as a "brain disease" and prescribing medication. The parental role in the Program--that of conveying specific instruction to motivate and empower the child to take charge of his or her own behavior--re-establishes parents as authority figures in the chld's life.

Dr. Stein clims that his Cargiver's Skills Program "produces dramatic and positve changes in children by completely eliminating ADD and ADHD patterns without the use of medication." I believe that the application of his techniques would not only produce the claimed results, but also would empower both parents and children thereby enhancing the parent-child relationship.

This appears to be an effective, easy-to-apply alternative to medicating our children with Ritalin and other drugs. If you child has been diagnosed as ADHD, this book offers great hope.

Ty C. Colbert, Ph.D.

Those who believe this book is helpful should do some *real* research- which seems to be Dr. Stein's downfall. He writes in condescending tones to parents/caregivers, and clearly has a "bone to pick" with medications to help children. He stated that 10% of children are on meds, but research shows that number to be lower, closer to 3-9%-- this after several years have gone by since the book was written. Is that due to meds being LESS often prescribed? I believe it was reported at the higher number due to faulty research and/or further "evidence" for his "case."

No one that I know of wants their child to be on any type of medications for a lifetime. It doesn't have to be a lifetime, it could be 6 months to a year, or somewhat longer-- depending. Are there too many kids on Ritalin, etc.? Maybe-- who knows? Stein would do well to read and study the available research that is available within his professional community. Those who think this book is thoroughly researched should research STEIN'S facts, allegations and assertions.

His allegation that Ritalin, etc. stunts the growth of children is absurd. It has not affected the growth of my child or of the children whom I know are using medication for their situation. Is "terrible" parenting the "cause" of ADD? My four children all are raised with the same expectations, rules, discipline and love, yet only 1 child needs medication. We've seen great improvement since beginning medication (it is not used on weekends, holidays or during summer, and he has NO side effects from NOT taking the meds- he is not "addicted") and hope to discontinue it as he makes further improvements. He has not had side effects from taking the medication that Stein lists as a possibility. If a child is having side effects, then an intelligent parent knows to bring it to the doctor's attention and work for the correct medication or dosage. Meds, combined with love and structure and discipline is the right way for our child, to say that medication is NEVER an alternative is a grave disservice to parents, but most especially to the children who need the help of medication.

I am utterly enraged by this book. Yes, it's true that attention deficit disorder is sometimes misdiagnosed, and is often used as an "easy out" by parents to explain impossible behaviours in kids that are given free reign over a household.

However, ADD is very real, not the "myth" central to the author's theories. As an adult recently diagnosed with the disorder after beginning law school, I can only say that ignoring the disorder and the treatment options avaliable to someone who has it is to limit one's self. I struggled miserably after finally reaching the limits of my ability to cope with my impulsivness and distractability on my own within a law school environment, which is a very demanding environment to say the least, requiring dicipline, structure and focus. Missing 1/3 of a lecture because your mind is wandering is a guaranteed ticket out of law school. Because of my diagnosis and the treatment options that became avaliable, including the "evil" medications, I am now able to "fit" myself into an environment that ordinarily would be almost impossible for me to navigate, and my grades and study habits improved immesurably.

Without the knowledge and options for treatment that my diagnosis brought, I would have just thought I was "to dumb" for law school. Any parent who wants a child diagnosed with ADD/ADHD to believe that they "just aren't smart enough" should try the methods in this book. Any parent who wants their child to succeed to their full potential should toss this in the trash and seek the advice of licensed psychologists and other medical personel.

Be prepared to be offended by Dr. Stein's beliefs. It is hard to get past his claims that there is no such thing as ADD/ADHD and that the associated behaviors are as a result of bad parents! However, the approach outlined in this book will help children - any children - whether they have ADD/ADHD or not. It employs basic nuts-and-bolts positive/negative reinforcement methods to shape child behavior. A program such as this is important for rearing EVERY child, however it simply will not be enough for most ADD/ADHD children to overcome their difficulties, nor or will it magically "cure" the syndrome as suggested in this book. Likewise, Ritalin ALONE will not compensate for a lack of positive parenting skills. In many situations a combined approach is necessary to give children the help they need. There is little new in this book, and I don't recommend it for skilled parents who have already tried various behavior modification systems without success and are now wrestling with the question of whether or not to medicate. For the parent who's child is just beginning to have problems it is important to try a comprehensive behavior modification plan such as this before resulting to drugs. However, don't buy into his ideas that ADD/ADHD is a myth and your child's problems are your fault. The fact that many ADD/ADHD children come from loving families with excellent parents clearly disproves Dr. Stein's erroneous and harmful assumptions.

I had high hopes for this book, especially after reading some of these reviews. Unfortunately, I found it to be simplistic and incredibly one-sided. Dr. Stein seems to disregard most of the medical research about ADHD. Instead he tells us what we already know and could read in countless other books about child rearing and dicipline. Don't waste your money. I wish I hadn't wasted mine.

"One pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small, but the ones the doctor gives you don't do anything at all." I'm being jokingly sarcastic but the experiences my step-son and I had with ADHD and Ritalin were not far from this. My step-son came into my life as a high school senior who had been diagnosed as ADHD ten years earlier and who had been on Ritalin that whole time. He came to me because he had attempted suicide and after his release from the hospital he needed somewhere to go. His mother had "had it with him." He was in the ED and LD program at school, getting F's in every single class, had "no hope" of graduating according to his LD teachers, could not read above a 3rd grade level, was disruptive, rude, and inattentive. So, why, I asked myself is he still on Ritalin when it obviously isn't helping? He was unable to eat much, having no appetite, and was underweight and nervous. He acted out in school and had no respect for anyone. I weaned him off the Ritalin and the Zoloft he took because of Ritalin induced depression. The ideas I found outlined in this book were and are an enormous help to us and it is my earnest prayer that every parent who is either allowing or considering the use of Ritalin or other mood-altering drugs on their children read this book and think long and hard about it before deciding to continue with the chemical restraint method. You have one easy book to read but your child has a lifetime of misery with which to contend. Please be educated on the subject.
We learn in this book that nearly one-tenth of all school-aged kids in the U.S. are being given stimulant drugs with side effects that include insomnia, tearfulness, rebound irritability, personality change, nervousness, anorexia, nausea, dizziness, headaches,heart palpitations, and cardiac arrhytmia. Millions of children are taking speed, the same class 2 drug that dopers on the street have been getting high on and getting arrested for taking and selling for decades. Speed is illegal to take without perscription because it is dangerous even life-threatening. Dr. Stein, himself a practicing clinical psychologist and father of two sons who were diagnosed with ADD points out, in very clear, compassionate and thoughtful terms, seven misconceptions or myths surrounding attentional disorders. He carefully explains the dangers of chemical restraints and also talks about their monumental ineffectivness. He offers very sound and proven and actually common sense approaches for the effective parenting of not only the ADD and ADHD kids who so desperately need it but also for each and every child growing up.
This book does require that as a parent we take responsibility, we slow down, we modify our own behaviors, and we do this with consistency. It can be hard to modify our own behavior, let alone that of our troubled children, but we must stop relying on a dangerous little pill to modify and restrain creative, unique and individual children into a national army of speed freaks. Don't kid yourself if you are believing that a perscription and a doctor you see once in awhile make the difference between safe "medicine" and drug abuse. Speed is speed, with a perscription or not, and it can make your mind work in an obsessive way that seems like attention. It makes you euphoric and it seems like quieter behavior. It also disrupts the way you eat and nourish your body, it causes nervousness and dizziness and it makes you eventually paranoid, aggressive, intolerant, and downright squirrely. It never, ever makes you normal, whatever that is. Schools and Physicians are willing to settle for the dangers and the misery for our children in order to get the attention and quiet they need to control over-crowded schools with robotic and mind-numbing curriculum.
This book is frank on the subject of the dangers versus the benefits of stimulant chemical restraints like Ritalin. It is straight-up with us about our culture's move away from the family values many of us grew up with. It causes us to re-examine our own approach and understanding of this condition that is labeled ADD and ADHD as if it were a disease which it is not. Best of all it gives us ideas and useful, practical directions to help get ourselves and most importantly our children back on track to a happy and stable life. There is also an interactive companion to this book called The Ritalin Is Not the Answer Action Guide that makes its ADD/ADHD parenting program even more workable and undestandable.
My step-son graduated with straight B's. He has no trouble with authority or the community with disorderly conduct as he frequently did while on Ritalin. He went to Prom and has a healthy relationship with his girlfriend and her family. He doesn't drink or use drugs. He follows the household rules and keeps reasonable hours. He smiles and laughs and eats big cheeseburgers and pizza like the healthy young adult he is. His hands don't shake. His nightmares have stopped. His teachers told me I am an amazing parent and they can't believe the changes in my step-son. Well, I am NOT an amazing parent. The only things I did differently were take my son off speed and I DID believe in the changes I saw in my son as we worked through the suggestions in this book. It can't hurt to read it and it CAN hurt to keep your child on Ritalin. I hope it helps you and your child.

The premise of this book -- that behavior modification can somehow help you gain control of your ADD/ADHD child and that medication is "wrong" -- is inaccurate and misleading. We've seen plenty of these books in recent years, and they cater to what people want to hear -- a quick fix without drugs. But ADD/ADHD stem from fundamental, neurologic differences in the brain that are becoming clearer every day through new SPECT scan imaging and other diagnostic means. Study after study has shown that proper medication can help these children focus, behave, and truly thrive, because it helps their brains approach "normal." If they CAN behave and learn, THEY WILL! A multimodal approach is useful in helping these dynamic kids, but medication is often the cornerstone of that approach. Educate yourself and your family through CHADD and other terrific organizations, and attend conferences at top-notch institutions like Eagle Hill,which specialize in treating kids with ADD and learning disabilities. My son has severe ADHD, as well as Tourette's syndrome (it is not accurate that Ritalin produces "tics;" ADD and tic disorders often co-exist in the same child, but tic disorders show up later than ADHD). Since preschool, we tried it all -- behavior mod, diet, herbs, you name it. In desperation, we tried Ritalin in his early elementary years and it has been a godsend. The dosing, of course, must be very carefully titrated, and different medications work better for different children. He has just turned 14 and has a wonderful group of friends, good grades in a very challenging school system, and a positive attitude. Once I thought I'd have to send him to a "special school," now we rejoice in the possibilities ahead for our son and consider the very best colleges. Ritalin, most recently in the new once-a-day Concerta form, has saved his life. And our entire family's. Hang in there and don't leave any stone unturned for your child. Read this book if you must...but at least give medication a try.

We all realize there are children on medication for ADHD/ADD who shouldn't be. This is not a revelation. This book rehashes the same old song! Treating ADHD is not an all-or-nothing proposition. Our children are made of mind, body and spirit and all these areas must be addressed in treating inattention and hyperactivity. Behavior modification and dietary changes help train the body, loving discipling and religious training helps the spirit, but it may take meds to help the mind be able to concentrate long enough make permanent changes in behavior and attitude. Why would we deny giving our children a chance to succeed? A major problem in ADHD children is low self esteem because they see themselves as failures. Meds may be the one final key to helping them unlock their successes.

I agree with other reviewers that careful monitoring by parents and doctors will assure the right medicine and the correct dose to keep a child healthy and free from side-effects.

A much better book is Healing ADD by Daniel Amen.