What Does Everybody Else Know That I Don't?: Social Skills Help for Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (Paperback)

~ Michele Novotni PhD (Author), (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Focusing on social skills training for adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders (AD/HD), this book offers solutions for tackling behavior that is often inattentive, impulsive, and hyperactive. Advice is given on how to handle common social problems such as manners, etiquette, communication, subtext, listening, and interpersonal relationships. The format of the book is designed for AD/HD learning styles and includes true stories, practical exercises, and tips that keep those with AD/HD reading. Adults with AD/HD learn how to identify behaviors in themselves that can cause problems in social relationships.

About the Author

Michele Novotni, Ph.D., is a psychologist and the author of Adult ADD. She lives in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Randy Petersen lives in Westville, New Jersey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 314 pages
• Publisher: Specialty Press/A.D.D. Warehouse; 1 edition (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886941343
• ISBN-13: 978-1886941342
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,433 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is so real, so clear, and so helpful!, March 22, 2002

By A Customer

There are so many clinical books about AD/HD, but this book is different. It goes behind the diagnosis, treatment and struggles to talk about an often missed area of problem...the social skills area. Without addressing this, the person continues to function without knowing how he comes across in the world. Even the brightest person can alienate others in the social settings and work settings too. I also love the very emotional book of The Other Me, Poetic thoughts on ADD for adults, kids and parents, by Fellman. It touched my heart so...I cried for all those painful times. Thanks to these two authors for addressing the feelings of ADD!

49 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide for AD/HD adults & parents of AD/HD kids, August 3, 2001

By	Kate McMurry (United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Michele Novotni, Ph.D., has more than 20 years of experience as a psychologist working with children and adults with AD/HD. She is an Assistant Professor in the graduate counseling department of Eastern College, Saint Davids, Pennsylvania. She has also co-authored Adult ADD: A Reader Friendly Guide to Identifying, Understanding and Treating Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. Both her son and her father have AD/HD.

This 314-page book has footnotes at the end of each chapter, an index, a bibliography and several useful appendices, including two social skills checklists. The book discusses the importance of social skills, why adults with AD/HD may not have learned all the social skills they need in their childhood, and systematically teaches these missing social skills.

This excellent guide is clearly and concisely written. Each chapter ends with a very helpful, gray-highlighted box called "Just the Facts" which lists the major points of the chapter for ready reference.

It is true that many of the social skills covered in this book are very basic, like remembering to say, "please" and "thank you" and always saying, "hello" when you enter a room and "goodbye" when you exit. However, Dr. Novotni goes much deeper than this level. For example, she covers the important area of observation of subtle social cues, using "I messages" and conflict resolution techniques, all of which most so-called "normal" adults don't know.

I believe this book is useful not just for adults with AD/HD, but for parents of AD/HD children, as well. Dr. Novotni has helped me see in a very complete and concrete way the social skills my two AD/HD teens need to acquire by adulthood.

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I see!, January 14, 2002

By	R. Dameron "been-there" (Longmont, CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I don't have ADD but I think I've married into a family enmeshed in it. I laughed out loud at times while reading this book because it described family gatherings perfectly -- the loud, simultaneous "conversations" at dinner, the late-arriver who can never get there on time, the rapid-paced gasping monologues when one recognizes a subject as something he knows about, the conversations carried on from one floor of the house to a remote room on another -- all done as if it's normal! Whether my family by marriage is ADD-riddled or not, they ACT this way and this book was helpful in helping me recognize the activity that stems from this (that comes across to me as "rude"), what are appropriate responses from ME, and, well, how to cope. It also made clear what social rules need to be made explicit because they are NOT going to be "picked up" by social experience.
Finally, I have a daughter with a genetic syndrome that, among other things, gives her a personality like a high-functioning autistic. I have had to teach her every social rule she knows because she cannot just pick them up by being around others. This book is a good set of skills to use as a checklist re the essentials. It's obviously targeted to ADDs but its usefulness is not limited to them.