Both my roommate and I bought a copy of Playdhd to read on our New Orleans road trip. In 2nd grade, I was diagnosed with ADD (not ADHD, but close enough for the purpose of this book review). In high school and college, I rolled by eyes at the diagnosis, believing ADD was a fad medical diagnosis created by the drug companies to diagnose and medicate hyperactive kids who like to run around the room and pretend to be the Wicked Witch of the West during class. While I am still skeptical about the over diagnosis of ADD/ADHD, reading this book brought home to me that I never really walked away from my ADD symptoms and that many of the struggles I have in my work and personal life come from the same symptoms that got in the way of me learning way back 2nd grade. The connections made in this book between how an ADHD brain works and what our brains look like on play (hint: it's all about dopamine) were very valuable to me. When I was reading this book aloud in the car to my friend, there were many points when we both groaned, realizing we almost perfectly fit the author's description of us. There's enough science here to wet the tongue and get the reader interested to look elsewhere for more information. My coworker and I were so happy when we found her connection between nature and group/solitary play -- a connection that often gets left out in popular play research.
I appreciated that Dr. Milliken went out of her way to make the book a humorous book to read and pleasant to look at visually. I heard in an interview that in her earlier drafts, the book was more formal, heavy on facts and data, and did more intellectualizing of play, but on subsequent drafts, she decided to make the book itself more playful. I've combed through my fair share of heady, dry, and boring texts on play -- this wasn't one of them.
The part of the book that lost me a bit was her list of famous people with ADHD. It was awesome to see the wide spectrum of successful people, but I thought the list would have benefitted from more diversity, especially with regards to gender and ethnicity. ADD/ADHD is often associated with boys. It would have been nice to see more women on the list. A quick google search brings up plenty of examples.
Playdhd is a great book if you're looking for a quick read that also breaks down and encourages you to integrate play in your daily life. I showed this book to my boss to validate the importance of play and encourage staff to take more time to be playful. Often texts that promote the benefits of play don't actually include concrete examples of play and playfulness. Not so here. The book is full of ways to be more playful, from iPhone apps to physical exercise to quiet ways to survive a boring meeting to tips on how to change addictive habits that get in the way of doing what you really want to be doing, which is to turn off your phone, send that boring email and get playing!
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![PLAYDHD: Permission to Play.....a Prescription for Adults With ADHD by [Kirsten Miliken]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Zuk8x+ZRL._SY346_.jpg)
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