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The ADHD Advantage: What You Thought Was a Diagnosis May Be Your Greatest Strength by Dale Archer MD
ikabonifacio's review against another edition
4.0
I see this as the ADHD book for people who are in a good socio-economic position, haha; or otherwise already has some sort of padding to support success and lessen the blow of failures. The book is inspiring, in some way, but I don't think it's inclusive for all people with ADHD. This would, however, be a good addition if you're already reading other books about the condition.
iambartacus's review against another edition
2.0
There were a few helpful tips in this book, but mostly I felt like the author doesn't have a firm understanding of those of us who DO need medication just to get through our days. We can't all invent JetBlue or have a job we can focus on 100% of the time. I love what I do and study, but without meds and counseling it wouldn't be possible.
I am female and was diagnosed later in life which is addressed in the book, but still in the "girls probably don't have it as much as boys so we shouldn't call it underdiagnosed".
I'd basically only recommend this book for people with mild ADHD or living with those on the milder end of things.
I am female and was diagnosed later in life which is addressed in the book, but still in the "girls probably don't have it as much as boys so we shouldn't call it underdiagnosed".
I'd basically only recommend this book for people with mild ADHD or living with those on the milder end of things.
8alsopo13's review against another edition
1.0
I didn't want to finish this book after the first page and if you're in a group like women or the Black and Latino communities, who also face being UNDERDIAGNOSED. I recommend not even bothering with this book because it will only give you negative feelings about yourself, your diagnosis, and your treatment. It's not a self-help book, it's just the author writing down his own beliefs about how we should feel about ourselves (which may not be good for some of us). This book is very uninspiring and I won't even take a chance to read the whole book.
I really wanted to start reading some more self-help books with an ADHD perspective after my diagnosis, that's what led me to pick up this book. Thankfully, I got it from my local library so I didn't have to waste my money on this book. I was really ready to get into it because I liked the idea of turning something that many people see as a negative and "flip" it around into something positive. I liked the idea of finding the strengths in this diagnosis but this book is a poor execution of that.
I really had hesitations from the foreword by Allen Francis who said that he believes diagnosis is going up because of the "Big Pharma" companies and that we're turning our children into "pill-poppers". The negative language he uses makes people not want to hear that they have ADHD or that their child does. Or try a solution that may help, even if it might be medication. I could see why parents would turn to this book if they don't want to medicate their children just yet. Medication doesn't work for everyone and there can be issues with taking medication you don't need. However, some people's solution is medication, and that's OKAY!!! If you need to take medication and it works that's great! You're not suppressing yourself! I'm on medication myself and I don't feel suppressed, the medication helps me take the traits that ADHD has "given" me and turn them into positives. For me, without medication, my "gifts" or "talent" would only hinder me, which sorry to say can be a negative.
Reading the words "most overly diagnosed and medicated condition in mental health" really just made me want to shut the book there. Talking with other women and girls that have ADHD...trust me it's not. I'm also Latina and my community is very UNDERdiagnosed. I decided to skip some pages because after that...I didn't care what this man had to say. I stopped on the page to see where you are on the spectrum. And saw phrases like "I can't decide what I want to do" or "I'm hyperactive". Which when I try to tell other people about my ADHD they go "well I can't decide what I want to do sometimes" or "everyone is hyperactive, especially when they're kids".
The LAST straw for me was reading about the "Gender Gap". This man says that women tend to take their boredom and "gossip". I shut the book right there and ran here to see if it was just me who took up such a big problem with this book. Since I'm very used to being told that I'm overreacting, it happens when you're a woman, especially with ADHD. I'm glad I'm not the only way that feels like this book is trash.... Sorry but this book could be very harmful to some people and will only fit the bias of people who don't think ADHD is real or hate medicating.
I do think we need to see both sides, it can really help us live with ADHD. You can turn this into a positive! We're not broken, nothing is wrong with us! But there some things that do need to be addressed like you can hurt your personal, social, or professional life and that medication may help us. Of course not CURE us. Despite all the trouble that my ADHD had cost me my whole life, I wouldn't want to ever be taken away from it. It's who I am and it really has made me who I am today. I'm not scared of it and the diagnosis helped because I could really understand what the problem was and what my solutions are. Medicating and therapy have been an extreme help! I'm so upset to look back and see how many problems would have been solved if I had ways to cope with my disorder but because teachers thought I was just a problem child looking for attention or didn't care about my school work or my parents were scared of medicating me. I had to deal with ADHD in a really hard way that did make me feel bad about myself and did make me feel like something is wrong. "Dr" Archer really had some potential with this book that I think really could benefit the ADHD community. We shouldn't think we're broken and sometimes our disorder CAN be used to our advantage (sometimes). But I think completely bashing the side that can make people living with ADHD feel better or get a better understanding of themselves, is where this book completely falls off for me. This book only made me feel terrible about myself and could even make people doubt themselves or their loved ones. I really hope vulnerable readers don't pick up this book because it can hurt them. We should see the good, bad, and the ugly and not run away from it or brush it under the rug or minimize it. I'm truly shocked that a book like this could be written by someone who is a doctor and has ADHD himself.
Hopefully, there is already a book that takes this concept and executes it very well. Where all the sides are looked at and NONE of them are erased. Of course, we need to see the good but we can't forget that there is a bad and an ugly side... and that's okay. If you do have any recommendations about a better execution please let me know!
I really wanted to start reading some more self-help books with an ADHD perspective after my diagnosis, that's what led me to pick up this book. Thankfully, I got it from my local library so I didn't have to waste my money on this book. I was really ready to get into it because I liked the idea of turning something that many people see as a negative and "flip" it around into something positive. I liked the idea of finding the strengths in this diagnosis but this book is a poor execution of that.
I really had hesitations from the foreword by Allen Francis who said that he believes diagnosis is going up because of the "Big Pharma" companies and that we're turning our children into "pill-poppers". The negative language he uses makes people not want to hear that they have ADHD or that their child does. Or try a solution that may help, even if it might be medication. I could see why parents would turn to this book if they don't want to medicate their children just yet. Medication doesn't work for everyone and there can be issues with taking medication you don't need. However, some people's solution is medication, and that's OKAY!!! If you need to take medication and it works that's great! You're not suppressing yourself! I'm on medication myself and I don't feel suppressed, the medication helps me take the traits that ADHD has "given" me and turn them into positives. For me, without medication, my "gifts" or "talent" would only hinder me, which sorry to say can be a negative.
Reading the words "most overly diagnosed and medicated condition in mental health" really just made me want to shut the book there. Talking with other women and girls that have ADHD...trust me it's not. I'm also Latina and my community is very UNDERdiagnosed. I decided to skip some pages because after that...I didn't care what this man had to say. I stopped on the page to see where you are on the spectrum. And saw phrases like "I can't decide what I want to do" or "I'm hyperactive". Which when I try to tell other people about my ADHD they go "well I can't decide what I want to do sometimes" or "everyone is hyperactive, especially when they're kids".
The LAST straw for me was reading about the "Gender Gap". This man says that women tend to take their boredom and "gossip". I shut the book right there and ran here to see if it was just me who took up such a big problem with this book. Since I'm very used to being told that I'm overreacting, it happens when you're a woman, especially with ADHD. I'm glad I'm not the only way that feels like this book is trash.... Sorry but this book could be very harmful to some people and will only fit the bias of people who don't think ADHD is real or hate medicating.
I do think we need to see both sides, it can really help us live with ADHD. You can turn this into a positive! We're not broken, nothing is wrong with us! But there some things that do need to be addressed like you can hurt your personal, social, or professional life and that medication may help us. Of course not CURE us. Despite all the trouble that my ADHD had cost me my whole life, I wouldn't want to ever be taken away from it. It's who I am and it really has made me who I am today. I'm not scared of it and the diagnosis helped because I could really understand what the problem was and what my solutions are. Medicating and therapy have been an extreme help! I'm so upset to look back and see how many problems would have been solved if I had ways to cope with my disorder but because teachers thought I was just a problem child looking for attention or didn't care about my school work or my parents were scared of medicating me. I had to deal with ADHD in a really hard way that did make me feel bad about myself and did make me feel like something is wrong. "Dr" Archer really had some potential with this book that I think really could benefit the ADHD community. We shouldn't think we're broken and sometimes our disorder CAN be used to our advantage (sometimes). But I think completely bashing the side that can make people living with ADHD feel better or get a better understanding of themselves, is where this book completely falls off for me. This book only made me feel terrible about myself and could even make people doubt themselves or their loved ones. I really hope vulnerable readers don't pick up this book because it can hurt them. We should see the good, bad, and the ugly and not run away from it or brush it under the rug or minimize it. I'm truly shocked that a book like this could be written by someone who is a doctor and has ADHD himself.
Hopefully, there is already a book that takes this concept and executes it very well. Where all the sides are looked at and NONE of them are erased. Of course, we need to see the good but we can't forget that there is a bad and an ugly side... and that's okay. If you do have any recommendations about a better execution please let me know!
hannahmajury's review against another edition
1.0
Book of inaccurate ADHD stereotypes and very little useful advice.
thfishie's review against another edition
5.0
Book aims to develop enough skills and goals to cope as an adult without medication. Focusing on strengths and learning how to manage weaknesses by finding and using tools. It also has adult relationship advice, which is very useful.
isabellarcg's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
1.0
Good message, very little useful information, not very aware of capitalism and colonialism
kaisermatthias's review against another edition
1.0
When a person with ADHD says "but more on that later" verify that someone is lurking over their shoulder to make them come back around. I kept reading for the tools derived from Dr. Archer's life and practice. They never came. But gee, did I learn how great it is to have ADHD growing up with the resources to attend a private school, or have millions of dollars to hurl into your ideas neesing development.
Tl;dr came here looking for some help qith ADHD and the traumas I've accreted from it. Got squat beyond "get you.some Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy."
Tl;dr came here looking for some help qith ADHD and the traumas I've accreted from it. Got squat beyond "get you.some Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy."
jenny44indy's review against another edition
4.0
Parts of this book are very helpful. There are times when it is very repetitive, and there is sometimes med shaming. I agree that we’ve gone overboard pumping kids with Ritalin etc as a society and sometimes do not let kids be kids, but the author kept saying “now meds are ok in extreme cases...” and that just felt like constant back pedaling.
The sections on strategies for dealing with and living a productive life with ADHD were much more useful.
I’m considering buying an audiobook copy for a couple of the more useful chapters at some point.
The sections on strategies for dealing with and living a productive life with ADHD were much more useful.
I’m considering buying an audiobook copy for a couple of the more useful chapters at some point.
mj_james_writes's review against another edition
I read to 50 pages and stopped. I agree with the authors opinions. My problem is that this is a non fiction book, I should be reading a well researched fact based book. The references are mostly from newspaper articles not peer reviewed journals. The book is mostly based on antidotal stories that were one sided. The author made the claim that most college students with ADHD drugs gave away their medication and did not cite a source for this. That is a big generalization to make without backing it up.
It is unethical to tout a medical degree as qualification to write a book and then continually use The New York Times, CNN, and even WIRED as your citations.
It is unethical to tout a medical degree as qualification to write a book and then continually use The New York Times, CNN, and even WIRED as your citations.
triciab04's review against another edition
4.0
THE ADHD ADVANTAGE BY: DALE ARCHER, MD
I have so much to say about this book, I just don't even know where to start. Well maybe with a huge thank you to everyone that contributed to this book! I think it's safe to say that most people that pick this book up have a personal interest in this subject, whether it be a medical professional, an education professional (or anyone working with children really), or someone directly or indirectly living with this DIFFERENCE. And make no mistake, that is a much more suitable title for it than disorder. Whichever reason that interests you in this subject, so yourself a favor and please give this book a read. There is a wealth of information, positivity, inspirational stories, and so many tools to help an ADHDer be as successful and confident as they can be.
Okay, I think the way I will do this is to keep this portion of things kind of straight to the point and non-personal as I can and then if you feel so inclined I will post my personal reasons for being so interested in this subject and very enthusiastic about this book and all that it has to offer.
I have to say one thing specifically that was brilliantly done in this book was the structure of it. It made this such a fluid read, most especially I would think, for those with a more nonlinear way of taking in and processing information. It's one thing to talk about things to help ADHDers succeed, and it's so much more when you actually do so in a way that is actually tailor made for them to be able to absorb all of that information. Kudos to you. The way that you, seemingly effortlessly, blended the facts and statistics, with personal stories, and suggestions/tools to encourage success, you did precisely what you preached and I commend you for that. The changing focus on different aspects constantly kept things fresh and broke up any monotony. I have read countless articles on ADHD and not one of them that comes to mind were actually set up in a way that spoke directly to someone with that difference.
One of the absolute best things, in my opinion, was how much positivity there was. How utterly refreshing to focus on the benefits of ADHD, and how to enhance those rather than how to tone these exceptional people down. It's so frustrating to read the statics, and the heartbreaking personal struggles in this book, when a lot of what we need to do as a whole is be better informed, understanding and help build these differences up rather than dull them out with medication. We are failing our kids by not exhausting all other avenues before turning to quick fix in the form of a pill.
Another thing mentioned numerous times was that there is no "one size fits all" answer/way of dealing with these differences. Thank goodness someone said it! My whole parenting experience is predominately built on loads of trial and error. I have found over the years that not all traditional ways of thinking and doing things can be applied to my daughter. Now some of that probably can't be attributed to ADHD but some of it most certainly can. What works for your child, most likely won't work for mine. But that's also parenting in general, there is no instruction manual and each child is an individual. I think the biggest difference for me personally was learning to adjust my expectations, and shut out those other voices that said that there was this one right way to do things. People's opinions and advice can sometimes be invaluable, but when they have absolutely no clue about the ways that your child is different than others, their two cents isn't always worth much, and I found more times than not made me feel like I was a failure. That I wasn't doing something right. It still can feel like that at times. The sooner you realize that what works for some people isn't going to work for you, and if you keep trying new things, ultimately you will find things that do work, sometimes it just takes awhile to get there.
There were numerous ADHDers in this book that told their stories, from the struggles they have had in earlier years or still have as adults, to tricks they've found work for them, to the wild success that they've had, not in spite of ADHD but because of it! Some of the names you will surely recognize, Howie Mandel, Ty Pennington, Channing Tatum, Chef Alexis Hernandez, Terry Bradshaw, and many more. But there were also everyday people ranging from entrepreneur, doctor, photographer, truck driver, waitress, etc. I was glad for each one of their stories, and most especially their many different ways of doing things that I hope to try with my daughter in hopes of helping her find her perfect way!
I also appreciated the part near the end that took time to cover ADHD and relationships. It was told for each parties benefit, which was truly nice. The many tips there can be applied to relationships as a whole, not just romantic.
I really encourage anyone that works with children or has anyone they know with ADHD to pick this up and learn a little something. I can honestly say I have an even deeper understanding of ADHD, and in turn a part of my daughter that I am still always learning about. I really hope that people take as much as I did from this.
****As I am sure you have already put together, my main reason for reading this was my daughter. I was really hoping to get a better understanding of ADHD in general, and more than anything learn some different ways that I could help her be as successful as possible and prevent both of our frustrations as much as possible.
We have had our own share of disappointing experiences because of people's, I don't know laziness, or lack of understanding. My daughter's 4th grade teacher, having never once spoke to me about any concerns, via email, note, or any other standard method of communication between parents and teachers. He never said anything to me about a concern for her learning, or any problems he was having with her in class. But somehow we had jumped from 0 to 10, at least that's how it felt for me, at conferences when he blurted out that "Your daughter needs to see a doctor" or "I think medication will be key." Apparently her excessive talking in class was grating on his nerves, which is totally understandable. What is not acceptable, is the fact that it never seemed enough of an issue for him to contact me about it, so I don't know, maybe we could all brainstorm on some ways to work with her so there were less disruptions. And most of all what I don't accept is that his concerns never once seemed to be for my daughter, but rather himself, or the good of the whole. While I understand that to an extent, I'm not the whole's mother, and that one kid you're singling out without putting in any effort with, yeah that one is my main concern. I was worried about that girl. But along with being angry, I also felt that twinge of oh god, a professional just said that to us, maybe this is a problem. So I did what most people ultimately do in that situation, I took her to a doctor. Which I am sad to say ended up going straight for the good ole prescription pad. It was the last time I saw that doctor. I told him I didn't feel comfortable with that, and asked if there were any other things we could try before thinking about medication. The reply was "Just give this a try and see how it goes.". It's disgusting to me that I felt like drugs were being pushed on my child without anyone really even taking the time to try and figure out what she truly needs. This was an A student, in honors band, btw.
Ultimately I did not end up ever giving her any medication. And for better or worse we've been going at everything in our own ways. There are many road bumps along the way, whether ADHD related or not, but we're always adapting and trying new ways to work together for the best solution. Even if sometimes that means learning to let the kid do whatever works for her, even when it makes no sense to me. EX. listening to music, Facetiming or streaming video and doing homework. LOL We would argue about this quite frequently, with me constantly being like "You can't get anything done that way, you need to focus on your homework." Funny thing was, she was focusing on it, she just did that more easily with a few other things going on at the same time. When I would force her into what I deemed a better environment for learning/being productive, she would struggle to get it done, or rush to get through it and ultimately not do as well most of the time. Her chaotic way, it was what worked for her, and as long as it was working who am I to say it's not the right way! Everything is a learning experience being a parent in general.
The ADHD Advantage just gave me a few more tools to try and a better understanding of ADHD and the many benefits that come along with that. And a million thanks for bringing positive awareness to people about ADHD, and also to the fact that there is a real problem with over diagnosing and over medication. Approximatly 6.4 million American children (11 percent) ages 3-17 are being diagnosed with ADHD and over half of those being medicated . This is a serious problem. Especially if you compare us to other countries, France for instance that is around 0.05 percent of children in that range being diagnosed and medicated. 0.05 percent. We can do better America. ****
I received a copy of this book from Penguin Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I have so much to say about this book, I just don't even know where to start. Well maybe with a huge thank you to everyone that contributed to this book! I think it's safe to say that most people that pick this book up have a personal interest in this subject, whether it be a medical professional, an education professional (or anyone working with children really), or someone directly or indirectly living with this DIFFERENCE. And make no mistake, that is a much more suitable title for it than disorder. Whichever reason that interests you in this subject, so yourself a favor and please give this book a read. There is a wealth of information, positivity, inspirational stories, and so many tools to help an ADHDer be as successful and confident as they can be.
Okay, I think the way I will do this is to keep this portion of things kind of straight to the point and non-personal as I can and then if you feel so inclined I will post my personal reasons for being so interested in this subject and very enthusiastic about this book and all that it has to offer.
I have to say one thing specifically that was brilliantly done in this book was the structure of it. It made this such a fluid read, most especially I would think, for those with a more nonlinear way of taking in and processing information. It's one thing to talk about things to help ADHDers succeed, and it's so much more when you actually do so in a way that is actually tailor made for them to be able to absorb all of that information. Kudos to you. The way that you, seemingly effortlessly, blended the facts and statistics, with personal stories, and suggestions/tools to encourage success, you did precisely what you preached and I commend you for that. The changing focus on different aspects constantly kept things fresh and broke up any monotony. I have read countless articles on ADHD and not one of them that comes to mind were actually set up in a way that spoke directly to someone with that difference.
One of the absolute best things, in my opinion, was how much positivity there was. How utterly refreshing to focus on the benefits of ADHD, and how to enhance those rather than how to tone these exceptional people down. It's so frustrating to read the statics, and the heartbreaking personal struggles in this book, when a lot of what we need to do as a whole is be better informed, understanding and help build these differences up rather than dull them out with medication. We are failing our kids by not exhausting all other avenues before turning to quick fix in the form of a pill.
Another thing mentioned numerous times was that there is no "one size fits all" answer/way of dealing with these differences. Thank goodness someone said it! My whole parenting experience is predominately built on loads of trial and error. I have found over the years that not all traditional ways of thinking and doing things can be applied to my daughter. Now some of that probably can't be attributed to ADHD but some of it most certainly can. What works for your child, most likely won't work for mine. But that's also parenting in general, there is no instruction manual and each child is an individual. I think the biggest difference for me personally was learning to adjust my expectations, and shut out those other voices that said that there was this one right way to do things. People's opinions and advice can sometimes be invaluable, but when they have absolutely no clue about the ways that your child is different than others, their two cents isn't always worth much, and I found more times than not made me feel like I was a failure. That I wasn't doing something right. It still can feel like that at times. The sooner you realize that what works for some people isn't going to work for you, and if you keep trying new things, ultimately you will find things that do work, sometimes it just takes awhile to get there.
There were numerous ADHDers in this book that told their stories, from the struggles they have had in earlier years or still have as adults, to tricks they've found work for them, to the wild success that they've had, not in spite of ADHD but because of it! Some of the names you will surely recognize, Howie Mandel, Ty Pennington, Channing Tatum, Chef Alexis Hernandez, Terry Bradshaw, and many more. But there were also everyday people ranging from entrepreneur, doctor, photographer, truck driver, waitress, etc. I was glad for each one of their stories, and most especially their many different ways of doing things that I hope to try with my daughter in hopes of helping her find her perfect way!
I also appreciated the part near the end that took time to cover ADHD and relationships. It was told for each parties benefit, which was truly nice. The many tips there can be applied to relationships as a whole, not just romantic.
I really encourage anyone that works with children or has anyone they know with ADHD to pick this up and learn a little something. I can honestly say I have an even deeper understanding of ADHD, and in turn a part of my daughter that I am still always learning about. I really hope that people take as much as I did from this.
****As I am sure you have already put together, my main reason for reading this was my daughter. I was really hoping to get a better understanding of ADHD in general, and more than anything learn some different ways that I could help her be as successful as possible and prevent both of our frustrations as much as possible.
We have had our own share of disappointing experiences because of people's, I don't know laziness, or lack of understanding. My daughter's 4th grade teacher, having never once spoke to me about any concerns, via email, note, or any other standard method of communication between parents and teachers. He never said anything to me about a concern for her learning, or any problems he was having with her in class. But somehow we had jumped from 0 to 10, at least that's how it felt for me, at conferences when he blurted out that "Your daughter needs to see a doctor" or "I think medication will be key." Apparently her excessive talking in class was grating on his nerves, which is totally understandable. What is not acceptable, is the fact that it never seemed enough of an issue for him to contact me about it, so I don't know, maybe we could all brainstorm on some ways to work with her so there were less disruptions. And most of all what I don't accept is that his concerns never once seemed to be for my daughter, but rather himself, or the good of the whole. While I understand that to an extent, I'm not the whole's mother, and that one kid you're singling out without putting in any effort with, yeah that one is my main concern. I was worried about that girl. But along with being angry, I also felt that twinge of oh god, a professional just said that to us, maybe this is a problem. So I did what most people ultimately do in that situation, I took her to a doctor. Which I am sad to say ended up going straight for the good ole prescription pad. It was the last time I saw that doctor. I told him I didn't feel comfortable with that, and asked if there were any other things we could try before thinking about medication. The reply was "Just give this a try and see how it goes.". It's disgusting to me that I felt like drugs were being pushed on my child without anyone really even taking the time to try and figure out what she truly needs. This was an A student, in honors band, btw.
Ultimately I did not end up ever giving her any medication. And for better or worse we've been going at everything in our own ways. There are many road bumps along the way, whether ADHD related or not, but we're always adapting and trying new ways to work together for the best solution. Even if sometimes that means learning to let the kid do whatever works for her, even when it makes no sense to me. EX. listening to music, Facetiming or streaming video and doing homework. LOL We would argue about this quite frequently, with me constantly being like "You can't get anything done that way, you need to focus on your homework." Funny thing was, she was focusing on it, she just did that more easily with a few other things going on at the same time. When I would force her into what I deemed a better environment for learning/being productive, she would struggle to get it done, or rush to get through it and ultimately not do as well most of the time. Her chaotic way, it was what worked for her, and as long as it was working who am I to say it's not the right way! Everything is a learning experience being a parent in general.
The ADHD Advantage just gave me a few more tools to try and a better understanding of ADHD and the many benefits that come along with that. And a million thanks for bringing positive awareness to people about ADHD, and also to the fact that there is a real problem with over diagnosing and over medication. Approximatly 6.4 million American children (11 percent) ages 3-17 are being diagnosed with ADHD and over half of those being medicated . This is a serious problem. Especially if you compare us to other countries, France for instance that is around 0.05 percent of children in that range being diagnosed and medicated. 0.05 percent. We can do better America. ****
I received a copy of this book from Penguin Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.