Author Stanley I. Greenspan’s Overcoming ADHD provides parents, caregivers, and teachers guidelines for helping children with ADHD — without resorting to pills — and the current solution to help such children today. He feels that all too often those who demonstrate ADHD behaviors are put in programs that do not focus on the underlying reasons for a child’s difficulty with self-control, paying attention, and remaining focused.
Included in his list of influences affecting “attention” are cultural expectations and possible biological factors. Most importantly, however, Greenspan feels that careful consideration of any child’s strengths and weaknesses is the most beneficial way to construct a realistic program for a child who appears hyperactive and inattentive
In its earliest pages, Overcoming ADHD discusses seven key factors of an interceptive approach. If after a 12-month period of serious attempts to improve these factors, only then should a parent or caregiver seek further professional help for a suspect child. So often, it might seem easier to “give the kid a pill” rather than consistently try to move along the spectrum of steps listed below.
An ADHD Person Can Learn How To:
1. Move their body and its parts in a way that is age-appropriate.
2. Remember the sequence of thought patterns and activities.
3. Reduce over-activity or under-activity.
4. Think more reflectively.
5. Feel self-confident enough to lower anxiety.
6. Interact meaningfully with family members.
7. Live safely in a distracting environment.
Overcoming ADHD provides a variety of suggestions a parent, caregiver, teacher, or counselor can follow, to move a child along all of the seven steps listed above. There are far too many suggestions to mention here. The important thing is that each proposed game, exercise, or activity is explained in easy-to-follow detail and must be consistently used.
Especially important are the activities to help children feel good about themselves. The book tells of Mark, a boy with low self-esteem (#5-above). After talking with both Mark and his parents, it surfaced that Mark’s mother was overwhelmed by her son’s problems. His father simply felt Mark was acting out in school and tended to be harsh with him.
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