Dr. Larry Silver’s Advice to Parents on ADHD

If you are a parent of a child with special needs, perhaps you have also felt lost and wished you knew someone in a similar situation you could turn to for support. If so, you’re not alone. Across the country, parents are providing emotional and informational support to other parents through a national network of Parent to Parent programs. In this comprehensive book, the authors share with you the ins and outs of developing and maintaining a strong, local Parent to Parent program that individually matches “veteran” supporting parents with those who are new to the challenges of caring for a child with a disability. Drawing on research about Parent to Parent groups and best practices in program development and training, you’ll get the basics of setting up your own program, including guidelines for finding, preparing, and matching supporting parents with newly referred parents, ideas for organizing and incorporating your program, and evaluating its effectiveness, tips on accessing funding and promoting your program througho0ut the community, and useful forms and extensive lists of contacts and resources to get you started.

Remember the kids who just didn’t fit in? Maybe they stood too close, or talked too loud. Whatever the reason, we called them hurtful names, and they never understood why. Now, clinical psychologists Duke and Nowicki call these children “dyssemic,” and offer some ideas of how to help them. Dyssemic children cannot readily comprehend nonverbal messages, much as dyslexics do not correctly process the written word. Yet nonverbal communication plays a vital role in our communication with others, and children who misunderstand or misuse it may face painful social rejection. In Helping the Child Who Doesn’t Fit In, Duke and Nowicki show parents and teachers how to assess the extent of a child’s problem, as well as how to help the dyssemic child.

This anthology of poetry is organized to show the experience of a person who takes charge of her own life despite difficulties and challenges. Fifty-three poems and three short stories describe the experience of growing up. The author, a women who wrote these poems during her childhood and teenage years, experienced a difference currently called by many names; specific learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and dylexia. She was in an ordinary class and received virtually no help for the challenges she experienced due to her handicaps.The poetry was published in journals of poetry, newspapers, and magazines when she was a teenager. Mountain Books asked the author to organize these poems into an anthology because the publisher believed they should be shared with today’s readers. They inspire and emmpower all people who have stuggled to overcome these difficulties. They sensitize parents and teachers who work to help children and adults who struggle. They show personal growth and encourage the reader to take responsibility for their own actions and experiences.

When Marvin’s name is not on the class roster on the first day of school, he feels like he’s one too many – in fact he doesn’t even have a desk. Plus, Marvin can’t seem to catch on to reading as quickly as the other kids. Perhaps a little help from his teacher and his parents will give Marvin the boost he needs.

Sophie is really, really angry! Her sister took her stuffed gorilla. Then Sophie triped on a toy truck. Furious, she slams out the front door and just keeps running. Soon, though, she calms down and starts to notice the ferns and birds. Before long she is ready to be back with her family.

Voices from Fatherhood is unique in focusing on fathers’ concerns in parenting their ADHD sons. It offers fathers support and encouragement and specific management techniques. In summary, this is a book that everyone — fathers, mothers, educators, and mental health professionals — will find useful in helping to understand the dynamics of modern day father-son relationships.