|
Basic InformationMore InformationLatest NewsMany Parents Would Switch Doctors Over Vaccination Policy, Poll FindsAs School Starts, Pack That Lunch With Nutritional Goodies5 Health Tips to Promote Back-to-School SuccessPot Poisonings Among Kids, Teens Double After Medical Marijuana Law PassedFor Kids Born With HIV, Taking Needed Meds Gets Harder With Age: StudyBuilding a Better BackpackKids Getting Too Many Opioids After TonsillectomyExplaining, Easing the Horror of Mass Shootings for Your KidsFor Kids With Asthma, Allergies, New School Year Can Bring Flare-UpsAnother Video Game Risk to Watch Out ForOlder Parents May Have Better Behaved KidsAre Too Many Kids Prescribed Antihistamines?Childhood Cancer Steals Over 11 Million Years of Healthy Life: StudyFamily Home, Football Field Most Dangerous Spots for Kids' Head InjuriesMost Airplanes Not Equipped With First Aid for KidsPlastics Chemicals Meant to Replace BPA May Not Be Any Safer for KidsWhat Happens to the Children When Parents Fight?Health Tip: Giving Medicine Safely to ChildrenHow to Make Your Child's Hospital Stay Safer, Less StressfulObesity May Boost Odds for MS in KidsHealth Tip: Diarrhea in KidsOpioid Epidemic Doubled Number of U.S. Kids Sent to Foster CareSwimming Lessons a Must for EveryoneHow to Help When Your Child Weighs Too MuchHave Kids, Buy More Produce?Zika's Damage Continues in Children Infected Before BirthCDC Warns of Start to 'Season' for Mysterious Paralyzing Illness in KidsParent Who Listens Can Help Kids Thrive Despite TraumaHealth Tip: Ear Piercing For KidsReacting Against a 'Too Clean' World, Some Parents Go Too Far the Other WaySurvey Urges Grandparents to Lock Down Their Meds When Kids VisitCalifornia Took on Anti-Vaxxers, and WonHow Does Sunshine During Pregnancy Affect Learning?Surgery Helps Babies Missing a Heart Chamber Survive, But Problems LingerAbuse, Injury More Likely When Child is With Male Caregiver: StudyHow to Foster Your Child's ImaginationLow Vitamin D at Birth Linked to Kids' High Blood Pressure RiskHow Do Kids Learn To Turn Off Troublesome Tics?Meet 'Huggable,' the Robot Bear Who's Helping Hospitalized KidsWill Video Games Make Your Kid Obese? Maybe NotChildhood Brain Tumor Survivors Face More StrugglesFDA Expands Cystic Fibrosis Treatment Approval to Children Ages 6 to 12New Drug Combats Leading Cause of DwarfismHow Do Birth Defects Affect Childhood Cancer Risk?FDA Approves Victoza Injection for Children 10 Years and OlderHealth Tip: Preparing Your Child For Sleepaway CampTips for Keeping Your Child Healthy at CampA Simple Way to Help Prevent Child ObesityType 1 Diabetes Might Affect Young Kids' Brain DevelopmentHow to Put Limits on Your Family's Screen Time Questions and AnswersVideosLinksBook Reviews100 Things Guys Need to Know3 NBS of Julian DrewA Guide to Asperger SyndromeA Tribe ApartA User Guide to the GF/CF Diet for Autism, Asperger Syndrome and AD/HDA Walk in the Rain With a BrainAdolescence and Body ImageAdolescent DepressionAfterAggression and Antisocial Behavior in Children and AdolescentsAll Alone in the UniverseAmelia RulesAmericaAnother PlanetAntisocial Behavior in Children and AdolescentsArtemis FowlAssessment and Treatment of Childhood Problems, Second EditionAutistic Spectrum DisordersBad GirlBetween Two WorldsBeyond AppearanceBeyond Diversity DayBig Mouth & Ugly GirlBill HensonBipolar DisordersBody Image, Eating Disorders, and ObesityBody Image, Eating Disorders, and Obesity in YouthBoyBoysBrandedBreaking PointBreathing UnderwaterBringing Up ParentsBullying and TeasingCan't Eat, Won't EatCatalystChild and Adolescent Psychological DisordersChildren Changed by TraumaChildren with Emerald EyesChildren’s Dreaming and the Development of Consciousness City of OneConcise Guide to Child and Adolescent PsychiatryConquering the Beast WithinContentious IssuesCrackedCutDancing in My NuddypantsDemystifying the Autistic ExperienceDescartes' BabyDilemmas of DesireDirtyDoing ItDoing SchoolDying to Be ThinEating an ArtichokeEducating Children With AutismElijah's CupEllison the ElephantEmerald City BluesEmotional and Behavioral Problems of Young ChildrenEvery Girl Tells a StoryFast GirlsFeather BoyFiregirlForever YoungFreaks, Geeks and Asperger SyndromeFreewillGeography ClubGeorgia Under WaterGirl in the MirrorGirlfightingGirlsourceGirlWiseGLBTQGood GirlsGoodbye RuneGranny Torrelli Makes SoupGrowing Up GirlHandbook for BoysHealing ADDHeartbeatHelping Children Cope With Disasters and TerrorismHelping Parents, Youth, and Teachers Understand Medications for Behavioral and Emotional ProblemsHollow KidsHow Children Learn the Meanings of WordsHow to Keep Your Teenager Out of Trouble and What to Do If You Can'tHug MeIntrusive ParentingIt's Me!It's Perfectly NormalJake RileyJoey Pigza Swallowed the KeyJuvenile-Onset SchizophreniaKeeping the MoonKilling MonstersKim: Empty InsideKnocked Out by My Nunga-NungasLaura Numeroff's 10-Step Guide to Living with Your MonsterLearning About School ViolenceLeo the Lightning BugLet Kids Be KidsLiberation's ChildrenLife As We Know ItLisa, Bright and DarkLittle ChicagoLord of the FliesLoserLove and SexLove That DogManicMastering Anger and AggressionMind FieldsMiss American PieMom, Dad, I'm Gay.MonsterMore Than a LabelMyths of ChildhoodNew Hope for Children and Teens with Bipolar DisorderNo Two AlikeNot Much Just Chillin'Odd Girl OutOdd Girl Speaks OutOn the Frontier of AdulthoodOne Hot SecondOne in ThirteenOphelia SpeaksOphelia's MomOur Journey Through High Functioning Autism and Asperger SyndromeOut of the DustOvercoming School AnxietyParenting and the Child's WorldParenting Your Out-Of-Control TeenagerPediatric PsychopharmacologyPeriod PiecesPhobic and Anxiety Disorders in Children and AdolescentsPINSPraising Boys WellPraising Girls WellPretty in PunkPrincess in the SpotlightProblem Child or Quirky Kid?Psychotherapy As PraxisPsychotherapy for Children and AdolescentsRaising a Self-StarterRaising BlazeRaising Resilient ChildrenReclaiming Our ChildrenRedressing the EmperorReducing Adolescent RiskRethinking ADHDReweaving the Autistic TapestryRineke DijkstraRitalin is Not the Answer Action GuideRunning on RitalinSay YesSexual Teens, Sexual MediaSexuality in AdolescenceShooterShort PeopleShould I Medicate My Child?Skin GameSmackSmashedStaying Connected to Your TeenagerStick FigureStoner & SpazStop Arguing with Your KidsStraight Talk about Your Child's Mental HealthStrong, Smart, & BoldStudent DepressionSurvival Strategies for Parenting Children with Bipolar DisorderSurviving OpheliaTaking Charge of ADHD, Revised EditionTaming the Troublesome ChildTargeting AutismTeaching Problems and the Problems of TeachingTeen Angst? NaaahThat SummerThe American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook Of Child And Adolescent PsychiatryThe Arctic IncidentThe Bipolar ChildThe Buffalo TreeThe Bully, the Bullied, and the BystanderThe Carnivorous CarnivalThe Depressed ChildThe Developing MindThe Dragons of AutismThe Dream BearerThe Dulcimer Boy The Einstein SyndromeThe EpidemicThe Eternity CubeThe Explosive ChildThe Field of the DogsThe First IdeaThe Identity TrapThe Inside Story on Teen GirlsThe Little TernThe Mean Girl MotiveThe Men They Will BecomeThe Myth of LazinessThe New Gay TeenagerThe Notebook GirlsThe Nurture AssumptionThe Opposite of InvisibleThe Order of the Poison OakThe Other ParentThe Present Moment in Psychotherapy and Everyday LifeThe Real Truth About Teens and SexThe Rise and Fall of the American TeenagerThe Secret Lives of GirlsThe Sex Lives of TeenagersThe Shared HeartThe Spider and the BeeThe StepsThe Thought that CountsThe Unhappy ChildThe Vile VillageThe Whole ChildThen Again, Maybe I Won'tTherapy with ChildrenThings I Have to Tell YouTouching Spirit BearTrauma in the Lives of ChildrenTreacherous LoveTrue BelieverTwistedUnhappy TeenagersWay to Be!We're Not MonstersWhat about the KidsWhat Would Joey Do?What's Happening to My Body? Book for BoysWhat's Happening to My Body? Book for GirlsWhen Nothing Matters AnymoreWhen Sex Goes to SchoolWhen Your Child Has an Eating DisorderWhere The Kissing Never StopsWhose America?Why Are You So Sad?WinnicottWorried All the TimeYes, Your Teen Is Crazy!You Hear MeYoung People and Mental HealthYour Child, Bully or Victim? |
| |
by David B. Stein Jossey-Bass, 2002 Review by Michael Sakuma, Ph.D. on Aug 4th 2003 
The book title Ritalin
is not the answer-action guide compelled me to look it over and give it a
chance. Being a psychologist, tired of
medical model dogma (the current trend in psychiatry that mental/behavioral
disorders have a biological cause and treatment), I was intrigued at a
drug-free plan to help children with what we call "add". Before my review, I should comment that I
have not seen the original book that I assume, outlines the program more
thoroughly. This book that I am
currently reviewing is an "action guide" that I assume has
participatory exercises and self tests to help parents adopt the program. Despite not seeing the original book, I
believe I have read enough to form an "informed" opinion.
The guide is divided
into three parts. The first is designed
to educate parents about the "true facts" (presumably those that the
psychiatrists don't want you to know) about the "real causes" of
ADD/ADHD. I have some problem with
this, but we will return to this later.
The second part is a skills building segment for caregivers using
classic behavioral techniques such as reward and punishment to shape behavior.
The third part of the book is focused on "teaching values" to your
children and "avoiding ADD."
Again, I will comment on this section later. The book contains resources
for parents and references listed as appendices.
Let me start the
review by saying that I generally am wary of "magic bullets",
purported cure-all treatments that are the missing link that is somehow
escaping the experts. The book starts
with a checklist of behaviors for parents to rate their kids. Is your child "tightly wound" and
"difficult to control" Do they "listen to you" and
"are your nerves shot"? If
the answer is "yes" to many of his questions, Stein urges you to
"cheer up" because he will "teach you to make these problems
disappear." While Stein's program may be effective, I find it unlikely
that the program will make all of these problems vanish (like so much
magic). It is a very hopeful claim, and
certainly these books are designed to give hope. I prefer a more realistic stance.
I very much like the
premise of his book, that Ritalin need not be the answer for a child with
attentional problems. Research in the
field shows that behavioral treatment, as suggested in this book, is effective
in managing some children with ADD/ADHD.
I believe that medicine is often prescribed as curative, when in fact it
does normalize all that is wrong in ADD.
As in any other "mental" disorder drugs (probably) should not
be taken without some psychological support, and in ADD, I believe that the
diagnosis is broad enough that there are many children who might benefit from
behavioral treatment alone. However,
the book (I believe) is incorrect in assuming that all children who suffer from
ADD (what he calls IA/HM– Inability to attend/highly misbehaving) are the same
and can be treated in this one-way.
Stein fails to take into consideration that any diagnosis (be it
schizophrenia or ADD) may result from any of a number of etiologies… biological
dysfunction certainly being one.
Therefore, while I dislike the medical model's penchant for assuming
that everything is biological, I equally dislike voices on the other side that
(seem to be saying) that none of it is biological. Even if Stein agrees that IA/HM may have some biological roots
but need not be treated with drugs, I would agree with the caveat that the most
effective treatment in this scenario would be biological treatment AND a
behavioral plan as outlined here.
I should conclude in
saying that I believe that Stein's program might very well be effective for
many children and parents suffering from IA/HM. I do not believe that it is the panacea that is advertised. There is some truth to Stein's hypothesis
that changing cultural habits and values and an eroding educational system are
the sources of IA/HM, however, I tend to balk at his suggestion that one parent
might want to think about giving up their job to spend more time with the child
as a non-solution. He urges parents at
the end of the book to "pass the word" to politicians and friends
that our eroding society is causing the problems. Again, while I see some truth to this statement, I believe it is
only one facet of a complex and multifaceted problem. The search for the magic
bullet continues.
© 2003 Michael Sakuma
Michael Sakuma is
Chair of the Psychology Department at Dowling
College, Long Island, New York. |
