Dr. Kenny Handelman has written an outstanding, educational and easy to read book about ADHD. I finish very few books that I begin reading that are written by doctors, they usually end up in a pile of other books next to my bed (you know the pile I am talking about), but Attention Difference Disorder was engaging and kept my attention throughout. It helps that Dr. Handelman and I share many of the same philosophies about true caring, strength based approach and that each of us has value. The thing about books written by doctors, not just about ADHD, is that the majority of them come across as uncaring at best and condescending at worst, without meaning to be. However, there are a few books by doctors which transcend the clinical style and Attention Difference Disorder is one of them. It’s one of the best written by a doctor since Driven to Distraction.
One of the things I enjoyed most about Attention Difference Disorder, and I think most other adult ADHD readers will appreciate, is how Dr. Handelman keeps the pace of the book brisk and the information tightly packed as not to go on and on about something he knows the readers will have understood without an entire history lesson in science.
Dr. Handelman has made a big deal of the word “Difference” in the title of his book and with very good reason. There’s too much stigma attached to the word deficit and few ADDers and parents of ADDers feel comfortable with, nor agree with, the term “Deficit”. No one wants to hear about how they are lacking or that they are ‘lesser’ than others and Dr. Handelman makes sure that adults who read his book come to realize that ADHD is not a “Deficit” disorder. We are different, we think differently, act differently and in many cases need to learn steps to help us cope in today’s world, but that doesn’t mean we are bad or that we have a “Deficit”. If you look at just about all of the problems people have with ADHD you will find many solutions can be had by setting things up differently, working differently and learning how those differences should be managed in order to learn, adapt and ‘perform’ better.
I highly recommend Attention Difference Disorder! As a matter of fact there are still a couple of days left for you to enter our contest to win a signed copy. You can get your name into the hat to win a copy by signing up to our ADDer World ADHD Social Network.
Bryan
