The Myth of the A.D.D. Child: 50 Ways to Improve Your Child's Behaviour and Attention Span Without Drugs, Labels or Coercion [Paperback]

Before heading right to the 50 Ways, Armstrong offers the reader five chapters filled with information, positive and negative, about ADD and medication, the whys and wherefores. He starts with reasons why he doesn't believe in A.D.D as a medical problem, treatable primarily by medication.

As he says in this review area, he is NOT saying ADD doesn't exist - he acknowledges that the problems we experience with our kids are real. What I believe he IS saying is that he doesn't believe the 'disease' diagnosed as A.D.D. is a medical problem only within the child, curable by medication.

He suggests that some of the problem may be cultural - we expect our children at the age of 6 to be able to sit quietly in a classroom setting - other cultures allow children more freedom, some offer less. Changes in our own "short attention span" culture may contribute to the A.D.D. behaviors, as do boring classroom set-ups, gender differences, different learning styles, parent-child dis-connections and so on.

He tells what is good, and not good about the pills - some of which may be the same as a placebo effect. When parents and teachers know the child is being medicated, they relax and that change of attitude has a positive effect on the child (I have seen this with my own child and his teachers).

He writes more about the negative effects of Ritalin (not Adderall) as perhaps stifling creativity and the dependency factor, although he is clear that there is no answer yet (however, both Ritalin and Adderall are controlled substances and many children do have negative 'withdrawal' effects). Despite his discussion on drugs, he says "Such drugs, used in the right way with the right individuals by responsible physicians, can significantly enhance the quality of life for many children." But he limits this to three situations - 1) several hyperactive children 2) children in the midst of a life-changing trauma (death in the family, for example) 3) a last resort.

After some 50 pages of this introduction, you get to the reason you bought the book - alternative solutions and they are good (whether or not your child is on medication). He starts with a checklist of things that may bother you about your child's behavior - each one checked off directs you to at least one chapter with possible solutions.

Examples include: Runny nose, itching, stomachache - go to Chapter 2 and look at the Feingold Diet, or Chapter 12 ideas to help alleviate what may be an allergy problem; play Nintendo for two or three hours at a time, go to Chapter 3 and consider limiting TV and video games or Chapter 36, giving your child access to a computer (he misses, on this one, his own Chapter #5, find out what really interests your child - the one I've found most effective - piano, riding lessons, reading, outside play with friends really are more appealing when encouraged by a parent!). Each of these chapters has information, which many of us have already read - but he also provides resources at the end of the chapter which I am finding helpful. And let me once again point out, he has 50 (5-0!) ideas neatly arranged in one book - I especially like that you can look at the list of your child's particular problems and go right to the chapter, rather than trying to read all the way through, cover to cover.

For those who believe that medication is a strong, necessary and large part of the solution, or for those who do not have the time, money or emotional resources to examine the "whys" of ADD, the first part of the book more of an annoyance than a help.

If so, I'd still encourage people to read this book, pages 61 - 257.