Training on Learning Disabilities for Parents & Teachers

OTHER RESOURCES (BOOKS, MAGAZINES, ARTICLES, BIBLIOGRAPHY, ESSAYS…)

Books

	1. Cory Stories: A Kid’s Book About Living With ADHD In short statements and vignettes, Cory describes what it’s like to have ADHD: how it affects his relationships with friends and family, his school performance and his overall functioning. Author, Jeanne R Kraus, is a teacher, curriculum specialist, author, humorist and speaker.
	2. The Survival Guide for Kids with ADD or ADHD Survival Guide Do you have a hard time paying attention or staying still? Do you sometimes get yelled at for talking in class or moving around? Do you often zone out? Lose assignments? Fall behind in school? Have trouble controlling your behavior? Maybe you have ADD or ADHD. These are labels grown-ups use to understand and help kids with these types of challenges. If you’ve been labeled ADD or ADHD, this book is for you. Look inside to find: What ADD and ADHD mean – and don’t mean. Ways to make each day go better at home, at school, and with friends. How to deal with strong feelings like anger, worry, and sadness. The lowdown on medicine many kids take for ADD or ADHD. The dish on foods that can help you manage your ADD or ADHD. Fun quizzes that will help you remember what you’re learning.
	3. 50 Activities and Games for Kids with ADHD By Patricia O. Quinn, MD & Judith M. Stern, M.A., Illustrated by Kate Sternberg The games, puzzles, activities, articles, and resources in this exciting collection from the newsletter BRAKES offer more than 50 ways for kids to handle the challenges of ADHD. Along with practical tips for solving problems and getting organized, boys and girls can also read about real kids like themselves. And they can discover a wealth of ideas that make life more manageable—and more fun!
	4. The ADHD Workbook for Kids: Helping Children Gain Self-Confidence, Social Skills, and Self-Control (Instant Help) ADHD_WorkbookAll kids with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) want to manage their symptoms in order to get along better with others, build confidence, and succeed in school, but most don’t have the skills they need to get their impulsive behavior under control. The ADHD Workbook for Kids offers a simple way to help children with ADHD learn these critical skills in just ten minutes a day.
	5. My Brother’s a World-Class. Pain A Sibling’s Guide to ADHD-Hyperactivity Written by Michael Gordon, PH.D, this books is designed to help siblings of ADHD children understand their brothers or sisters. It is explained in kids words the ups and downs of having a sibling with ADHD.
	6. Taking Charge of ADHD6. Taking Charge of ADHD, Third Edition: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents From distinguished researcher/clinician Russell A. Barkley, this treasured parent resource gives you the science-based information you need about attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and its treatment. It also presents a proven eight-step behavior management plan specifically designed for 6- to 18-year-olds with ADHD. He offers encouragement, guidance, and loads of practical tips.
	7. Smart but Scattered:The Revolutionary “Executive Skills” Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential There’s nothing more frustrating thanwatching your bright, talented son or daughter struggle with everyday tasks like finishing homework, putting away toys, or following instructions at school. Your “smart but scattered” child might also have trouble coping with disappointment or managing anger. Drs. Peg Dawson and Richard Guare have great news: there’s a lot you can do to help. Learn easy-to-follow steps to identify your child’s strengths and weaknesses, use activities and techniques proven to boost specific skills, and problem-solve daily routines. Small changes can add up to big improvements–this empowering book shows how.
	8. Putting on the Brakes Putting on the BrakesNow in its 20th year of publication, Putting on the Brakes remains the essential go-to resource for kids, parents, and professionals looking for tips and techniques on managing attention disorders. Written by two nationally recognized ADHD experts, Putting on the Brakes is loaded with practical ways to improveorganizational,focusing, studying, and homework skills and contains more strategies for making friends, controlling emotions, and being healthy. This book gives kids with ADHD the tools for success in and out of school and helps them to feel empowered to be the best they can be!
	9. ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life ADD_Friendly_bookOrganizing books fall short of addressing the unique needs of adults with ADD. They fail to understand the clinical picture of ADD and how it impacts the organizing process often making their advice irrelevant or frustrating when put into application. Books about ADD may address organization/disorganization but do so in a cursory fashion and on a very small scale in what are usually long books on the subject. This is a book that has ADD-Friendly advice with the ADDer in mind.
	10. More Attention, Less Deficit: Success Strategies for Adults with ADHD This essential guidebook begins by describing how the ADHD brain processes information and how that leads to typical challenges that people with ADHD experience, as well as why certain strategies are effective and others aren’t. This lays the foundation for everything that follows, from getting diagnosed to an overview of the research of how ADHD affects people’s lives.
	11. ADHD in Children – An Essential Guide for Parents If you suspect that your child has ADHD, you might find this book helpful as it provides some guidelines to see if your child needs to be considered for an ADHD test. This book helps you get a better understanding of ADHD. It covers the comprehensive aspects of ADHD like types, causes, diagnosis and treatments, etc.If your child has been diagnosed with ADHD, this book provides a list of what to expect as your child grows up and it offers a ton of valuable information that you can use to help your child in coping with the disorder.
	12. Parenting Children with ADHD: 10 Lessons That Medicine Cannot Teach (APA Lifetools) The author passes on his wisdom about how to help children with ADHD succeed, and includes medical, nutritional, educational, and psychological information in a format usable by parents, K-12 teachers and school administrator professionals, and healthcare professionals.
	13. Driven to Distraction (Revised): Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder Through vivid stories and case histories of patients—both adults and children—Hallowell and Ratey explore the varied forms ADHD takes, from hyperactivity to daydreaming. They dispel common myths, offer helpful coping tools, and give a thorough accounting of all treatment options as well as tips for dealing with a diagnosed child, partner, or family member. But most importantly, they focus on the positives that can come with this “disorder”—including high energy, intuitiveness, creativity, and enthusiasm.
	14. The ADHD Effect on Marriage: Understand and Rebuild Your Relationship in Six Steps Awarded “Best Psychology Book of 2010” by Foreword Reviews, this book is an invaluable resource for couples in which one of the partners suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It authoritatively guides couples in troubled marriages towards an understanding and appreciation for the struggles and triumphs of a relationship affected by ADHD, and to look at the disorder in a more positive and less disruptive way.
	15. Your Life Can Be Better, Using strategies for adult ADD/ADHD This ADD book is different. It is by a psychiatrist, about his own struggles with ADD and those of his patients and his friends. It is personal, about real people coping with real problems. It is about strategies, not about medications or the history, definition or diagnosis of ADD. It is not academic. it is interesting and light reading, with lots of helpful information and ideas.
	16. I Can’t Do This But I Can Do That This 30-minute documentary takes an enlightening lookat young people with a wide spectrum of learning differences; offering a compelling portrait of the ways in which these children are able to compensate by using their strengths to overcome their challenges.
	17. Misunderstood Minds The PBS documentary Misunderstood Minds shines a spotlight on this painful subject, following the stories of five families as, together with experts, they try to solve the mysteries of their children’s learning difficulties. Produced and directed by renowned Frontline filmmaker Michael Kirk, this 90-minute special shows the children’s problems in a new light, and serves as a platform to open a nationwide dialogue on how best to manage young, vulnerable, and misunderstood minds.
	18. ADD And Loving It Comedian Patrick McKenna seeks a diagnosis for Adult ADHD and learns the facts from an impressive array of experts (some of whom have ADHD themselves!) including medical researchers, psychiatrists, psychologists, professors, and award-winning authors.
	19. Gork! GORK! is a frank, intimate documentary about a family in Iowa navigating the challenges of raising a charismatic child with a mix of developmental disabilities (autism, ADHD, retardation). From his baby years as a foster child, through high school graduation, to hisplacement in an adult group home, the film explores the conflict, humor, hopes and frustrations in his family as Adam’s life unfolds.
	20. FRONTLINE: The Medicated Child DVD With over four million children now on behavior modifying medications, some starting as young as two years old, FRONTLINE continues its investigation into the controversial practice of medicating kids. Are the drugs safe? How young can you detect mental illness in a child? Is medication really the answer? As the debate grows more intense, FRONTLINE investigates the risks and benefits of prescription drugs for troubled children.

Magazine Articles & Articles from Peer-Reviewed Journal

Growing Up With ADHD: Clinical Care Issues

“Growing Up With ADHD: Clinical Care Issues,” was published in the January 2016 issue of Psychiatric Times, a publication distributed to all psychiatrists in the U.S. It describes why young adults with ADHD often do not get the help they need when they are no longer being cared for by their pediatrician. It includes some suggestions for how they can be provided more adequate care. Click here to download the PDF article >

ADHD: From Stereotype to Science

This article describes an updated understanding of ADHD. Published in Educational Leadership, a national magazine for teachers and school administrator, it describes how ADHD is not primarily a problem of behavior, but more a problem with the management system of the brain. The article explains how ADHD involves working memory problems which impact reading and writing. Parents may want to share this with teachers and read it for themselves. Click here to download a PDF of the article.

Ten Myths About ADHD and Why They Are Wrong

This article, reprinted with permission from ATTENTION magazine (June, 2013 issue), is comprised of excerpts from the first chapter of Dr. Brown’s book, A New Understanding of ADHD in Children and Adults: Executive Function Impairments (Routledge, 2013). Download a PDF of the article here.

Executive Functions: Six Aspects of a Complex Syndrome

This article, published in ATTENTION magazine, provides many examples from everyday life to illustrate the various types of cognitive impairments typical of children and adults with ADD/ADHD. Descriptions and explanations of these “executive functions” are edited excerpts from the 2nd chapter of Dr. Brown’s book, Attention Deficit Disorders: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults. Download a PDF of the article by clicking here.

Inside the ADD Mind

Dr. Brown’s new model of the management system of the brain is described in this edited excerpt from the first chapter of his recent book, Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults. The article includes a diagram of the new model of executive functions and describes why people with ADD/ADHD can pay attention very well for tasks that really interest them, while they have great difficulty in making themselves pay attention to other tasks that they recognize as important.

Reprinted with permission from the April/May issue of ADDITUDE magazine. Click here to download a PDF of the article.

AD/HD and Co-Occurring Conditions

Individuals with ADHD are six times more likely to have at least one additional psychiatric disorder sometime during their lifetime. Dr. Brown’s edited book, ADHD Comorbidities: Handbook for ADHD Complications in Children and Adults, published in January, 2009, describes how ADHD is different when the person also has an anxiety disorder, a mood disorder, a learning disorder, OCD, a sleep disorder, etc. In February , 2009 ATTENTION magazine published this article that summarizes key points from a section of the first chapter of that new book; it describes a new model for understanding ADHD and co-occurring conditions.

Download a PDF of AD/HD and Co-Occurring Conditions by clicking here.

A New Approach to Attention Deficit Disorder

Written for educators, this article describes how ADD is no longer seen as a simple behavior disorder, but as a complex syndrome of impairments in the management system of the brain. Examples of students in elementary and high school illustrate how ADD can impact learning and academic productivity at different ages and stages in school. Some guidelines for assessment are included and the importance of early identification is emphasized.

Reprinted with permission from the February, 2007 issue of Educational Leadership, a magazine for leaders in education. Click here to download a PDF of this article.

Attention Deficit Disorders: The Myths, the Facts

This list of 10 common myths about ADD and facts to counter those myths was published with the article above in Educational Leadership magazine. The information comes from Dr. Brown’s book, Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults (Yale University Press, 2005).

Reprinted with permission from the February, 2007 issue of Educational Leadership, a magazine for leaders in education. Click here to download a PDF of this article.

AD/HD and Challenges of Early Adulthood

The late teens and early twenties present multiple challenges to every young adult, but for those with ADD/ADHD, these challenges may be especially difficult. This article describes specific ways in which those with ADHD often have difficulty with linking school to a career, managing money, developing and sustaining satisfying relationships, seeking and keeping a job, moderating substance use, and utilizing adequate medical care.

Reprinted from the February, 2006 issue of ATTENTION! Magazine, with permission from CHADD. Click here to download a PDF of the full article.

Articles from Peer-Reviewed Journals

Extended time improves reading comprehension test scores in adolescents with ADHD

Reporting on a study of 145 adolescents with ADHD, this article shows how reading comprehension difficulties of those with ADHD are related not so much to weak verbal abilities or weak basic reading skills, but to impairments of working memory and processing speed that are characteristic of ADHD. Results show that only 43% of the sample were able to score close to their verbal ability index when doing a timed reading test, but 78% were able to reach that goal when allowed modest amount of extended time on a standardized test of reading comprehension. Thomas E. Brown, Philipp C. Reichel, and Donald M. Quinlan in the Open Journal of Psychiatry. (October, 2011). 1: 79-87. Click here to download a PDF of the full article.

Executive Function Impairments in High IQ Children and Adolescents with ADHD

This article reports a study of 117 children and adolescents with ADHD, all of whom have IQ scores of 120 or higher, placing them in the top 9% of their age groups. The study shows that extremely bright kids can suffer from ADHD in ways that seriously interfere with their schoolwork, especially as they meet the challenges of junior high and high school. Most of these kids scored very high on verbal and visual spatial abilities, but were impaired by much weaker abilities in working memory, processing speed and a variety of other executive functions. Thomas E. Brown, Philipp C. Reichel, and Donald M. Quinlan in the Open Journal of Psychiatry. (July, 2011) .1: 56-65. Click here to download a PDF of the full article.

Executive Function Impairments in High IQ Adults with ADHD

This article reports a study of 157 adults aged 18 to 55 yrs with ADHD, all of whom have IQ scores of 120 or higher, placing them in the top 9% of their age groups. The study shows that extremely bright adults can suffer from ADHD in ways that seriously interfere with their higher education and/or employment. The study highlights impairments of working memory, processing speed, and a variety of other executive functions that that be assessed with standardized measures. It also notes that many of these high IQ adults did not show significant ADHD impairments until they got into high school or college. Thomas E. Brown, Philipp C. Reichel, and Donald M. Quinlan in Journal of Attention Disorders. (2009) 13 (2) 161-167. Click here to download a PDF of the full article.

ADD/ADHD and Impaired Executive Function in Clinical Practice

This article, intended for physicians or psychologists who are evaluating adults for ADHD, describes how executive function impairments associated with ADHD can be recognized in clinical practice. It emphasizes that diagnosis of ADHD does not require esoteric neuropsychological tests; it describes chronic difficulties in daily life that are characteristic of adults with ADHD. The article also notes that the DSM-IV requirement for age of onset “before 7 years has been shown to be invalid. Practical suggestions about initiating and monitoring medication treatment is also included.” Thomas E. Brown in Current Attention Deficit Disorder Reports, 1: 37-41, 2009. Click here to download a PDF of the full article.

Executive Functions and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Implications of two conflicting views

Increasingly ADD/ADHD is being seen as a disorder involving impairment of the brain’s management system, its executive functions. However, among researchers there are two very different viewpoints about how executive functions are involved in this disorder. Some see impaired executive functions as impaired in only about 30% of those with ADHD.

The alternative view, advocated by Dr. Brown and by Dr. Russell Barkley, claims that ADHD is essentially a name for developmentally impaired executive functions, that all those with ADHD have such impairments. The difference between these two views rests upon how executive functions are to be measured. This article describes the differing viewpoints and argues that the “ADHD = developmental impairment of executive functions” view is a more adequate way to understand what this disorder really involves.

Reprinted with permission from the March, 2006 issue of the International Journal of Disability, Development and Education. Click here to download a PDF of the full article.

Circles Inside Squares: A Graphic Organizer to Focus Diagnostic Formulations

This article describes a simple graphic organizer that can be used to help focus discussion between a clinician, patient and family about specific strengths, stresses and problems that are identified in a clinical evaluation. It is particularly useful for illustrating overlapping disorders and representing how much each contributes to the patient’s current difficulties. The diagram can be used to elicit reactions from the patient and family about how current problems should be understood and prioritized for treatment. It can also be utilized on an ongoing basis to evaluate responses to treatment. Thomas E. Brown, Ph.D. in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2005) 44:1309-1312. Click here to download a PDF of the full article.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Among Adolescents: A Review of the Diagnosis, Treatment and Clinical Implications

Much of the literature about ADHD is still focused exclusively on children. At the invitation of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), a team of ten specialists in ADHD reviewed research and standards of clinical practice to develop a summary of current information about how ADHD can be recognized and effectively treated in adolescents. M.L. Wolraich, C.J. Wibbelsman, T.E.Brown, S.W. Evans, E.M. Gotlieb, J.R. Knight, E.C.Ross, H.H. Schubiner, E.H. Wender, and T.Wilens. Pediatrics (2005) 115: 1734-1746. Click here to download a PDF of the full article.

Atomoxetine (Strattera) and Stimulants in Combination for Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Four Case Reports

Atomoxetine and stimulants have both been demonstrated effective as single agents for treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, adolescents and adults. However, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in some patients do not respond adequately to single-agent treatment with these medications, each of which is presumed to impact dopaminergic and noradrenergic networks by alternative mechanisms in different ratios. Four cases are presented to illustrate how atomoxetine and stimulants can be utilized effectively in combination to extend duration of symptom relief without intolerable side effects or to alleviate a wider range of impairing symptoms than either agent alone. This combined pharmacotherapy appears effective for some patients who do not respond adequately to monotherapy, but because there is virtually no research to establish safety or efficacy of such strategies, careful monitoring in needed. Thomas E. Brown, Ph.D. in Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, (2004) Vol. 14: pp. 129-136. Click here to download a PDF of full article.

Fluoxetine and Methylphenidate in Combination for Treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder and Comorbid Depressive Disorder

Children and adolescents with attention deficit disorders and comorbid conditions who had shown inadequate treatment responses to methylphenidate (MPH) alone, were treated by addition of fluoxetine to the MPH. After 8 weeks in open trial, all 32 patients showed positive therapeutic responses in attention, behavior and affect. Thirty of the 32 children showed clinically significant responses and the other two had statistically, but not clinically significant responses. After 12 weeks of treatment one patient showed deterioration in clinical status. The children had improved report card grades in major subjects (p < .0001), and showed significant improvements (p < .0001) on the Children’s Global Assessment Scale (C-GAS), Conners Parent Rating Scale (CPRS) and Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI). No significant adverse effects were observed. These preliminary results suggest that fluoxetine and methylphenidate in combination may be safe and effective for some children with ADHD and with comorbid anxiety or depressive symptoms who do not show adequate responses to MPH or fluoxetine alone. G. Davis Gammon, M.D. and Thomas E. Brown, Ph.D. in Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology (1993) Vol. 3, pp. 1-10. Click here to download a PDF of full article.

Attention Deficit Disorders and Sleep/Arousal Disturbances

Many children, adolescents and adults with Attention Deficit Disorders report chronic difficulties with falling asleep, awakening, and/or maintaining adequate daytime alertness. These problems may be due to a variety of factors, including environment, lifestyle and psychiatric comorbidities. Impairments in sleep/arousal may also be related more directly to the underlying pathophysiology of ADD. This chapter describes clinical manifestations of sleep/arousal problems often associated with ADD and reviews behavioral and medication options for treatment. Thomas E. Brown and William J. McMullen in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (2001) Vol. 931, pp. 271-286. Click here to download a PDF of full article.

Assessment of Short-Term Verbal Memory Impairments in Adolescents and Adults with ADHD

One hundred seventy-six adolescents and adults diagnosed with ADHD (DSM-IV criteria) were assessed with a measure of short-term verbal memory. The short-term verbal memory score of each subject was compared with their verbal abilities on two measures. Percentages of ADHD subjects with significant discrepancy between verbal IQ and short-term verbal memory were compared with the standardization sample for the verbal memory measure. Results: A majority of adolescents and adults diagnosed with ADHD demonstrated significant discrepancy between performance on the short-term verbal memory measure and verbal IQ. The percentage of ADHD subjects with a significant discrepancy between these two measures greatly exceeded the percentage of persons in the general population showing such a discrepancy. This brief measure of short-term verbal memory may be a useful measure to include in a comprehensive assessment for ADHD symptoms in adolescents and adults. Donald M. Quinlan, Ph.D. and Thomas E. Brown, Ph.D. in Journal of Attention Disorders, (2003) Vol. 6: pp 143-152. Click here to download a PDF of full article.