A provocative, valuable guide for parents, school personnel and medical practitioners who deal with individuals showing...
Respected American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Neurology fellow Saul makes the controversial claim that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is routinely misdiagnosed.
The author challenges the definition of ADHD as a fundamentally flawed catchall based solely on “symptoms of distractibility and impulsivity [that] are all too real” but may be attributable to “more than twenty medical diagnoses.” Using the analogy of common ailments—e.g., abdominal pain, which may be the result of a variety of problems ranging from indigestion to appendicitis or cancer—Saul makes the point that many different factors can explain a child's disruptive behavior. He makes a convincing case that a diagnosis of ADHD followed by a prescription for a stimulant, such as Ritalin, has become a routine option for pediatricians at the urging of school authorities and parents. Too often, an overlooked, underlying condition is left untreated while the hapless patient suffers from side effects such as insomnia, weight loss and anxiety. The author illustrates his contention with anecdotal material, using case histories accumulated from his more than 50 years of medical practice. He explains that he routinely administers a series of tests before making any recommendations, beginning with a blood work-up in order to eliminate problems such as hyperthyroidism, iron deficiency or hormone imbalance. He describes instances in which a routine eye examination revealed that a child was unable to see the chalkboard and a similar instance of how a hearing problem was the root of a student's inability to follow instructions properly. If none of these are at issue, Saul looks for stress-related psychological problems. Other possibilities range from dyslexia, substance abuse, 20-second epileptic seizures and major psychiatric disorders such as depression. None of these benefit from amphetamine-based medications such as Ritalin.
A provocative, valuable guide for parents, school personnel and medical practitioners who deal with individuals showing symptoms routinely attributed to ADHD.Pub Date: March 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-226673-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Harper Wave
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
Readers unfamiliar with the anecdotal material Greene presents may find interesting avenues to pursue, but they should...
Greene (The 33 Strategies of War, 2007, etc.) believes that genius can be learned if we pay attention and reject social conformity.
The author suggests that our emergence as a species with stereoscopic, frontal vision and sophisticated hand-eye coordination gave us an advantage over earlier humans and primates because it allowed us to contemplate a situation and ponder alternatives for action. This, along with the advantages conferred by mirror neurons, which allow us to intuit what others may be thinking, contributed to our ability to learn, pass on inventions to future generations and improve our problem-solving ability. Throughout most of human history, we were hunter-gatherers, and our brains are engineered accordingly. The author has a jaundiced view of our modern technological society, which, he writes, encourages quick, rash judgments. We fail to spend the time needed to develop thorough mastery of a subject. Greene writes that every human is “born unique,” with specific potential that we can develop if we listen to our inner voice. He offers many interesting but tendentious examples to illustrate his theory, including Einstein, Darwin, Mozart and Temple Grandin. In the case of Darwin, Greene ignores the formative intellectual influences that shaped his thought, including the discovery of geological evolution with which he was familiar before his famous voyage. The author uses Grandin's struggle to overcome autistic social handicaps as a model for the necessity for everyone to create a deceptive social mask.
Readers unfamiliar with the anecdotal material Greene presents may find interesting avenues to pursue, but they should beware of the author's quirky, sometimes misleading brush-stroke characterizations.Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-670-02496-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An intriguing approach to identifying and relating to one’s emotions.
An analysis of our emotions and the skills required to understand them.
We all have emotions, but how many of us have the vocabulary to accurately describe our experiences or to understand how our emotions affect the way we act? In this guide to help readers with their emotions, Brackett, the founding director of Yale University’s Center for Emotional Intelligence, presents a five-step method he calls R.U.L.E.R.: We need to recognize our emotions, understand what has caused them, be able to label them with precise terms and descriptions, know how to safely and effectively express them, and be able to regulate them in productive ways. The author walks readers through each step and provides an intriguing tool to use to help identify a specific emotion. Brackett introduces a four-square grid called a Mood Meter, which allows one to define where an emotion falls based on pleasantness and energy. He also uses four colors for each quadrant: yellow for high pleasantness and high energy, red for low pleasantness and high energy, green for high pleasantness and low energy, and blue for low pleasantness and low energy. The idea is to identify where an emotion lies in this grid in order to put the R.U.L.E.R. method to good use. The author’s research is wide-ranging, and his interweaving of his personal story with the data helps make the book less academic and more accessible to general readers. It’s particularly useful for parents and teachers who want to help children learn to handle difficult emotions so that they can thrive rather than be overwhelmed by them. The author’s system will also find use in the workplace. “Emotions are the most powerful force inside the workplace—as they are in every human endeavor,” writes Brackett. “They influence everything from leadership effectiveness to building and maintaining complex relationships, from innovation to customer relations.”
An intriguing approach to identifying and relating to one’s emotions.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-21284-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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