Understanding Girls with ADHD

How They Feel and Why They Do What They Do

By: Kathleen G. Nadeau PhD, Ellen B. Littman PhD, Patricia O. Quinn MD

Narrated by: Carly Robins

Understanding Girls with ADHD does not shy away from key areas of controversy. How, for example, can a family know whether it's ADHD or another set of problems that's the primary issue? How does one deal with the potential use of medication, which is plagued by bad press and abundant myths but which can, as part of a multi-faceted treatment plan, provide great benefit if the right dose is found and if the doctor works with the family to monitor positive effects and side effects carefully? What about longterm risk for eating pathology, substance abuse, and other difficult areas of impairment of salience for girls? How can girls and their families break through the thicket of negative expectations and sometimes toxic family interactions to pave the way for a different set of outcomes?

Always sensitive, and without hesitation in providing an authoritative tone, this book will empower girls and their families in ways that are sorely needed. Its emphasis on gender-specific manifestations of ADHD and its inclusion of practical means of attacking the executive function deficits that plague girls and women with ADHD will ensure its continued status as core guidebook.

©2015 Advantage Books, LLC (P)2020 Tantor

excellent

This was a very informative & eye-opening book. I have learned a lot not only about ADHD in girls, but about ADHD in general.

Helpful!

I am 45 and undiagnosed but in the process of having my 10yr old daughter evaluated, I realized I have undiagnosed inattentive ADHD and it's been here just while life. I appreciated that this book was split up by age and grade groups because age does present different challenges.

Thanks.

Important reading

This book is an important read for parents, teachers, councilors, and pediatricians. That said, it is a hard listen for parents. The statistics focused on in this book are primarily on the worst case scenario side. I wish the authors had provided more specific helps for parents who can’t afford private schools and expensive therapists in how they might initiate behavioral therapy techniques on their own. The book helped me understand my ADHD girls better and alerted me to behavioral red flags to look out for, but it did not provide information on what *I* can do to help them.

Opened my eyes even more

This book is fantastic for any mother who feels at a loss no matter what you do. From harping about homework, effort, friend trouble, being behind socially and emotionally, to bullying, medications, anxiety and depression it really helped me open my eyes to the huge amount of things weighing in her plate. As a mom of 5 and having add myself, it is a struggle on my part as well. This book is so spot on for many things and I could relate to some of the paths I went down as an adolescent into teen years and into adulthood. Their studies are accurate and extremely relatable. I recommend this audiobook to anyone. I’m going to have my husband listen to it as well since he doesn’t understand what girls go through or have add. Hopefully after listening to this he can have a more empathetic and compassionate approach to communicating and really knowing what our daughter is going through. Thank you!

Informative but Anxiety Inducing

Honestly all parents of girls with ADHD should read this. There was a lot of information in here that every parent should be aware of. However, I did find that there wasn’t as much guidance on what to do to help girls with ADHD so much as education on what to look out for (although towards the end of the book I did finally start to get some tidbits on this). Still a very worthwhile read and probably one to keep on the shelves to refer to periodically throughout each of my daughter’s developmental stages.

Wish mom knew

Not diagnosed until age 61, this clear discussion of the progress has been like walking down memory lane… painful at times. Thankful that there is hope for the next generation of women with ADHD. This book was recommended by Tracy Otsuka episode 26 strength-focused ADHD book list on 06/26/2019. (I recently started listening to her podcast and went back to episode 1..,,😻😻😻

Not Sure This is Trustworthy

this is great information, but there are some things that directly contradict what my child's doctor has said and/or my understanding of current medical science i.e. the use of SSRI medications on "symptom days only" ... which runs counter to the education currently being given by medical professionals regarding these medications. Definitely read the book. but be careful and double check things before applying it.

Poor Writing Style

I have ADHD and so does my young daughter. I was hoping this book would help me understand how to provide the best resources for her, since I didn't have any when I was growing up.
But I couldn't get through the first chapter. The Entire book is about ADHD, so why do they have to Say "ADHD" Every Time?
Imagine reading a first-person narrative where the character refers to themselves as their name- Every Single Time!...
"Suzy wanted to go play at the park but Suzy decided that Suzy would rather go swimming instead. So Suzy went to get Suzy's swim suit and see if Suzy's friends could come with Suzy. Suzy packed up Suzy's towel and Suzy's sunglasses and got on Suzy's bike. Suzy was halfway there when Suzy realized that Suzy had left Suzy's ice cream money at Suzy's house..."
My hyper-focused squirrel brain wants to find a paper copy of this book, a black marker, and scratch out every unnecessary "ADHD" written in there!

If you want to hear how terrible it is to have ADHD and how to threaten and bribe your kid into behaving the way you want

This book is for you if you want to hear about the terrible risks of your daughter having ADHD. Or how it isn’t your parenting but it’s your parenting that is causing if to be bad. Or if you want to hear how to threaten and bribe your child into doing what you want.

Behaviorist theory has been called into question so many times as being harmful. It is a terrible way to educate or parent and admittedly I have tried it in my desperate search for something that will work with my ADHD daughter. However that’s why we are now paying a therapist because her self esteem is trashed.

I just can’t with this book. Not helpful to me as a parent at all.