Product Description
The number of children being diagnosed with ADD/ADHD has skyrocketed, along with prescriptions for Ritalin and other powerful amphetamine drugs to treat these problem children. This pharmaceutical answer to a behavioral disorder is one of the most controversial subjects in parenting today, and Dr. David Stein offers parents a safe, foolproof alternative.Challenging the disease theories of ADD/ADHD, Stein discusses the conditions in modern society and the American family that cause so many children to hate schoolwork and behave disrespectfully to all authority figures. Rejecting the pill solution, he presents a truly effective parent training program called the Caregivers' Skills Program that helps children learn appropriate behavioral and cognitive skills permanently, without drug therapy. Parents are trained to teach their children to love reading and learning, and to respect authority at home and at school. Stein presents case studies from his own highly successful practice that demonstrate the remarkably effective CSP that can help parents, educators, physicians and therapists treat today's problem children.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 17 reviews)

This book made me feel sick.

This book rejects the ADD/ADHD diagnosis in favor of a diagnosis of "highly misbehaving" and basically advocates behavior modification through punishment. This is essentially what my brother's childhood was like, and it didn't help one bit. As an adult, he's even more of a mess than he was as a child.

I'm willing to believe that there are effective non-drug treatments for children with ADD/ADHD. Lots of exercise and time in nature seems to help a lot. Isolation and spanking, which is what this book advocates, don't.
October 23, 2008

Life altering

Every parent should read this book. The author points out how societal changes have impacted our kids, i.e. TV, working moms and dads. We all need to reflect on these issues and how they affect our kids. I took my daughter off her medication, turned off the TV on school nights, and used his discipline method. She's doing fine in school and is listening much better.
October 10, 2006

life changing

This book changed our family. If you're willing to work hard, change as a parent, and truly see the changes you want in your family, this is the book for you. It's extremely practical and easy to use.
March 24, 2006

Drug Free Behavior Modification Works!!!!!!

What an amazing book!!!!!!!!!!!!! My life and my child's behavior has changed so dramatically!! The book states that you will see results in 2 weeks, we saw results in one!!! It is hard work to stick with this program but if you do the results are amazing!!! There is so much less yelling and nagging and reminding in our home. There is actually peace. Once I did the research about the commonly used ADHD drugs and there potential side effects I was mortified and resolved to find a drug free way to help my four year old before she starts kindergarten this fall. Things are not perfect but there is such a dramatic change that even her preschool teachers are asking me what I did to bring about this change. DO THE RESEARCH ABOUT DRUGS!!!!!!!!! IN MY OPINION THEY SHOULD BE USED ONLY IN THE MOST EXTREME OF CIRCUMSTANCES! Try this first. If you can stick with it it works. Sometimes its hard. I even had to put up a "How to to discipline my daughter" reminder on the refridgertor to remind me not to go back to the old ways. But if I stick to it, it really works. To be honest I did not really enjoy my child very much before, She was so hyper and unfocused and didnt seem to listen to anything anyone said. We had tried everything. I read several other books, gave her time outs, took toys and privaledges away, sent her to bed early and about everything else I could think of and it never phased her. I almost gave up and figured and ADHD child really couldnt control herself and this was just the way things were going to be. I had nightmares of her entering kindergarten and the teachers calling every day to complain about what a disruptive and uncontrollable child she was. Now we speak. Her self confidence has increased and she is actually cute again. She is proud of herself and her behavior. Thank you to the author for literally changing my and her life. I STRONGLY URGE ALL PARENTS TO GIVE IT A TRY!!!! WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOSE? IF YOU WERE LIKE ME YOU TRIED EVERYTING ELSE ALREADY.
March 16, 2006

Needed for some parents, but...

"If you're going to err then err on the side of toughness"(p166)
"Do not give warning"

Have you ever known a really hyper and misbehaving child who you thought just needed a little bit of discipline in his/her life? This is the book for them. I would not, however, recommend this book to 95% of parents whose children have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD.

When I read this book, it scared me. The kind of "parenting" described done to a child with ADHD is abusive, and leads only to frustration, anger, rage and despair, and possibly eventually to life long trauma. How do I know? I have ADD, and so did my brother. No, I am not taking medication. Any medication. And my father believed in the kind of methods described in this book. My ADD has only led me to have trouble in school, and daydream constantly, but my brother who had childhood ADD was not so lucky.

Every day, for twelve long years, my father faithfully followed the methods described in this book, with my brother. Extremely smart and argumentative, my brother could be a terror, and was. He "recovered" at puberty like a third of children with ADHD, and luckily has no long term mental damage from the methods supported in this book. But I do. Almost every day I fled outside, to my room, to the neighbors, anywhere, because of the screams of my brother. Even at age 10, when he was given a "time-out", he really did not understand what he had done. The spankings, the immediate, no excuses, no bargaining, no reasoning attitude could of destroyed him. The house would be filled with screams, pleas, wails, that I was helpless to stop, not from physical but from mental abuse. To my brother, he would at any point be snatched away to be padlocked in a room for no apparent reason, even spanked. He had ADD, and it did not work. Period.

ADD is not a disease; it's just a different way that a human brain can work.
There are lots of methods of dealing with ADD without medication then the ones in this book. If you want to treat a child with ADHD without using medication, get another book about it. It might work, and at least it won't be abusive. If your child does not have ADHD, this book is for you. It really does work, just not for kids with ADD. This book is also not for those who do not believe in spanking kids nine times a day.

February 19, 2005

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Ritalin is Not the Answer Action Guide: An Interactive Companion to the Bestselling Drug-Free ADD/ADHD Parenting Program
by David B., Ph.D. Stein

Ritalin Is Not The Answer: A Drug-Free, Practical Program for Children Diagnosed with ADD or ADHD
by David B. Stein

The Myth of the A.D.D Child:50 Ways to Improve Your Child's Behavior and Attention Span Without Drugs, Labels, or Coercion
by Thomas Armstrong

Twelve Effective Ways to Help Your ADD/ADHD Child: Drug-Free Alternatives for Attention-Deficit Disorders
by Laura J. Stevens

Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents (Revised Edition)
by Russell A. Barkley