I received James Forgan, PhD and Mary Anne Richey's book "The ADHD Empowerment Guide: Identifying your child's strengths and unlocking potential" from LT's early reviewers program. I am thankful for receiving this book. I received this book late, it was a good read that I enjoyed. This book is filled with pragmatic, informative, talks about developmental, IQ, medication and other useful information from a strength based approach. The extensive keys to success, informative resources, a plan for success that is very useful resource in your library. ( )

I found this book to be a well thought out and comprehensive guide to help families and educators work with children to get to their best selves while also dealing with ADHD. The writing and advice were encouraging and compassionate, and the surveys were incredibly helpful. I loved the coping menu in the back, offering different ways for children to help themselves calm down. I cannot reccomend this book enough. ( )

The book ADHD Empowerment Guide says it is directed at identifying your child's strengths. However, "child" is really for those at least 8 years old and older. For those with younger children recently diagnosed, this book is helpful, but it's not the target audience.
This book includes a lot of other great resources. The focus of the book is on multiple intelligences. While this is explained briefly, the good part of the book is the questionnaires that list the different intelligences, ways to figure out what are your child's strengths and deficiencies and how to help. In each chapter, there are specific sections on what each intelligence and ways to encourage them to succeed if they are strong with that particular intelligence and tons of resources if they are weaker.
Called the empowerment guide, this book is very positive. It encourages success and lists celebrities who have ADHD and are, obviously, successful.
A flaw for me, though, is that it tries to tackle a bit too much. If it was just focused on the multiple intelligences and went a little deeper there, it would be a five-star book. Instead, there are short sections on medication, 504/IEP school plans, nutrition, etc. which don't really go in depth, but also don't really tie with the rest of the book. ( )

This book is an excellent guide for parents and others who are looking for practical suggestions for working with children and adolescents with ADHD. Authors Forgan and Richey assume that their readers are familiar with the basics of ADHD. Instead, they focus on everyday solutions that can help a child feel empowered and develop their potential.

Their methods involve a few short questionnaires that help a parent/teacher focus on the child's areas of strength and intelligence -- not the narrowly-defined IQ measurement, but the broader definition recognized by psychologists today that encompasses many skills and abilities. Then the authors identify the keys to success that research has shown to help develop successful adults -- integrity, resiliency, resourcefulness, and so on -- and how to use the skills your child already has to build up their skills in areas where they might need extra help. Many specific examples demonstrate what strengths and deficits in the various areas look like, provide detailed examples of concrete steps you can take to help your child in areas where he or she may need it, and provide reading lists for additional assistance. There are even short write-ups on various celebrities/successful adults with ADHD talking about how they found and pursued their talents and overcame their problem areas.

The book is well-organized and provides a great deal of useful, specific information. I especially liked the authors' focus on positive solutions and positive encouragement, while keeping their goals practical and achievable. The multiple-intelligences system gives a new perspective on learning to both parents and kids who may be very frustrated with traditional education solutions that haven't worked for them. The authors also include a section guiding parents through the special education system and helping them use the resources available for their child.

I would definitely recommend this book for anyone involved in the education of ADHD learners. ( )

I received this book as an early copy to read and review. As a teacher myself who has students with ADHD, I found this book to be very informative and empowering. One of my favorite parts in the book were all of the Keys to Success. Everything was presented in a positive way that really makes a person feel encouraged. ( )