The ADHD Book of Lists

A Practical Guide for Helping Children and Teens with Attention Deficit Disorders

Sandra F. Rief

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9781118937754
• eBook ISBN:
  9781118937761
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Inclusive Education

Practical ADHD management techniques for parents and teachers

The ADHD Book of Lists is a comprehensive guide to ADHD/ADD, providing the answers parents, teachers, and other caregivers seek in a convenient list format. This new second edition has been updated with the latest research findings and resources, including the most up to date tools and strategies for helping these children succeed. Each aspect of ADHD/ADD is fully explained, from diagnosis to intervention, providing readers with the insight they need to make the best choices for the affected child. Coverage includes the latest medications and behavioral management techniques that work inside and outside the classroom, plus guidance toward alleviating individual struggles including inattention, impulsivity, executive function and subject-specific academic issues. Readers learn how to create a collaborative care team by bringing parents, teachers, doctors, therapists, and counselors on board to build a comprehensive management plan, as well as the practical techniques they can use every day to provide these children the support they need to be their very best.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder cannot be cured, but it can be managed successfully. This book is an insightful guide to supporting children and teens with ADHD, and giving them the mental, emotional, and practical tools that boost their confidence and abilities and enable them to thrive.

• Investigate comprehensive treatments, including ADHD coaching
• Learn strategies for strengthening organization, working memory and other executive functions.
• Understand effective classroom management of students with ADHD
• Discover ways to help struggling children succeed despite the challenges

The ADHD Book of Lists is the complete easy-to-reference guide to practical ADHD management and will be a go-to resource for parents, teachers, clinicians, and others involved in the care and education of students with ADHD. 

Section 1

Understanding, Diagnosing, and Treating ADHD

---

Contents

1. 1.1 ADHD: Definitions and Descriptions
2. 1.2 ADHD and the “Executive Functions”
3. 1.3 The Official Diagnostic Criteria for ADHD (DSM-5)
4. 1.4 What Is Currently Known and Unknown about ADHD
5. 1.5 Signs and Symptoms of ADHD
6. 1.6 ADHD Statistics: Prevalence and Risk Factors
7. 1.7 Causes of ADHD
8. 1.8 ADHD and Coexisting Disorders
9. 1.9 ADHD Look-Alikes
10. 1.10 Positive Traits and Strengths
11. 1.11 Developmental Course of ADHD across the Life Span
12. 1.12 Girls with ADHD
13. 1.13 ADHD and Its Effects on the Family
14. 1.14 Pursuing an Evaluation for ADHD: Tips for Parents
15. 1.15 Diagnosing ADHD in Children and Teens
16. 1.16 The School's Role and Responsibilities in the Diagnosis of ADHD
17. 1.17 If You Suspect a Student Has ADHD: Recommendations for Teachers and Other School Personnel
18. 1.18 School-Based Assessment for ADHD
19. 1.19 Multimodal Treatment for ADHD
20. 1.20 Medication Treatment for Managing ADHD
21. 1.21 If a Child or Teen Is Taking Medication: Advice for School Staff and Parents
22. 1.22 Behavior Therapy (Psychosocial Interventions) for Managing ADHD
23. 1.23 Alternative and Complementary Treatments

Please note that a lot of the content of these lists has been adapted and updated from my other books, published by Jossey-Bass/Wiley, which you may be interested in exploring for further information, tools, and strategies:

1. Rief, S. (2003). The ADHD book of lists: A practical guide for helping children and teens with attention deficit disorders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
2. Rief, S. (2005). How to reach & teach children with ADD/ADHD: Practical techniques, strategies and interventions (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
3. Rief, S. (2008). The ADD/ADHD checklist: A practical reference for parents and teachers (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

---

1.1 ADHD: Definitions and Descriptions

Some of the definitions and descriptions of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been changed or refined as a result of all that we have learned in recent years from neuroscience, brain imaging, and clinical studies, and likely will continue to do so in the future. Until recently, ADHD was classified as a neurobehavioral disorder, characterized by the three core symptoms of inattention, impulsivity, and sometimes hyperactivity.

It is now recognized that ADHD is a far more complex disorder, involving impairment in a whole range of abilities related to self-regulation and executive functioning (Lists 1.2, 1.4). This more recent understanding of ADHD is reflected in some of the following descriptions, as shared by leading ADHD authorities Dr. Russell A. Barkley, Dr. Thomas E. Brown, Dr. Sam Goldstein, and others. Some of the following descriptions are from Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), as well as the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and other expert sources.

What Is ADHD?

• ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) is the term now used for a condition that has had several names over the past hundred years.
• ADHD is a chronic neurobiological disorder affecting children and adults that causes difficulty with self-control and goal-directed behavior.
• ADHD is one of the most common and most studied neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood or adolescence and often lasts into adulthood.
• ADHD is a neurobiological disorder characterized by chronic and developmentally inappropriate degrees of inattention, impulsivity, and in some cases hyperactivity, and is so pervasive and persistent that it interferes with a person's daily life at home, school, work, or other settings
• ADHD is a disorder of self-regulation and executive functions.
• ADHD is a brain-based disorder involving a wide range of executive dysfunctions that arises out of differences in the central nervous system—both in structural and neurochemical areas.
• ADHD is a neurobiological disorder characterized by a pattern of behavior, present in multiple settings, that can result in performance issues in social, educational, or work environments.
• ADHD represents a condition that leads individuals to fall to the bottom of a normal distribution in their capacity to demonstrate and develop self-control and self-regulatory skills.
• ADHD is a developmental impairment of the brain's self-management system. It involves a wide range of executive functions linked to complex brain operations that are not limited to observable behaviors.
• ADHD is a performance disorder—a problem of being able to produce or act on what one knows.
• ADHD is a neurological inefficiency in the area of the brain that controls impulses and is the center of executive functions.
• ADHD is a dimensional disorder of human behaviors that all people exhibit at times to certain degrees. Those with ADHD display the symptoms to a significant degree that is maladaptive and developmentally inappropriate compared to others at that age.
• ADHD is a common although highly varied condition. One element for this variation is the frequent co-occurrence of other conditions.
• ADHD is a medical condition caused predominantly by genetic factors that result in certain neurological differences. It comes in various forms.

Lists throughout this book, particularly Lists 1.2, 1.4, and 1.7, will clarify what these definitions mean and explain our understanding at this time about ADHD, executive functions, and the neurodevelopmental brain differences previously r...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• About This Book
• A Note from the Author
• Dedication
• Section 1: Understanding, Diagnosing, and Treating ADHD
• Section 2: Minimizing and Managing Behavior Problems: Strategies, Supports, and Interventions
• Section 3: Instructional Strategies, Accommodations, and Supports
• Section 4: Study Skills, Organization, and Other Executive Function Strategies
• Section 5: Academic Difficulties, Strategies, and Supports in Reading, Writing, and Math
• Section 6: Educational Rights and Systems of Support at School
• Section 7: Understanding, Supporting, and Improving Outcomes for Children and Teens with ADHD
• Appendix: Charts, Forms, and Visual Prompts
• Index
• End User License Agreement