Our teams has many favorite resources that can support individuals and families in the quest for finding balance while living with ADHD.

Organizations/Websites

Ned Hallowell, M.D.  (Ned Hallowell's website)

WebMD (a helpful and informative site about health-related issues)

ADD Consults (Terry Matlen's monthly newsletter)

add.org (The Attention Deficit Disorder Association)

chadd.org (Children and Adults with ADD)

ncgiadd.com (National Center for Gender Issues and ADD)

additudemag.com (ADDitude Magazine)

addresources.org (ADD Resources)

addvance.com (ADDvance Magazine)

addwarehouse.com (ADD Warehouse)

allkindsofminds.org (Mel Levine's website)

napo.net (National Association of Professional Organizers)

ricklavoie.com  (Rick LaVoie, nationally known expert on LD and ADHD)

healthjourneys.com (Guided imagery from expert Belleruth Naparstek)

desktopspa.com (Audio and video streams to help de-stress)

drrobertbrooks.com (Dr. Robert Brooks' work is focused on building resilience in children)

Books and other Written Material

For Anyone

ADD on the Job. Weiss, L., Ph.D. (1996).  

The Link Between ADD & Addiction.   Richardson.

ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life.  Kolberg & Nadeau.

ADDitude Magazine.  Bimonthly publication.

You're Smarter Than You Think: A Kid's Guide to Multiple Intelligences.  Armstrong, T. (2003).

Taking Charge of ADHD.  Barkley, R. (2000).

Taming the Tiger.  Dornbush, M. & Pruitt, S. (1995).

A Mind at a Time.  Levine, M. (2002).  

The Myth of Laziness.  Levine, M. (2003). 

You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?  Kelly, K. & Ramundo, P. (1993).

The ADDed Dimension.  Kelly, K. & Ramundo, P. (1997).

Conquering Chronic Disorganzation.  Kolberg, J. (1998).

Adult ADHD.  Novotni, M. & Whiteman, T. (2003).

Understanding Women with AD/HD.  Nadeau, K. & Quinn, P. (2000).

The ADHD Book of Lists.  Reif, S. (2003).

AD/HD and Driving.   Snyder, J.M. (2001).

Women with Attention Deficit Disorder.  Solden, S. (1995).

Understanding ADHD. Woods, S. & Ploof, W. (1997).

For Parents

Defiant Children.  Barkley, R. (1987).

The ADD Book. Sears, W., M.D. & Thompson, L, Ph.D. (1998).

Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete Authoritative Guide for Parents.  Barkley, R. (1995).

Executive Functions in Children and Adolescents:  A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention.  Dawson, P. & Guare, R. (2004).

Raising Resilient Children.  Brooks, R. & Goldstein, S. (2001).

Teaching Teens with ADD and ADHD.  Dendy, C. (2000).

Failure to Connect:  How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds--and What We Can Do About It.  Healy, J. (1998).

The Explosive Child.  Greene, R. (1998).

From Chaos to Calm.  Heininger, J. & Weiss, S. (2001).

Learning Outside the Lines.  Mooney, J. & Cole, D. (2000).

Understanding Girls with AD/HD.  Nadeau, Littman, & Quinn.

Help4ADD@highschool.  Nadeau, K. (1998).

Put Yourself in Their Shoes:  Understanding Teenagers with ADHD.  Parker, H. (1999).

How to Reach and teach ADD/ADHD Children.  Reif, S. (1993).

The Difficult Child.  Turecki, S. (1989).

Straight Talk about Psychiatric Medications for Kids.  Wilens, T. (1999).

Identifying and Treating ADHD: A Resource Guide for School and Home.  U.S. Department of Education. (2003).  Free copy available online at www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html.  Publication ID EHE0056P.

For Kids

Getting a Grip on ADD: A Kid's Guide to Understanding and Coping with Attention Disorders.  Frank, K. & Smith, S. (1994).

Matthew Learns About His Medicine.  Galvin, M. (1988).  

Eagle Eyes: A Child's Guide to Paying Attention.  Gehret, J. (1996).

The Don't Give Up Kid and Learning Differences.  Gehret, J. (1996).

All Kinds of Minds.  Levine, M. (1993).

Keeping a Head in School.  Levine, M. (1990).

Shelley, the Hyperactive Turtle.  Moss, D. (1989).

Learning to Slow Down and Pay Attention:  A Book for Kids about ADD.  Nadeau, K. & Dixon, E. (1997).

Putting on the Brakes:  Young People's Guide to Understanding ADD.  Quinn, P. & Stern, J. (1991).

The Best of "Brakes," An Activity Book For Kids with ADD.  Quinn, P. & Stern, J. (2000).  

Medication Information

Several of the medications that we often prescribe are available in a generic formulation.

The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) describes that all generics have "...the same risks and benefits as their name-brand counterparts."  The FDA tests the equivalency of a generic medication to a brand-name medication through blood studies.  Generic medications are not tested in research trials that ask people how they feel on the generic medication, in order to judge whether they do as well on it as on the brand-name medicine.

Many clinicians who work with medications that primarily affect the central nervous system notice that various clients develop problems when changed to some generics.  This has been our experience at The Affinity Center as well.  We intentionally watch for trends in clients' responses to medications and have noticed that some generics seem particularly problematic while others appear to be as helpful to clients as the brand that they mimic.  

We are well aware that this is not the best (most scientifically rigorous) way to judge whether a generic medication works as well clinically as a brand name medication.  Regrettably, the types of studies that are needed have never been done by they FDA and certainly not by drug companies.  Fortunately, we have found that combining FDA mandated blood studies with the information gained from listening carefully to our clients' experiences provides us with clinically meaningful and valuable information about response tendencies.

If you have questions aobut how changing to a generic medication might specifically affect you, please feel comfortable bringing them up at your next appointment with us.  

You can read more about the FDA's information on this topic at:

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/QuestionsAnswers/ucm100100.htm

Health Tips

Strategies to Promote Sleep

1. Get up at the same time every morning.
2. Avoid napping during the day. 
3. Avoid caffeine (i.e., coffee, tea, chocolate, soda, Excedrin) after 12 noon.
4. Create routines for going to bed (i.e., take a bath/shower, brush teeth, brush hair, then bed)
5. Plan a consistent time to go to bed and go to bed at that time.
6. Use your bedroom for sleeping and not other activities, such as reading or watching television.
7. Ideally, enter your bedroom just prior to lying down.
8. Your bedroom should be cooler than other rooms.  Your body should go from warm to cool.
9. It is sometimes helpful to have an alarm to remind yourself to get to bed if you tend to get caught up in activities.
10. Try a sedating snack before bed (i.e., turkey, warm milk, or cheese)
11. Avoid electronics for at least an hour before you plan to go to bed.
12. Avoid engaging in activities that "wake you up" before you go to bed.
13. Avoid problem-solving thinking while in bed.  You probably won't remember the solution the next day anyway.
14. If you are plagued by thoughts of things you "have to" remember or are afraid you will forget, then keep a notepad and pencil by the bed so that you can jot the thought down and then put it out of your mind.
15. Aromas such as lavendar can help you relax. 
16. Decrease external light sources.
17. Use white noise (i.e., waves crashing, rainfall, static)
18. Relaxation breathing: breathe from your diaphragm.  Exhale for twice as long as you inhale.  
19. Use progressive relaxation. Start with one muscle group (i.e., your jaw) and tense, then relax that muscle.  Continue doing this for as many muscle groups, individually, as you can.
20. Relax your tongue.
21. If you don't go to sleep within 20 minutes, get up, do something in another room (i.e., read, play a game, or do a word puzzle) for 20 minutes, then go back to bed to sleep.  Repeat as necessary.