In Dr. Stein's book, "Ritalin is Not the Answer", he purports that there is no such thing as ADD/ADHD and he has chosen to rename it "IA/HM" (inattentive/highly misbehaving). He maintains that there is no biological or neurological basis for ADD/ADHD, but rather the symptoms are the by-products of our modern culture -- TV, video games, a stressful lifestyle, traffic jams, and specifically and particularly -- ineffective and neglectful parenting! He believes that parents are guilty of actually creating the syndrome in their child. He makes absurd, sweeping generalizations such as, "children who come from homes where education is valued do not end up diagnosed as ADD/ADHD", and "I doubt very much that children who's parents spend sufficient quiet time each evening talking with them will ever show IA/HM symptoms".

If you can control your outrage at these inflammatory and damaging statements and proceed to finish the book, you will find it to read like a simplistic "Parenting 101" manual. Dr. Stein talks about how through his book you will "begin to learn how to parent your child". His assumption is that if you have a child with problems of this nature, you lack even the most basic parenting skills. His belives that ADD/ADHD can be erased through judicious use of both positive and negative reinforcements. He employs immediate time-outs at even the smallest hint of misbehavior, believing this will force the child to remember how to behave on his own rather than making them reliant on caregivers for prompts or reminders. While his behavioral approaches are reasonably sound, employing firm limits, consistent and predictable consequences, and generous use of positive social reinforcement for correct behavior, there is nothing new in this book that has not been presented by other authors in one form or another. I suspect that most parents looking for a book on this subject have already mastered these techniques and more, but still have not been able to make a significant impact in correcting their child's problems. While every child -- ADD/ADHD or otherwise -- needs a solid parenting and discipline plan, this book is likely to only work for children who are either not truly ADD/ADHD, those who's problems are relatively mild, or for parents who do indeed need to develop a basic foundation for parenting their child.

In this book, Dr. Stein presents numerous case studies where after just a few weeks (or even a matter of days!) of employing his methods, the child's problems vanished completely and they suddenly became a shining example of the happy, accomplished, and well-adjusted child. His book is filled with so many of these simplistic stories of miraculous, instantaneous recovery that it becomes laughable. While his 'magic bullet' claims may sell books by the score, beware. If something is too good to be true, it no doubt is.

15 of 16 found the following review helpful:


Facts, Please, Not More Fiction  Jan 19, 2002
In reading the "Brief Description," three errors are blatantly evident.

When Mr. Stein states, "Between a quarter to one-third of all school-aged children in the USA today are diagnosed as suffering from something called Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)," he is greatly at odds with documentation from the National Institutes of Health. In "Diagnosis and Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder" it is stated that ADHD is "estimated to affect 3-5% of school-age children." That is far from the figure of 25%-33.3% given by Mr. Stein.

In addition, when Mr. Stein states that ADHD is "a diagnostic category that didn't even exist twenty years ago," he is mistaken. Since 1902, ADHD has been known by many names including Minimal Brain Dysfunction, Hyperkinetic Reaction of Childhood, and Attention-Deficit Disorder With or Without Hyperactivity. The current classification, as found in DSM-IV, is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, reflecting the inattentive characteristics as well as the characteristics of hyperactivity and impulsivity.

His third, and most grievous, error is the false claim that "approximately two million of these children are being coerced by teachers, administrators and doctors into taking Ritalin or a similar type of mood-altering medication." This mistake is two-fold.

The first thing to consider here is that there are not two million patients (let alone children) taking medication for ADHD. As per information from the Dept of Justice, there are approximately 17 million prescriptions written each year for all forms of methylphenidate and adderall combined. Because these prescriptions can only be written for a 1-month supply and must be renewed for each refill, that translates to approximately 1.4 million patients per year, 80% of whom are children. If you look only at the 11 million prescriptions per year written for all forms of methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta, etc), that translates to .917 million patients per year receiving methylphenidate prescriptions. 80%, or .734 million, of those patients are children. These figures include prescriptions for patients with depression and narcolepsy as well as ADHD.

67 of 83 found the following review helpful:


A sound approach to treating ADH D without medication  Apr 19, 1999
As a psychologist with twenty years' experience counseling ADHD children, I found Dr. David Stein's book, "Ritalin Is Not The Answer," an easy-to-understand, insightful and viable solution to the controversy surrounding the use of Ritalin with ADHD children.

He first outlines the fallicies of the disease or chemical imbalance model for ADHD, and then introduces his "Caregivers' Skills Program," the ultimate goal of which is to enable children to self-monitor their behavior. To achieve self-monitoring, however, he stresses that medication must be withdrawn completely so that new skills can be learned independent of the drugs.

He shifts the focus from the "symptoms" which imply "disease" to a list of targeted behaviors. The goal is to either improve or eiminate the targeted behaviors. This approach avoids the prevalent but disenfranchising tactic of labeling ADHD behaviors as a "brain disease" and prescribing medication. The parental role in the Program--that of conveying specific instruction to motivate and empower the child to take charge of his or her own behavior--re-establishes parents as authority figures in the chld's life.

Dr. Stein clims that his Cargiver's Skills Program "produces dramatic and positve changes in children by completely eliminating ADD and ADHD patterns without the use of medication." I believe that the application of his techniques would not only produce the claimed results, but also would empower both parents and children thereby enhancing the parent-child relationship.

This appears to be an effective, easy-to-apply alternative to medicating our children with Ritalin and other drugs. If you child has been diagnosed as ADHD, this book offers great hope.

Ty C. Colbert, Ph.D.

16 of 18 found the following review helpful:


Not well-researched  Feb 12, 2002 By John Patterson
Those who believe this book is helpful should do some *real* research- which seems to be Dr. Stein's downfall. He writes in condescending tones to parents/caregivers, and clearly has a "bone to pick" with medications to help children. He stated that 10% of children are on meds, but research shows that number to be lower, closer to 3-9%-- this after several years have gone by since the book was written. Is that due to meds being LESS often prescribed? I believe it was reported at the higher number due to faulty research and/or further "evidence" for his "case."

No one that I know of wants their child to be on any type of medications for a lifetime. It doesn't have to be a lifetime, it could be 6 months to a year, or somewhat longer-- depending. Are there too many kids on Ritalin, etc.? Maybe-- who knows? Stein would do well to read and study the available research that is available within his professional community. Those who think this book is thoroughly researched should research STEIN'S facts, allegations and assertions.

His allegation that Ritalin, etc. stunts the growth of children is absurd. It has not affected the growth of my child or of the children whom I know are using medication for their situation. Is "terrible" parenting the "cause" of ADD? My four children all are raised with the same expectations, rules, discipline and love, yet only 1 child needs medication. We've seen great improvement since beginning medication (it is not used on weekends, holidays or during summer, and he has NO side effects from NOT taking the meds- he is not "addicted") and hope to discontinue it as he makes further improvements. He has not had side effects from taking the medication that Stein lists as a possibility. If a child is having side effects, then an intelligent parent knows to bring it to the doctor's attention and work for the correct medication or dosage. Meds, combined with love and structure and discipline is the right way for our child, to say that medication is NEVER an alternative is a grave disservice to parents, but most especially to the children who need the help of medication.

11 of 12 found the following review helpful:


I only wish I could give this book no stars.  Jun 29, 2003
I am utterly enraged by this book. Yes, it's true that attention deficit disorder is sometimes misdiagnosed, and is often used as an "easy out" by parents to explain impossible behaviours in kids that are given free reign over a household.

However, ADD is very real, not the "myth" central to the author's theories. As an adult recently diagnosed with the disorder after beginning law school, I can only say that ignoring the disorder and the treatment options avaliable to someone who has it is to limit one's self. I struggled miserably after finally reaching the limits of my ability to cope with my impulsivness and distractability on my own within a law school environment, which is a very demanding environment to say the least, requiring dicipline, structure and focus. Missing 1/3 of a lecture because your mind is wandering is a guaranteed ticket out of law school. Because of my diagnosis and the treatment options that became avaliable, including the "evil" medications, I am now able to "fit" myself into an environment that ordinarily would be almost impossible for me to navigate, and my grades and study habits improved immesurably.

Without the knowledge and options for treatment that my diagnosis brought, I would have just thought I was "to dumb" for law school. Any parent who wants a child diagnosed with ADD/ADHD to believe that they "just aren't smart enough" should try the methods in this book. Any parent who wants their child to succeed to their full potential should toss this in the trash and seek the advice of licensed psychologists and other medical personel.

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