Making the Connection
For parents considering medication for their kids.
by Mohab Hanna, M.D.
Ladner-Drysdale, $15.95
Purchase Making the Connection
When parents face the decision to place their child on ADHD medication, they need all the support and information they can get.
I’m not talking about the endless supply of advice that comes unbidden from teachers, neighbors, friends, and relatives. I’m talking about expert sources to which a parent can turn for reliable answers. Making the Connection: A Parent’s Guide to Medication in ADHD, by child and adolescent psychiatrist Mohab Hanna, M.D., is one such resource.
The book’s first section is a clearly written introduction to ADHD. In the second section, Dr. Hanna sets out 21 rules that deal with everything from monitoring medication response to combining ADHD medication with other treatments. Rule #9 is one every parent of an ADHD kid should live by: Don’t expect medications to fix every symptom. “Children and teenagers with ADHD are not all the same,” writes Hanna. “Maintain realistic expectations for treatment based on the individualities of your child.”
The third section provides information about each class of medication, candidly discussing benefits as well as potential adverse effects. Frequently asked questions, covering everything from personality changes to whether to inform the child’s teacher about his diagnosis, are answered in section four.
This book-concise, accurate, and user-friendly-is a welcome resource for any parent of a child who has ADHD.
