What do you think?
Rate this book
The Survival Guide for Kids with ADD or ADHD
What are ADD and ADHD? What does it mean to have ADD and ADHD? How can kids diagnosed with ADD and ADHD help themselves succeed in school, get along better at home, and form healthy, enjoyable relationships with peers? In kid-friendly language and a format that welcomes reluctant and easily distracted readers, Free Spirit’s newest survival guide helps kids know they’re not alone and offers practical strategies for taking care of oneself, modifying behavior, enjoying school, having fun, and dealing (when needed) with doctors, counselors, and medication. Includes real-life scenarios, quizzes, and a special message for parents.
128 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 2006
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
March 8, 2012
My son is 10 years old and a reluctant reader with ADHD. I gave him this to read and he immediately sat down and opened to page 1. He was fascinated and within minutes was saying, "Mom, did you know that..." and "Mom, I just learned that..." Fabulous book. The author really reaches kids on their level and designed the book to keep their focus. It has helped him realize that he is still a normal kid and that ADHD has positives. He is so full of creativity and love or life and seeing that those are also features of ADHD made him realize that the label is more than he realized. I love that this book reinforced what I've been trying to help him see.
September 12, 2015
This book was excellent. I borrowed it from the library and read it before handing it off to my son to read. Some really awesome tips and great explanations about all things ADHD. I think we need to buy this one to keep in house.
February 3, 2016
Great book for kids and parents to read together; to help them understand why they do what they do and for parents to explain to the kids why they react they way we do. Quick and easy read... well worth it!!!
November 23, 2024
Not sure about it. It helped to show adhd to my kids from a better point of view than other kids do, but during the same time they also did not helped with anything else ;) maybe because I was doing most of the things already with them, or maybe that I didn’t liked the explanation or proposed action and looked at the deficit over strengths in it?
For me it’s 2-3 stars, but I’m biased and we had and still have a good adhd help around us
For me it’s 2-3 stars, but I’m biased and we had and still have a good adhd help around us
October 31, 2025
Great resource for children with ADHD and their family members.
July 1, 2026
A great book for the younger/tween reader with ADHD, very relevant and informative. This is written with the younger self-reader in mind and in language that is age-appropriate.
It can be hard for a child/tween with ADHD or ADD to understand their own brains and responses to things. It can be especially traumatic for them if in a school or home where their ADHD/ADD is not understood or taken into consideration and these kids can feel very ostracised. Needlessly.
So the book can also be helpful for educators and parents. As a parent of a now adult son with ADHD (Combined Type) and Autism I would have definitely have gotten him this book when he was younger. I did the best I could as a parent to show him the positive sides of it as SO much is focused on the negative.
This book very much does that too. It’s educational but also fun and can help build up confidence in a young child. It can be heartbreaking watching kids struggling with this and any tools you can give them to help them underused themselves a bit better and see that having ADHD/ADD is not a curse or a bad thing. Don’t get me wrong - there will be struggles with it, including adults with it but any highlight of the many positive traits is great.
The book gives kids actual tools on handling situations in life which I thought was really important. Importantly it sends a message that they are NOT alone. I raised my son along with 4 other young boys (stepmother to 4 boys plus my son making it 5 boys all of similar ages - I should have got a medal 😂) who also struggled to understand my son and a book like this will help siblings and family have some understanding and compassion also. I would have used this book for them too. Great to read as a teacher to classes of kids too helping them learn to be more patient and understanding of their friends and classmates with ADHD.
This one gets 5 stars from me. Highly recommended!
Thanks so much for taking a little time to read my review. Your likes and comments mean a lot to me. 😻 Feel free to add me as a friend or follow me for more book reviews.
It can be hard for a child/tween with ADHD or ADD to understand their own brains and responses to things. It can be especially traumatic for them if in a school or home where their ADHD/ADD is not understood or taken into consideration and these kids can feel very ostracised. Needlessly.
So the book can also be helpful for educators and parents. As a parent of a now adult son with ADHD (Combined Type) and Autism I would have definitely have gotten him this book when he was younger. I did the best I could as a parent to show him the positive sides of it as SO much is focused on the negative.
This book very much does that too. It’s educational but also fun and can help build up confidence in a young child. It can be heartbreaking watching kids struggling with this and any tools you can give them to help them underused themselves a bit better and see that having ADHD/ADD is not a curse or a bad thing. Don’t get me wrong - there will be struggles with it, including adults with it but any highlight of the many positive traits is great.
The book gives kids actual tools on handling situations in life which I thought was really important. Importantly it sends a message that they are NOT alone. I raised my son along with 4 other young boys (stepmother to 4 boys plus my son making it 5 boys all of similar ages - I should have got a medal 😂) who also struggled to understand my son and a book like this will help siblings and family have some understanding and compassion also. I would have used this book for them too. Great to read as a teacher to classes of kids too helping them learn to be more patient and understanding of their friends and classmates with ADHD.
This one gets 5 stars from me. Highly recommended!
Thanks so much for taking a little time to read my review. Your likes and comments mean a lot to me. 😻 Feel free to add me as a friend or follow me for more book reviews.
June 7, 2026
(ARC Review)
TL;DR:
This is an introductory resource meant for assisting kids diagnosed with ADHD. It is best used as an orientation towards the field instead of as a comprehensive resource. The book’s language is appropriate for a kid in high school or above. However, many techniques feel like a copy-paste of mainstream self-help that doesn't help neurodivergent minds solve the problems (It may help mask their symptoms though). I would recommend this book to only be used by adults already familiar with the field, who can discern between practical possibility & textbook theory, and act accordingly.
Quotes I liked:
- a way to be kind to yourself is to let go of perfectionism..
- as you practice things you enjoy, you will get better at them and have more resons to feel good about yourself
- it is easier to feel good about yourself when you are proud of the decisions you make
- mistakes are: learning tools, expected, accidental, proof of effort
- Adhd also comes with talents and gifts.
The example stories of children managing daily hiccups does help get things in perspective. The stories easily relatable problems for kids (like "my sister won't stop taking my favorite sweater)
I liked the book's explanations for sensory sensitivity. The chapter on how brain responds to stimuli helps clear some confusion and give much needed base vocabulary to describe what's happening inside our bodies on a daily basis.
Similarly I liked the explanations of nutrient requirements. The book does a good job introducing and demystifying the inside workings of the brain.
Comments:
I am scared this book might come off as attempting to diagnose vulnerable people (espcially kids) with something that the medical profession itself doesn't understand fully. This should NOT be the intended use of this book.
My honest opinion:
A lot of this book's text is a regurgitation of the sloppy but popular self-help narrative which sounds good on paper but doesn't work in real life (especially with neurodivergent minds this book is meant for).
The 'SUCCESS IN SCHOOL' chapter doesn't sit right for me because I feel it makes it seem like kids have more agency than they actually do. The chapter on making friends is good; it provides some new ways to approach people. Giving pointers on 'how to talk' to other kids may be useful, but I would advise against telling other kids about your adhd diagnosis, because firstly, there is no going back from that and secondly, most kids aren't equipped to handle this information or know what to do. It may lead to alienating the kid further. Also, I would rather have the book spend more time talking about practical problems, instead of making it the kid's responsibility to take care of every symptoms of their ADHD. For example, sometimes there is nothing you can to to succeed in social situations because it is also depends on others (and they aren't always ready or capable to change to accomodate you).
Acknowledgement:
Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
TL;DR:
This is an introductory resource meant for assisting kids diagnosed with ADHD. It is best used as an orientation towards the field instead of as a comprehensive resource. The book’s language is appropriate for a kid in high school or above. However, many techniques feel like a copy-paste of mainstream self-help that doesn't help neurodivergent minds solve the problems (It may help mask their symptoms though). I would recommend this book to only be used by adults already familiar with the field, who can discern between practical possibility & textbook theory, and act accordingly.
Quotes I liked:
- a way to be kind to yourself is to let go of perfectionism..
- as you practice things you enjoy, you will get better at them and have more resons to feel good about yourself
- it is easier to feel good about yourself when you are proud of the decisions you make
- mistakes are: learning tools, expected, accidental, proof of effort
- Adhd also comes with talents and gifts.
The example stories of children managing daily hiccups does help get things in perspective. The stories easily relatable problems for kids (like "my sister won't stop taking my favorite sweater)
I liked the book's explanations for sensory sensitivity. The chapter on how brain responds to stimuli helps clear some confusion and give much needed base vocabulary to describe what's happening inside our bodies on a daily basis.
Similarly I liked the explanations of nutrient requirements. The book does a good job introducing and demystifying the inside workings of the brain.
Comments:
I am scared this book might come off as attempting to diagnose vulnerable people (espcially kids) with something that the medical profession itself doesn't understand fully. This should NOT be the intended use of this book.
My honest opinion:
A lot of this book's text is a regurgitation of the sloppy but popular self-help narrative which sounds good on paper but doesn't work in real life (especially with neurodivergent minds this book is meant for).
The 'SUCCESS IN SCHOOL' chapter doesn't sit right for me because I feel it makes it seem like kids have more agency than they actually do. The chapter on making friends is good; it provides some new ways to approach people. Giving pointers on 'how to talk' to other kids may be useful, but I would advise against telling other kids about your adhd diagnosis, because firstly, there is no going back from that and secondly, most kids aren't equipped to handle this information or know what to do. It may lead to alienating the kid further. Also, I would rather have the book spend more time talking about practical problems, instead of making it the kid's responsibility to take care of every symptoms of their ADHD. For example, sometimes there is nothing you can to to succeed in social situations because it is also depends on others (and they aren't always ready or capable to change to accomodate you).
Acknowledgement:
Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
May 18, 2017
No kid I know has ADHD would actually have the patience to sit and read this book-if they did, the book has a lot of good information at a child's level, but has a quiz at the end of each chapter and forms/charts to fill out for behavior/progress.
Every page is full of tips and suggestions, that would be great-if a child would actually follow them. But getting kids with ADHD to comply to anything is the problem.
I would only suggest this for people trying to get a basic understanding of what ADHD looks like.
Every page is full of tips and suggestions, that would be great-if a child would actually follow them. But getting kids with ADHD to comply to anything is the problem.
I would only suggest this for people trying to get a basic understanding of what ADHD looks like.
July 24, 2022
Very well written using accessible language ideal for the older children at which it is aimed.
The only downside for me was that it is very US centric, referring to US legal doctrine, the US education system and by strong inference the US health care system. This is not a criticism of the book itself as the author is an American psychologist and is writing for his audience.
There is a great deal that I will be able to talk about with my child, but with regard to educational and healthcare expectations there are definite differences between the US and my home country of the UK.
The only downside for me was that it is very US centric, referring to US legal doctrine, the US education system and by strong inference the US health care system. This is not a criticism of the book itself as the author is an American psychologist and is writing for his audience.
There is a great deal that I will be able to talk about with my child, but with regard to educational and healthcare expectations there are definite differences between the US and my home country of the UK.
January 18, 2022
This book was well done. It is written for kids to read, so it’s a simplified overview of ADHD. I appreciated all of the coping strategies included for different tasks that tend to be harder for those with ADHD. I feel like this was a good resource to explain and also give me basic verbiage to discuss with my child. I would have loved a book like this when I was young!
October 9, 2023
Targeted for kids with ADHD - who are not super likely to read a book like this. It’s got some decent advice but I think it’s missing some information that might appeal to kids with adhd more than any of this does - it reads like something they are gonna read and say “blah blah this is the kind of stuff adults always say to me.”
May 27, 2020
Good introduction for kids with ADHD. Parents will likely need to read with child to help them focus on content and practice skills. Some information is out of date, which is not surprising due to publishing date of 2006.
January 30, 2017
A good overview of ADHD for kids, probably for the 5th grade and up audience. Overview is the key word, however. Nothing here is too in-depth or individualized, but a nice starter book.
January 14, 2021
Written to encourage children and give them tips for managing ADHD.
November 23, 2021
Great resource for working with ADHD kiddos. Lots of topics to discuss and activities to try.
February 22, 2023
7/10 great book at kids level for explaining and providing tips to help live with ADHD
March 23, 2026
Good tips/advice for any kid; helpful for those with ADHD. A little outdated but overall an acceptable resource for my Wellness Shelf.
December 31, 2020
Clear, straightforward and most importantly positive advice for children with any traits of ADHD. Actually the advice is pertinent for any child who struggles to stay organised, avoid antagonising others, is impulsive i.e nearly all the children I have ever known. Also very useful for parents, teachers, carers etc.
March 11, 2009
This is a great book, especially for kids who have just been diagnosed. It covers all aspects of life, and includes tips on dealing with strong feelings, staying organized, making decisions, and more.
September 14, 2015
This book really helped me understand my brother better since he has ADHD and now we get along better. I would suggest this book to people with ADHD or people who hope to understand and learn more about ADHD.
June 19, 2011
Good if you are ready to tell your kid that they are dealing with this.
July 3, 2012
Again...an excellent reference guide to kids and adults.
March 11, 2013
some good basic information. well written for a young audience.
July 10, 2015
This would be a good resource for grade school aged kids.
December 5, 2015
An excellent primer for both kids and parents. It's easy to access and full of valuable information for people just starting to learn about ADHD.
December 15, 2024
This is such a great book to help explain to kids with ADD / ADHD. It is clear and concise with information. I highly recommend this for anyone that works or lives with kids that have ADD / ADHD.
January 8, 2011
Great for kids and can give adults the wording for how to talk to kids about adhd!
February 19, 2012
Overall skills Kids need to have for life--not sure you have to be ADD.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews