New Book Alert: An Interactive Family Guide: The ADHD Sibling Challenge: How To Thrive When Your Brother or Sister Has ADHD by Barton S. Herskovitz, M.D.; Helpful and Interactive Guide For Siblings

 

New Book Alert: An Interactive Family Guide: The ADHD Sibling Challenge: How To Thrive When Your Brother or Sister Has ADHD by Barton S. Herskovitz, M.D.; Helpful and Interactive Guide For Siblings 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can be a stressful condition for both those who have it and the people around them. Child psychologist, Barton S. Herskovitz, MD, understand this. That's why he wrote The ADHD Sibling Challenge: How to Thrive When Your Brother or Sister Has ADHD. 

Herskovitz says that he spends a great deal of time counseling both children with ADHD and their parents. "The child may need therapy or perhaps medication," Herskovitz said in his introduction. "The parents usually need help with parenting strategies."

Unfortunately, this attention often leaves out some specific family members: siblings of those with ADHD. Many boys and girls feel confused by their siblings' ever-changing behavior. They may be confused about why the sibling can't sit still or constantly talk when they are told to be quiet. The sibling may feel angry when their brother or sister borrows things without asking only to carelessly break them or goes inside rooms where they are not allowed. They may feel jealous when their parents' attention and conversations always revolve around the sibling with ADHD. They may be furious that they have to follow rules that the other sibling is unable to without medication or assistance. The sibling may overcompensate by acting like the perfect rule abiding child or go the opposite extreme and rebel and bully their brother or sister.

The book, The ADHD Sibling Challenge, is a helpful and interactive guide for young people with siblings who have ADHD. The book is very easy for parents and children to skim through. It discusses an overview of the disorder and how family dynamics are affected. It also discusses honestly about the different feelings such siblings have like feeling invisible or confused. It also offered some tips on how parents could talk to the sibling about their discomfort and confusion. Tips such as Active Listening help validate the child's feelings and allows them to talk openly about their problems with their sibling.

The majority of the book consists of activities and scenarios in which the siblings of the ADHD child can write about their own experiences. For example the child is encouraged to write about good times with their sibling and circle the adjectives that describe them such as "funny," "creative", or" fun to play with." They are also encouraged to write about the hard times by adding on a scale how they feel when they are with their sibling from patient to annoyed, caring to mean, calm to upset/yelling. These activities show how fluid emotions are that people, children especially, can go from one extreme to another and those emotions are valid when dealing with the complexities of such disorders.

The various scenarios of siblings are another important aspect of this book. They describe various situations of children interacting with their ADHD siblings. One situation describes Johnny, a young boy having trouble getting moving in the morning while his sister, Sarah keeps having to prompt him to move as though she were another mother. Another involves Emma who after her sister, Callie, loses or breaks her things is conflicted with her wish that Callie would be sent to a boarding school and her guilt for feeling that way. Each scenario comes complete with questions which ask the young Readers about how they get along with their sibling. Each scenario is different showing that while symptoms are similar, each person's experience with ADHD (or any other disorder) is different and sometimes what one does not recognize as filling all the checklists of such disorders does not necessarily mean that they don't have it.

While the emphasis is on siblings of children with ADHD, the advice is useful for any child with a sibling with other emotional, psychological, or physical disorders. Such exercises as talking about one's feelings, practicing active listening, understanding one's role in the family dynamic, and recognizing both positive and negative emotions and experiences are useful advice for any young person going through similar difficulties.

The ADHD Sibling Challenge is a useful tool that reminds children who have siblings with ADHD that they are important too and are not left out.