Disability-and-Health Books

THis book has been extremely helpful. As a parent with ADHD and the mother of an ADHD son, I found it hard to find books that covered both topics as well as parenting my other children without ADHD. This book provided legitimate, easy to follow ideas and was a pleasure to read.

This book offers practical and helpful advice to all sorts of issues that moms with ADD face. It's even divided into sections so you can read bits and pieces as your time allows, but still retain the information. I would recommend this book to any mother who even suspects she may have ADD or ADHD, and to her spouse as well.

It is hard enough for mother's to find time to read, and for ADD mom's it is not only the time but the attention. I was looking forward to receiving some authentic tools to help me in my daily life. If you are looking for this too, look somewhere else. I found the book very stereotypical. It gave lot's of examples of women who can commiserate about the problems of having ADD, but I do not need to join a club, I need help. Real answers. I was reluctant to read it, after I finished the introduction I was more depressed than before. The inner pages offered no relief.

The book seems to focus on mothers of older children and spends very little time on mothers of infants/toddlers. Because of this, most of the book was irrelevent to me. I have earmarked a few pages and will definitely pull it out again once my 2 year old is older.

Moms with ADD is an affirmative how-to guide to managing your household and raising children for mothers who also have ADD (or ADHD). It is written in essay format, but in short, snappy paragraphs and sections covering many different aspects of daily life as a parent. One of the best features of the book is its can do attitude, as Adamec makes it clear that even if you cannot find the keys each day, love and commitment to your children make you a great parent. Topics she addresses include positive and negative attributes of ADD in women, organization and focus, parenting babies and (on the other extreme) parenting teens, keeping up with school, juggling family and work, and much more. This is an excellent resource for mothers who have recently been diagnosed with ADD (or suspect that they have this) and who are looking for supportive advice and practical tips for family "management."

This was the first book that I read on the subject of adults with ADD, and a lot of the info in there was, for me, an awakening. Upon reading through the various chapters and coming across traits in others, I could point to it and go "Hey! So I'm not just wierd, that's normal for being ADD!" I also liked her attitude that ADD didn't actually mean one had a disorder or a deficit, as every individual who I'd told up to that point that I'd had it had relayed to me just how sorry they were for me that my brain was "that way". She did go a bit heavily on the emotional damage caused by being "differently brained", but her spiel is obviously on the damage done to self-esteem because of this inability to operate "normally". All in all it was a wonderful introductory book, and a wonderful gateway in to further reading and researching on adults with ADD.

Grown-ups have ADD too. Lynn Weiss was the first to tell us so, and she brought the concept to national awareness.

Her title, "Attention Deficit Disorder In Adults" mises the pizzazz enjoyed by flashier titled books, but the content is succinct and superb. The much larger "Driven to Distraction" is more thorough, by far, but it also has 100 more pages. Weiss' gives the reader just enough to start the reader exploring ADD seriously for the first time.

Kenneth A. Bonnet Ph. D. is promoted with her, as he penned the introduction. Feel free to skip it; there is nothing useful there.

Just as anecdotal as any other psychology-related popularly written book, the reader will see several case studies to which he or she might relate.

Weiss lists and describes the emotional pain felt by most ADD sufferers, from self-esteem to anger and more.

She presents the positives of ADD, and how having it isn't a condemnation to a life of rags and sad frustrations.

Unlike some other books, Weiss isn't playing the game that ADD is a blessing, but she objectively acknowledges what it is, and what can be done about it. She discusses with candor romantic relationships. There is an excellent question-answer section for friends and family.

The best value comes from the chapter on restructuring. At a certain point, someone with ADD knows what's going on, but what they want to know is how to deal with it. Weiss shows the way with example charts that can realistically applied.

The singular drawback to this book is its need for an update. Research has been exploding with new ideas in medication, diagnoses and management. Weiss tackles all of this in a 60+ page Appendices section, with contact information for support groups, organizations, and sample official letters to interested parties. Year to year, these lists can quickly become out of date.

I'm a big fan of Weiss for the reason that through every one of her books, she's a pragmatist. No silly games of "I think I can, I think I can," but good old-fashioned how-tos.

Other helpful books in the ADD reader's library will be "Driven to Distraction" by Hallowell and Ratey, "Uncommon Gifts" by James Evans (very encouraging, especially for men), and "Managing Attention & Learning Disorders: Super Survival Strategies" by Elaine K. McEwan.

I fully recommend "Attention Deficit Disorder in Adults" by Lynn Weiss.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

This book was great for me! It was as though the author had been living inside my brain. Some of the issues in this particular book did not particularly pertain to me, but most of them did. I have purchased several of these books and given them to people who have been diagnosed adult ADD or ADHD telling them to return it if they did not like it. If they did like it then they could reimburse me for it. So far 6 of 6 people have sent me a thank you note with a check for repayment. I have just ordered another copy of this book for my fiance to have for his own referance since this book does a much better job of explaining how I think, feel, act etc than I can!

Another book that I read just after being diagnosed and medicated for ADHD is "Safe People" by Cloud and Townsend. It helped me to re-set limits, re-define boundaries, and fine tune my interactions. It is also available on audio!

I bought this book, suspecting that I might have Adult ADD. I was hoping to get a book that presented a general overview of the condition, with an emphasis on adults. Though the book focuses on adults, I was disappointed because like previous reviewers of this book, I found that it's geared toward those with the hyperactivity vs. inattentive type. Although I could empathize, I couldn't related to many of the stories about extremely dysfunctional relationships and coping styles, so the book wasn't very helpful to me.

I believe that I've never been diagnosed with the condition precisely because of the lack of the hyperactivity symptoms (e.g. acting out behavior in class) that the book focused on. I overcompensated in various areas to function & "succeed" the best I could. I was disappointed that the book didn't really get into this aspect of Adult ADD (overcompensation), and seemed to focus on adults who had "failure after failure" and experienced a great deal of verbal and/or physical abuse as a result, as well.

There were some helpful tips in managing ADD symptoms such as distractability. e.g. She suggested working on pacing of tasks and creating a conducive environment. However, she presented some of the ideas as if all those with ADD would benefit. e.g. She wrote "Sound screens are important," explaining that "white noise" like TV or the radio could help an individual focus on a task. Perhaps, but personally, white noise doesn't work for me, and distracts rather than focuses my attention. I need complete silence, and must wear earplugs to concentrate. I appreciated her inclusion of the white noise idea, but I think it would've been better if she presented it as one option, not a suggestion for everyone.

This book would probably be helpful in dealing with adhd that is hyperactive but if you have the primarily inattentive type...pass on this book. As a matter of fact, there is a quiz to "self-test" yourself. If you are primarily inattentive this test will not be accurate. In fact, as I re-call the author even says something to the effect if you don't have a positive on this test...you aren't adhd. Now, I know the field of adhd has changed and grown... and maybe the book just hasnt caught up. If you are adhd-hyperactive, I can see this book being helpful. If you arent hyperactive I cant see any help at all... in fact someone telling you you don't have something your doctor says you do have is only confusing. If you are a woman...."woman and add" is the best book i have read...and there is alot about inattentive type adhd.

I read this book a few years a go and loved it. I think it was an honest book. I know it is because I have SMA like the author so I am a good judge of the subject. This book is not "Preachy" or filled with religious meaning like some disabled books. Nor does it make the disabled look needy or helpless. It's just about her life. It's not supposed to go in to great detail of specific disability issues...that's what essays and textbooks are for. Even so, I do think it does give the average "walkie-talkie" insight of disabled culture. Everything from care, school, career and romance. The writing is in everyday language and shows her humor in dealing with her struggles. The main flaw is the poor edit job. I didn't find it too distracting (if you can handle reading a personal journal you should be OK with this book) and the book is a quick read. There is a great need for books on adults with born with disabilities and disabled women. I'm glad this book made it!

As a disabled woman, I really loved this book, and could identify with many aspects of Connie's life. An educating book to those who are not disabled.

I finished this book last night, and I was frankly infuriated by some of the earlier reviews posted about this book. This is probably the most illuminating book about the day to day existence of an extremely disabled person; which holds back nothing, that has ever been written. Panzarino, who, despite her disability was a powerful force for chance in the way the disabled are treated in society, passed away on the 4th of July of this year. Her passing only makes this book more poignant. Panzarino's style is eloquent and engaging; her story both heartbreaking and inspirational. This book is a MUST read for anyone interested in reading fascinating biographies of women who have truly helped to change the world, as well as a great tool for understanding what those with disabilities go through in a world that wasn't designed with them in mind. This book changed my view of the world profoundly. I am planning on buying it for all my friends as Xmas gifts--and hope that Connie's incredible courage wil inspire them as much as it did me.

I could barely finish this unorganized story told in plain language. The topics covered are important. Yet, the writing and selfish spin of the book left a very bad taste in my mouth.

Ms. Panzarino presents an accurate and passionate account of an absolutely remarkable life. She survived the disability that should have killed her as a child, the terrible pressures of her home, where she and her mother were trapped in a dance with no help for either. She fought her family and the "abled" world for her independence and THRIVED as a whole womin in a society which assigns a half-life to the disabled adult. I am new to the disabled community, having suffered a major stroke at the age of 49 and two small ones since. They have left me nearly speechless but I cannot even imagine the world Ms. Panzrino has had to live in. I can only admire this brave womin's strength, fortitude, intelligence and candor. The reviewer who did not see the life story and daily life of a disabled person did NOT read the same book I read!! This is and excellent read by an enlightened individual! My only disappointment is that there has not been a follow-up book since this wonderful tome was written!

This is an ideal resource tool that can assist clinicians in understanding different diagnosis and behaviours that can support the presence or absence of a trait which can aide in an appropriate diagnosis. The language is straight forwarded and the cross reference to DSM IV makes it a valueable tool.

This book is really good. I read more than 3/4 of it for class and it wasn't a hard nor boring read. I read the DSM IV TR before being assigned this book and it answered or spoke about many of the reactions I had to the DSM.

I never orderded this expensive book yet received it none-theless from Warehouse Deals, a subsidiary of Amazon. Each referred me back to the other when I tried to resolve the problem. Bottom line: I didn't read the book but I was very unahppy with the service.

This is an excellent introductory text for a graduate-level abnormal or even upper-level undergraduate-level abnormal psychology course. However, my major complaint with the book; besides, it being too bulky and heavy, is the simple fact that it doesn't include enough case studies. Granted, it's sprinkled with a few case studies, here and there, but it focuses mailny on research and gives an excellent discussion on the DSM-IV. This is an excellent book to be used in conjuction with the DSM-IV-TR; however, as I've stated earlier, the book needs to be made more thinly with the text still intact and the book needs case studies for each chapter, which it currently doesn't in this 4th edition.

Bottom-line: Good book, but bulky and lacks a plethora of case studies; hence, 4 stars!

This text did not work well for our graduate level course. There was far too much emphasis on tedious details concerning prevalence, specifiers, and the kinds of facts one seeks from an encyclopedia. What most chapters lacked was a more conceptual, model- or theory-driven examination of the factors involved in the onset, development, and maintenance of the disorders. To my mind these are far more useful and valuable issues to focus on in a graduate psychopathology course, yet the bulk of the text was filled with far less relevant material. In fact it appears that nearly half the pages comprised references rather than text, so despite the bulk of the book there is not nearly enough useful material between the covers.

ALL OF SZASZ WORK IS REALLY WUNDERBAR... I GOT THE CHANCE TO READ SOME OF THESE BOOKS THEY ALL ARE SOMETHING.

THESE BOOKS OPEN YOUR MIND... TO REALITY THEY ARE DOING WITH THE
SKINNER BOX AND ELSE.THEY ARE ALL FALSE TEACHERS,WE DO NOT HAVE TOBE ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL.THE THING THAT I DO NOT UNDERSTAND UNDERSTANDING, THAT THEY BELIEVE THEY HAVE THE ONLY TRUE,IF WE TALK WITH OTHER POSSIBILITIES WE ARE WRONGDOING,SATAN,DEVIL, THAT IS JUST SEMANTICS THAT THEY USE TO BREAK YOUR INNERSELF TO THESE F.... NERROWMINDED SOULLESS ONES,BUT THAT IS JUST A DEEP TRANCE ONE DAY TIME TO WAKEUP.

It is not surprising that Szasz' business model is built around denying the existence of mental illnesses and making money out of those ignorant of the problems and torture the mentally sick undergo. Anyone who truly understands a mentally ill friend or relative would instantly disagree with Szasz. Szasz has no convincing answers for why mental illnesses run in families? Why does Lithium (and/or several other drugs) restore a degree of normalcy in those affected by bipolar disorder? While the individual is still responsible for his actions, helping him lead a normal life is the least amount of compassion expected from the society.

Capitalism is the hallmark of the American economy. Americans embrace the notion of producing and distributing goods and services in a free market, which undergoes minimal government regulation. This type of economic trade works for and satisfies most people in a democratic society, particularly those with adequate financial stability. For some unfortunate individuals, however, the market is not entirely "free," and government regulation is all but minimal. These individuals are forced to be consumers of government-provided goods and services against their will. Although those found guilty of criminal acts are deprived of liberty, denied certain legal rights, and subjected to government coercion, these hapless individuals are not criminals. In most instances, these individuals have neither performed criminal acts, posed as threats to anyone or anything, nor been accused of any wrongdoing per se. The only accusation made against these individuals is that they are "insane;" furthermore, coercing these individuals to adhere to government regulation is justifiable in a court of law.

American society and economy has a deleterious system of subjecting insane, or "mentally ill," individuals to psychiatric control. This theme pervades Thomas Szasz's book, Cruel Compassion: Psychiatric Control of America's Unwanted. According to Szasz, there exists an age-old process of storing and coercing society's unwanted individuals (viz., indigents, debtors, epileptics, children, homeless individuals, and the mentally ill).

The beginning of this process can be traced back to the early 17th-century English Poor Laws, which were enacted to punish economically unproductive indigents. Between then and now, debtors, or insolvents, were contractually bound to serve time in debtor's prisons; epileptics were medicated (i.e., given neuroleptic, or antipsychotic, drugs), sterilized, and stored in colonies; troublesome children were given arbitrary psychiatric diagnoses and sentenced to psychiatric hospitals, or "madhouses;" and homeless individuals were housed in economically lucrative, government-provided domiciles. As for the mentally ill, they were originally placed in asylums and madhouses (i.e., were institutionalized) under the coercion of a psychiatrist, and as a result of an anti-psychiatric movement and Szasz himself, they are currently coerced into deinstitutionalization and ingestion of psychiatric mediation.

While many of these acts may appear to be compassionate and altruistic methods performed by self-righteous mental health professionals in order to help or correct the "less fortunate," Szasz asserts that this facade is far from the truth. These motives underlying these acts are often economic. For example, the frequency of psychiatric diagnoses in America is highly influenced and regulated by health insurance companies and government-funded programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. Another popular motive for psychiatric institutionalization derived from the phenomenon of caregivers no longer wanting to care for their mentally ill family members. These caregivers basically used the system to pawn off unwanted, embarrassing, and/or interfering friends and relatives to well-paid, government-employed psychiatrists.

Psychiatric institutionalization was masked as a system using medicine to treat "real" illness. Psychiatry attempted to mirror and mimic medicine by making absurd claims about the success and recovery rate of their often iatrogenic procedures. Some of these procedures include the infamous lobotomy, electric shock, the dissemination of neuroleptic drugs (historically for epileptics and often inducing tardive dyskinesia), and insulin shock and coma. Additionally, psychiatric patients were belittled, deprived of dignity through their role in the therapist-patient relationship, and institutionalized, becoming dependent on the institution for survival. Following the institutionalization era, patients were then deinstitutionalized (i.e., funneled out of the hospitals into nursing homes, halfway houses, etc.).

Psychiatric deinstitutionalization was justified by spurious claims that medications, such as chlorpromazine (marketed as Thorazine), were effective remedies. In actuality, psychiatric patients were forced from their "homes" (i.e., hospitals), heavily sedated, and sent to live in the streets. Currently, those perceived as mentally ill can be coerced into psychological examination and medication.

Szasz illustrates the pitfalls of psychiatric coercion and enlightens the reader to the economic policy and cruelty underlying these seemingly benevolent interventions (hence Cruel Compassion). He not only believes that these interventions are pejorative, which is ironically antagonistic to the intention, but also that mental illness is a myth (i.e., fictitious) with psychiatric diagnoses serving as medical metaphors. Additionally, he strongly recommends and supports the notion of abolishing all involuntary, coercive psychiatric procedures. Szasz states, "All involuntary psychiatric interventions should be outlawed" (p. 68), and, "I oppose psychiatric coercion, period" (p. 81).

Along with abolishing psychiatric control, another motif that pervades Szasz's book relates to his emphasis on freedom and personal responsibility. There exists a current trend in society to avoid responsibility for troublesome or abnormal behavior, placing the blame on situations (viz., "diseases") and/or other people for these actions. This phenomenon exemplifies the social-psychological concept of self-serving bias (Fincham & Hewstone, 2001). According to Szasz, criminal acts should be treated as such (regardless of psychological condition), and people should accept responsibility for their behavior. This notion closely parallels Rollo May's existentialism philosophy, which is grounded on the assumption that people are free and are responsible for their own choices (Corey, 2001).

While Szasz's rationale is well presented, one criticism is his inability to repudiate his critics. Those in opposition to Szasz's beliefs and views, such as Howard Sudak and Karl Menninger, are cited in his book. They advocate re-institutionalization by illustrating the negative impacts of deinstitutionalization. For instance, they blame deinstitutionalization for the large proportion of mentally ill that are homeless and claim that many psychiatric patients have not only "benefited" but also survived due to coercive methods of prescribing medication. While Szasz redundantly reiterates his liberal ideology (i.e., the fact that he disapproves of any type of psychiatric coercion), his rebuttals avoid the content of such criticisms. The only convincing evidence he supplies is a letter written by one of his former adversaries, Karl Menninger, who "acknowledged that perhaps I [Szasz] was right, after all" (p. 201).

The major purpose of this book is to enlighten the reader to the baneful process of psychiatric control. Blinded by false perceptions and beliefs of compassion and democracy, society has labeled misbehavior as a medical disorder and has given the state the power to therapeutically coerce. This book is intended for a diverse audience including students and those who participate in the caring professions, particularly clinicians, managers, politicians, and policymakers. Those wanting a sobering look into psychiatric treatment have found the right book.

The idea that those in our society whose beliefs differ from the norm must be drugged and/or imprisoned in the name of compassion is so widely accepted that it is rarely challenged. If Jesus Christ were alive today, he would have been arrested for disorderly conduct at the temple, given a court ordered psychiatric evaluation, diagnosed with irritable mania/Bi-Polar disorder and drugged into a near comatose stupor until he renounced his beliefs and conformed to the beliefs of those in power (pharisees.)
The idea that individuals who have committed no crime can be stripped of their civil rights on the word of a single medical opinion is apalling considering that some patients have received as many as 50 different psychiatric diagnosis, many contradictary.
Institutionalization and forced medication with dangerous psychoactive drugs constitutes assault and has lead to death and disability. It is a means of social control. It is often little more than chemical assault by people in positions of power against people without power. Often abused women were locked in a Mental Hospital for life on the word of an abusive husband or resentful/dishonest family member. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was not recognized as a disorder until the 1970's. Prior to that it was often mistaken for Paranoid Schizophrenia or Psychosis and treated with insulin/electro shock or lobotomy rather than traditional psychotherapy turning Post Traumatic Stress survivors into the walking dead.
And all this is in the name of compassion. Certainly this is cruel and abusive yet it continues today. This book exposes what modern psychiatry wants to conceal: the brutal, dehumanizing power of psychiatry as a means of social control.

Szasz is insightful into the ideas of mental illness and the use of such a term. Does a value judgement such as "mentally ill" or "sane" belong to the field of medicine? Humanity is now noticing the unstable polarity which is the essence to such a judgement, but in this book Szasz discusses the dilemma of what to do when people still exhibit behavior which we want to fix. How does one heal? And isn't healing diseases part of medicine? Labels such as mentally ill are simply excuses to take away another person's free will in order to try to help them. Yes, many times one does help another, but labelling that person as "wrong" or ill is not the right way to remedy a situation. In this book Szasz approaches the ides of autonomy of the individual under a system which claims to be a medical, scientific field, but is a human intitution treating other humans as if they were not humans.

It is evident that writing this book was probably quite cathartic for M.D. Cohen. It is a vivid portrait of narcissism and self-absorption of a rather high degree. Pity for Ms. Cohen's negativity and aspirations to martyrdom emerge early in the reading of this book. It is also difficult to imagine how Mr. Cohen was able to endure the rampant emotional DIS-ability of his alleged "well spouse". I was gratified to learn that he was finally released from her "care" and concomitant anger and negativity. If anything, this book shows who the "well spouse" REALLY is. And the author is NOT the well-spouse. Not in the least. I wish Mr. Cohen and his children well. And perhaps, by now, M.D. Cohen has been healed of her emotional illness. One can hope.

An LCSW in Virginia

This book is painful to read and even more painful to live. That is why it proved to be necessary medicine for this well spouse. A testament to the fact that I am not alone, I am not crazy, and there is "life after innocence." I will cling to that as I trudge this path of "chronic bereavement." For a Well Spouse, this read is a must for surviving the isolation and endless hard work imposed upon unwitting victims of devastating, chronic illness.

Thank you Marion D. Cohen, God bless you for your brutal honesty.

This book is difficult to read, but difficult to put down as well. The unimaginably difficult life of a person with severe MS is virtually ignored by his spouse as she describes her daily routine of caring for her husband. This bothered me at first, but there are other books about those who live with MS -- this book is about how this disease cripples the life of a spouse who is in perfect health. My husband has MS and I have to say, this book scared me to death. Yet it was a comfort to know there are others who understand the frustrations, guilt, and anger a well spouse experiences.

I don't understand the precise meaning of this psychological term, but I do know that it is not possible to diagnose the supposed mental condition of author of a book of this kind just by reading it. This book is a very honest account of a wife who was left almost completely alone for many years to care for her severely and increasingly afflicted husband, an experience few of us, fortunately, have to undergo. I was greatly impressed by the author's strength, courage, and love. Her writing skill brought her experience vividly to light.

This exceptional experience of a person with MS and the problems of living with a well spouse are documented thoroughly here. I wouldn't say this is an optimal guide for the newly diagnosed, but it is an honest account of much of what a well spouse goes through in coping with a chronically ill spouse.

A well-researched, inside view of how psychological diagnoses are created. Paula Caplan, an APA "Eminent Psychologist", clearly explains the pitfalls and dangers inherent in the process, and the implications for the lives of millions of clients.

Paula J. Caplan's book They Say You're Crazy: How the World's Most Powerful Psychiatrists Decide Who's Normal questions the validity of the DSM. Although psychiatrists claim that their manual is based on science, this is not always the case. Dr. Caplan describes how psychiatrists that decide who is normal "...too often slot people into categories for politically, economically, and emotionally charged reasons while pretending that they are operating in a solidly scientific way" (p. 34).

Caplan is a clinical psychologist and a feminist that criticizes mental disorders that are specifically for women. Regardless of the author's motivation for fighting these "disorders" and speaking out against them, she exposes many startling aspects of psychiatry. Disorders are voted into existence with little or no empirical evidence. Caplan comments on the DSM:

"To the untutored eye, and even to many mental health personnel, the DSM appears grounded in science, although many features that give this impression turn out on inspection to provide only a veneer of scientific sheen rather than genuine, carefully supported research. (p.186)"

Perhaps the most interesting parts of the book were where the author describes her personal experience working with the DSM committees for PMDD and SDPD. However, it is not much of a story because the committees did not really want her involvement, and left her out of most of the process. This aspect of the book is a unique contribution to the works of DSM criticism.

Ms. Caplan, at several points in the book, indicates that she ordinarily trusts authority implicitly, which is why her outrage is at Their malfeasance is so profound. This statement seems intended to assure us that this is no rebellious screed, but rather a critical expose.

What Ms. Caplan discovers is that the making of psychiatric diagnoses is not scientific, but political, and that the suffering of historically marginalized groups is often included as the symptoms of various psychiatric disorders.

For reasons that I cannot fathom, she is surprised by this.

Psychiatry has without doubt benefited many people. However, the scientific foundation of the majority of practiced psychiatry is weak. It is very difficult to do double blind studies on human minds.

To be surprised that the naming of diagnoses is unscientific indicates a global misunderstanding of the content of the DSM .

There are some good feminist nuggets herein, and the process of diagnosis creation is displayed. This reader, at least, found the events described by the book were as comedic as tragic. Since Ms. Caplan only excoriates the process, rather than giving it the good mocking it sometime deserves, her book is more boring than it should have been.

Caplan spends a lot of time developing an ideology around what American society views as normal and what it doesn't, and how we come up with those categories, as well as the consequences for those who don't happen to fit into the "normal" category. One of her main premises is that because of the categories in the DSM, women can almost never be categorized as normal. She further describes her journey in trying to keep particular categories out of the book that would have marginalized women further, using scientific data that actually refuted the non-scientific process the psychiatrists used to place categories and their criteria in the book. It was sometimes something as "lofty" as, "My wife has that symptom." "Oh, well, we'll take that one out then."

Her book is powerful, because it demonstrates the social construction of concepts like "normal," the power of labeling people "abnormal," the relative power and authority one must have to label someone "abnormal," and how much easier it has been for males to do it to females in the medical (esp. the mental health) establishment because until recently, females have been kept out of medicine.

Because her book is coming from such a strong "powerful vs. the powerless" perspective, it does lack a strong point that could have made this a more balanced view, and that is how individuals, even though they may lack power relative to the "labelers," can be complicit in their labeling. There can be benefits to being labeled, such as that it can legitimize women's complaints to have an official diagnosis, it can relieve individuals of full responsibilities for their actions or duties, it can give people an identity, and give people the illusion that the problems are contained within themselves rather than the environment or social structure in which they live, which probably won't change. All of these reasons help explain why people might accept a label or even label themselves. Caplan only seems to suggest that people are labeled against their wills and that's the end of it.

There are some good points in this book, some very good points, about how the people who write the DSM are not writing the manual of psychiatry that they say they are.

Then there are the parts of the book that truly confused me. Caplan tells the story of how she went through a period of sadness after finding out that a friend was terminally ill. Because of her sorrow about her friend, Caplan was experiencing sleeplessness and breathing problems. When she went to the doctor, he prescribed her tranquilizers, known as Halcion, which Caplan was all but dead-set against taking. She said, "There I was, an experienced psychologist who had never taken medication for an emotional upset and not want to, and I didn't think that that was what I was doing." Then she goes on to relate how the pills caused even greater depressive symptoms than she had previously experienced. The next day, Caplan described her symptoms to her naturopath, and the naturopath looked up the side effects and found that this is what was causing Caplan to be even more depressed.

I found myself wondering about several things after reading this paragraph. How could someone who is a psychologist herself not know:

a) what the drug Halcion was, considering its possible psychological side effects

b) how to find out the side effects of Halcion, as any psychologist in the country should know of, and possess a copy of the Physician's Desk Reference, a book that contains the descriptions, side effects, etc. of nearly every major drug on the market

c) how a woman of Caplan's stature, schooling, and self-confidence allowed herself to be talked into taking drugs that she didn't want to take, that she knew nothing about, and didn't bother to try to find anything about before she took them

This seems odd behavior for someone who is a fully trained psychologist, and leaves me questioning both Caplan's objectivity and reasoning.

For those reasons, as well as the fact that the book is sometimes unrelentingly dull, I gave the book only 2 stars.

This book is very helpful, its written by a person with A.S. for people with A.S. Instead of going into all kinds of psychoanilization mumbo jumbo like many books written by shrinks, it just gives practical advice. Bassically instead of focusing on the problem it focuses on the solution. It refers to the way people with A.S. think and process information as a 'diffibility' rather then a 'dissability.' Because if a person goes around thinking, 'I have a dissability,' how is that helpful? Terming it as a 'diffibility,' a person with A.S. having different ways of thinking, socializing, and processing information is more in line with the 'Law of Attraction.' The whole purpose that the book highlights is to tailor your 'diffibility' properly when choosing a career and going about performing your career. My career is law. For law school I must read and study for long periods of time which I find very relaxing and rewarding. By creating the right study environment I can work with my 'diffability' and excel. Great book, only a 3rd through so far but I really like it. Another good book for people with A.S. who have psychic inclinations is 'The Secrete,' available on book, CD, and DVD.

As an adult with Asperger Syndrome, I thought this book would be exactly what I was looking for to help me. The title sounds great and the table of contents looked great too, and it was written by another woman with AS. But I was very disappointed when I got the book and started reading it. The whole book is an extended metaphor (and if you know anything about AS, you know that metaphors can confuse us). I understood the main point of this metaphor (your life is a house or building), but some of the other points (plumbing, electricity, etc.) totally confused me. I had trouble forming the connections to understand what the author was talking about. I also found that some of the subheadings within the book would say one thing and the text that followed seemed to be on a completely different topic and/or did not say anything very helpful (at least for me). I have read many, many books and articles on AS (I am also a graduate student), and there are much better and more helpful books available. I have several books that I will consult on a regular basis and read multiple times, but this one will probably just stay on the shelf.

While I am delighted to see another book for adults with Asperger's, I am dismayed to find this one so choked with metaphors. The over-dependency on the "building" analogies and the weed-killer weakens what could be a highly effective book.

Sadly, the heavy-handed application of terms such as "closed pictures" is often lost on the audience for whom this work was written. For people with Asperger's who do read this book, you might want an NT (neurotypical) translator to interpret some of it.

I have found much of the advice in this book useful, if I remove it completely from the context of the metaphor that occurs throughout the book. I didn't understand why a metaphor like this would be made the main theme of a book for autistic people, given that many of us have trouble with metaphors. It took several rereadings to get anything beyond confused, especially given that there were a lot of unfamiliar words and phrases like "monotropic" and "closed pictures".

However, once I had resolved to ignore all reference to houses, buildings, weedkiller, and similar metaphors, I found the information in the book more useful than I have found elsewhere in terms of things written for autistic people. This is probably because it explains not only what to do, but how and why to do it. It also, unlike many books, emphasizes acceptance of being different as the *foundation* of building a proper life for oneself as an autistic person. The sections on dealing with friendships were some of the most useful to me.

I hope that there will someday be an easier-to-read book for autistic people that contains more information. I have read other books intended for autistic people, though, including a different one by an autistic person, and _Build Your Own Life_ has had at the heart of it the most useful information.

With our new state regulations this will be perfect! The book was even better than I though it was going to be. Thanks so much

The problem with books like this is they do not address the problem of dealing with disabilities in he Real World.

Unlike a book such as Greg Perry's Disabling America: The Unintended Consequences of the Government's Protection of the Handicapped, Don't Call Me Special is more of a reactive book instead of a proactive book that teaches children - and more importantly PARENTS - how to cope in society and how to give your kids the VERY BEST CHANCE AT SUCCESS no matter what challenges they may face.

I doubt it was the author's intent, but this book is almost like a "feel good about yourself and that you're different" and focuses on self-esteem, etc., without giving any guidance on the best way for parents and their disabled children to have the best chance to be happy and content AND, yes, successful however you define it.

If a feel-good-about-yourself book is important to you, this will probably work. But if you want answers, you need to look elsewhere. The first place to find the answers is in Perry's Disabling America: The Unintended Consequences of the Government's Protection of the Handicapped - be warned - it's a caustic book that pulls no punches about problems with the ADA, etc. But do you want answers or not? Don't you want the VERY BEST FOR YOUR CHILD? It's a prescriptive book.

Once you get a better perspective there on today's world of disability problems and how your kids can copy not only better but FAR better, then you need to check some NLP titles such as PsychoCybernetics. It's not psycho-babble in spite of the title, it's a general approach that allows anyone to overcome their challenges.

I love this book. First I'd like to point out that this is a children's book - for children. Don't Call Me Special is intended for the typical child audience. The title itself is refreshing and pulls away from the idea that "Special Needs" children are different. We donate this book to our childrens' school libraries and have asked and been granted that our county libraries carry this book. This book is not a book about specific disabilities or about rights for your child. This information can be found in other books, at your local support group, through state agencies and your local schools. What this book DOES do is open dialog for elementary school typical children. We read this book in many of our childrens' elementary school classrooms. The first thing that the book points out to children is that we are all different and that each of us has things we are good at and things we need help with (and to not assume things just because a person has a disability). The secondary lesson is to explain why children who have disabilities get help and what some of that help is. I feel this information helps demystify where children with disabilities go if and when they leave the classroom and why they get additional help in school. To me, reading this book in the classrooms with typical students helps those students realize that having a disability is no big deal. This book is not intended to help those with disabilities. The book is intended to help typical children address concerns they have for students they share a classroom with that may have learning or physical disabilities. Get this book and use it as a tool to open up a great discussion!

This book is subtitled, a first look at disability. I ask this though; wouldn't kids get a much better first look across the lunch table at their neighbourhood school? I'm not sure why authors think that we need all of these books to teach us about disability, It seems like an n out-of-date notion to me. Give us an engaging storyline not a medical lesson.

You can't call this book "Natural prostate healers". From the very beginning the author refer readers to AMA goctors. And he recommends readers to use some alpha-blockers, which actually will make your prostate grow. That's why doctors like prescribe them so much- you will be their customer untill your prostate will grow so much that you will ask them to do surgery. Looks like the author have the information for this book collected from different sources and just mixed it all together. Example- in one Chapter he wrote about alpha-blocker Hytrin. In another one he wrote about benefits of ajpha-blocker Terazosin... Obviously he doesn't know that Terazosin is the brand name for Hytrin. When he write about patients who successfully treated BPH or Prostate cancer with natural cures he doesn't provide any links to where he's got this information.

Recently read the book "Natural Prostate Healers" by Mike Fillon (with foreward by Dr. Barken). I noted that the book had great cautions in regard to elevated IGF-1 levels being predictors / causations for prostate cancer and yet have noted that research has pretty clearly refuted any such connections.

See:
http://www.thehormoneshop.com/prostate.htm
http://www.drcranton.com/hrt/HGH_found_safe.htm
http://www.auslifeextend.com.au/research.html

Additionally there is a degree of concern in the book's recommendations which could lead to an overexposure to soy in general. While certain very specific elements of soy (in quite moderate dosages) appear to positively affect prostate enlargement, the case history for "preventing" or "curing" prostate cancer appears less so and needs to be balanced out by concerns related to overconsumption of soy (considerable research as to soy's adverse effect on thyroid functioning for example).

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/soysdownsides/

Likewise, zinc oversupplementation apparently has surfaced as cause for concern:

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/70/80974.htm

"Zinc Supplements May Double Risk of Advanced Prostate Cancer"

Finally, I found that the book was inconsistent in other statements.

For example, on page 3 the book stated "suffice it to say, no prostate, no orgasm..." and yet on page 140 it states that one can have one's prostate completely removed and still have an orgasm. There is an obvious need to update and/or correct any future editions...

Larry S.

Women and men have different thresholds for consulting physicians. Women schedule doctor appointments regularly. I am told this is less a matter of choice than necessity. Regular peaks under the hood are a requirement for getting refills of birth control pills, and later, hormone replacements. Lacking this motivation, men see doctors only if they can't stop the bleeding after cutting themselves or they are unconscious. As they age many add a third reason: their prostate has begun acting up. Problem prostates cause many of the problems that make old age a less than glorious time, including painful urination, difficulty in maintaining an erection, frequent nighttime urination and the general inability to write your name in the snow. Realizing that the baby boomers were about to hit the problem prostate years, a cottage industry has developed to convince men to have their prostates examined on a regular basis. Following the proven formula of scaring people with statistics, the authors of these "public service" brochures have focused on prostate cancer. It is the perfect disease for shocking headlines. If you live long enough, you develop prostate cancer, period. What these well meaning attempts at educating men usually fail to mention is that prostate cancer develops very, very slowly. What they almost never mentioned is how much you can do to reduce the discomfort of prostate problems and cut dramatically your risk of prostate cancer. By putting an emphasis on these positive themes Mike Fillon's Natural Prostate Healers: A Breakthrough Program For Preventing And Treating Common Prostate Problems provides a refreshing look at an important men's health issue. What I like best about Fillon's book is that he has taken the approach of a journalist surveying new terrain. The result is that important facts that tend to be minimized in more medically-oriented books rise to their proper perspective. Two points stand out. First, Fillon stresses the lack of a cause-and-effect linkage between common prostate problems and prostate cancer. There is a presumption -- largely created by public service ads -- that 2 a.m. visits to the toilet are nature's idiot light for warning you of prostate cancer. Fillon debunks this notion, and goes on to suggests common sense ways of managing these problems, chiefly through minor changes in diet and exercise. Fillon's second contribution is to change our view of prostate cancer from being inevitable to becoming avoidable. The basis for this claim is the extreme global variation in prostate cancer rates, between 3.5 cases per 100,0000 in Singapore to 49.8 cases in Sweden. The rate in America is 32.2 cases. Rather than let this statistic hang in the air as some sort of X-file mystery, Fillon seizes upon it to suggest ways in which minor modifications of your diet to move you toward the favorable end of the statistical scale. Prostate problems will eventually pose some degree of difficulty for everyone who leaves the toilet seat up. Fillon's journalistic approach treats the subject with a degree of balance that is both enlightening and, through the inclusion of recipes that promote prostate health, quite useful as well. Natural Prostate Healers belongs in the home of every baby boomer, and you might want to send a copy to dad too.

Women and men have different thresholds for consulting physicians. Women schedule doctor appointments regularly. I am told this is less a matter of choice than necessity. Regular peaks under the hood are a requirement for getting refills of birth control pills, and later, hormone replacements. Lacking this motivation, men see doctors only if they can't stop the bleeding after cutting themselves or they are unconscious. As they age many add a third reason: their prostate has begun acting up. Problem prostates cause many of the problems that make old age a less than glorious time, including painful urination, difficulty in maintaining an erection, frequent nighttime urination and the general inability to write your name in the snow. Realizing that the baby boomers were about to hit the problem prostate years, a cottage industry has developed to convince men to have their prostates examined on a regular basis. Following the proven formula of scaring people with statistics, the authors of these "public service" brochures have focused on prostate cancer. It is the perfect disease for shocking headlines. If you live long enough, you develop prostate cancer, period. What these well meaning attempts at educating men usually fail to mention is that prostate cancer develops very, very slowly. What they almost never mentioned is how much you can do to reduce the discomfort of prostate problems and cut dramatically your risk of prostate cancer. By putting an emphasis on these positive themes Mike Fillon's Natural Prostate Healers: A Breakthrough Program For Preventing And Treating Common Prostate Problems provides a refreshing look at an important men's health issue. What I like best about Fillon's book is that he has taken the approach of a journalist surveying new terrain. The result is that important facts that tend to be minimized in more medically-oriented books rise to their proper perspective. Two points stand out. First, Fillon stresses the lack of a cause-and-effect linkage between common prostate problems and prostate cancer. There is a presumption -- largely created by public service ads -- that 2 a.m. visits to the toilet are nature's idiot light for warning you of prostate cancer. Fillon debunks this notion, and goes on to suggests common sense ways of managing these problems, chiefly through minor changes in diet and exercise. Fillon's second contribution is to change our view of prostate cancer from being inevitable to becoming avoidable. The basis for this claim is the extreme global variation in prostate cancer rates, between 3.5 cases per 100,0000 in Singapore to 49.8 cases in Sweden. The rate in America is 32.2 cases. Rather than let this statistic hang in the air as some sort of X-file mystery, Fillon seizes upon it to suggest ways in which minor modifications of your diet to move you toward the favorable end of the statistical scale. Prostate problems will eventually pose some degree of difficulty for everyone who leaves the toilet seat up. Fillon's journalistic approach treats the subject with a degree of balance that is both enlightening and, through the inclusion of recipes that promote prostate health, quite useful as well. Natural Prostate Healers belongs in the home of every baby boomer, and you might want to send a copy to dad too.