Appreciating Differences - Jack Falt - Ottawa area, Ontario, Canada

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Book Review by Jack Falt

Snowman, Sally R., Rising to the Challenge: A Styles Approach to Understanding Adults with ADD and Other Learning Difficulties, Plymouth, MA: Jones River Press, 1996, ISBN 1-888964-00-6, 82 pp

As I have two men in my Appreciating Differences group that have ADD/ADHD/LD, I have been quite interested in this topic and seeing how Jung/Myers theory related to this brain disorder. As both of these men are older, they have developed their own means of coping. But on occasion, the difficulty manifests itself. One time I was doing the “m&m candy” exercise by Dick Thompson to demonstrate the eight functions. In the instructions for extraverted Sensing, they were told to use all senses but not to eat the candy until later. This one man ate the candy anyway, and said he really couldn’t help himself. The other man, who is a compulsive talker and a very strong Extravert, tries to keep quiet during the sessions, but on occasion will blurt out something that is away off base in terms of what we have been discussing.

This book was written by a woman who herself has ADD/ADHD/LD. She also has her Ph.D., so she has learned to cope with her difficulty.

There is not a lot of text in this book and it has been set up in a way to appeal to those who have this difficulty. The text is in one narrow column on the page with the rest of the page having graphics to appeal to the visual learner.

The book begins by describing what ADD/ADHD/LD is and how it is diagnosed. Then the author looks at learning styles as provided by  Jung/Myers theory. While ADD/ADHD/LD seems to occur in all Jung/Myers personality types, certain preferences exacerbate the problem. The extraverted ADHD is more likely to be labelled as too boisterous, while the introverted ADD seems to more easily get lost in thought. There is not a lot of information correlating Jung/Myers theor and ADD/ADHD/LD in the main part of the book, but there is a little more in an appendix.

Understanding styles of learning can be very helpful in developing strategies for coping with study and everyday situations like grocery shopping. Brain-based learning theory based on left brain/ right brain/ whole brain learning, NeuroLinguistic Programming, Brain Gym, Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences, and Emotional Intelligence all have something to add to the picture of understanding this disorder. At best these theories help people learn to cope more effectively. At the moment there is no cure or means of prevention.

This book is meant to be a short overview of the problem. It has an extensive reference and resource lists as well as a glossary of terms. It is a book to read yourself to give you a quick overview of the problems that these people face, and it is a book to give to ADD/ADHD/LD clients that they would likely read. It gives some hints as to how to relate Jung/Myers theory to the problem. While Jung/Myers theory is not likely to play a major part in helping people cope with this problem, it does have certain insights that may be helpful.

Sally Snowman gave a session on ADD/ADHD/LD at the APT 1997  Conference. This is on audio cassette that can still be ordered from AVEN.

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