Product Review

This treatment manual is designed to help children become active partners in managing their ADHD. The Simon Says program gives children strategies and tools for strengthening their performance in four areas:
-Working Memory
-Impulse Control
-Goal Orientation
-Ability to Shift Focus

It contains dozens of reproducible games, stories, worksheets, tools, home assignments and skill trackers.

The Simon Says program provides a detailed plan for therapists to use in working with children who show symptoms of ADHD. Following a 4-step plan, the therapist first uses a playful intervention to engage the child's interest and to allow the child to demonstrate specific abilities and skills. Next, using stories, worksheets and home assignments, the therapist provides insight and practical tools that will enable the child to utilize those skills in daily life and take more responsibility for managing the ADHD-related difficulties. Special emphasis is placed on strategies that provide external support at the "point of performance"--the actual daily situations that are challenging for the child. For example, the book has reproducible templates for three different types of "wrist lists." each provides the child with a playful way to use the humble but effective checklist as external support for working memory. And, because it is attached to the child's wrist, the list is always available at the point of performance.

This manual is an extremely valuable resource for any therapist who works with children diagnosed with ADHD. Often these children compare their success with that of peers and become confused or doubtful about their own abilities. The Simon Says program provides children with
-an accurate understanding of ADHD
-confidence that, with the right plan, success is within reach
-strategies and tools to boost day-to-day performance.