Adhd In Adults; Adults With Attention Deficit Disorder; Around the Clock: Parenting the Delayed Adhd Child; Just Planes For Kids; Let Me Tell You All About Planes; Medication For Attention Deficit Disorder

Two new videos on a relatively new diagnosis in adults--Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)--alert viewers to the symptoms and available treatment options for a disorder characterized by an inability to sustain attention, a marked impulsivity, and a sense of restlessness and/or impatience. The better of the pair is Dr. Russell A. Barkley's ADHD in Adults (Barkley's ADHD: What Do We Know? and ADHD: What Can We Do? were reviewed in VL-5/93). Focusing on three adults with ADHD, Barkley looks at the symptoms, causes (including an excellent segment on recent findings that ADHD presents definite neurological symptoms such as lowered electrical activity in the forebrain), and ways people cope with ADHD through a combination of education, counseling, and medication. a good choice for those with larger medical and health-related collections.Adults With Attention Deficit Disorder is presented by Dr. Thomas W. Phelan, whose series All About Attention Deficit Disorder was reviewed in VL-3/91. Unlike the earlier tapes which featured Phelan in a dynamic lecture before a live audience, the new program opens with the doctor reading notes from a book in his lap. In between Phelan's comments, viewers see short interview clips of adults with ADD or their spouses. After a brief outline of the proposed topics: symptoms, effects (on work, home, and social life), diagnosis, treatment, and finding help, Phelan is joined by the six interviewees (4 with ADD, 2 spouses) in a loosely arranged panel discussion. While viewers will come away with a greater understanding of the complexity of ADD, they may be confused by Phelan's patients, who sometimes present diametrically opposed symptoms (totally unorganized vs. super organized, unmotivated vs. highly driven, etc.) Some people are likely to conclude that what they are seeing are personality types rather than a medical disorder (and unlike the Barkley tape, no attention is given to recent neurological research). The structured approach of Phelan's excellent earlier series (All About Attention Deficit Disorder) here gives way to more of a talk show with mediator format--and it's less effective, overall.Around the Clock: Parenting the Delayed ADHD Child is from the same team--Joan F. Goodman and Susan Hoban--who made the outstanding Day By Day: Raising the Child with Autism/PDD (VL-12/92). Using a similar format, the program follows the families of two boys who are ADHD diagnosed: David and Daniel. The video cuts back and forth between scenes of each boy and his parents encountering problems and coming up with solutions in the areas of play, motor delay, being out in public, and establishing routines, in addition to assessing the impact of raising an ADHD child on the overall family. Aimed at parents with children who are diagnosed as having ADHD, Around the Clock offers a number of very good ideas to help parents cope with the increased demands of bringing up an ADHD child, ranging from working on improving motor skills to setting boundaries with play spaces, and ways of handling discipline problems. a good choice for larger medical and health-related collections.Finally, in Medication for Attention Deficit Disorder, presented by Phelan and Dr. Jonathan Bloomberg, the various medications used to treat ADD are discussed: including the stimulants (with Ritalin being the number one choice), trycylic anti-depressants (such as imipramine), clonidine, the newer drugs (such as Prozac), and the heavy-hitters (like Lithium, anti-convulsants, and beta blockers). After briefly covering the symptoms and problems kids and adults experience with ADD, the program looks at each of the drugs in terms of doses available, duration of action, expected benefits, and possible side effects. Although Phelan and Bloomberg both repeatedly point out that they're not trying to encourage parents to load their kids with drugs, the program is, in fact, all about drugs. In Phelan's earlier program All About Attention Deficit Disorder, the segment on the efficacy of drugs was presented in the larger context of understanding the disorder, in general. Here, it's more like a catalog of drugs. Had the producers included more professional opinions besides just those of the show's hosts, this might have been more comforting; as it is, the too-specific nature of the program and limited input make this a less than optimum choice.ADHD in Adults is highly recommended for larger collections. Around the Clock: Parenting the Delayed ADHD Child is recommended for larger collections. Adults With Attention Deficit Disorder and Medication for Attention Deficit Disorder are optional; purchase according to need and demand. (R. Pitman)