Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World: Unlocking the Potential of Your Add Child

I am so relieved to finally "see the light" at the end of my child's tunnel. He'd been struggling in 1st grade, especially with any written assignment. Finishing tasks has always been a challenge for him. It always seems like he isn't listening to me or his teacher, but now I realize I just needed to change my way of "talking" to him. Tears of relief came to me as I read this book. My relationship with my child has greatly improved, as homework is no longer a struggle.

Wow! This book was quite an eye opener. I highly recommend it for anyone who has or teaches an ADD or ADHD child (or even just a child with learning difficulties). I am a homeschooling mother of 5 children, ages 10, 9, 7, 4 and 6 months and have had constant challenges with my 9-year old son. He has been diagnosed ADHD and his doctor recommended medication. My husband and I read a lot and prayed a lot and decided that medicating him was not an option. We both felt that his "handicap" could actually be an advantage if handled correctly, however we seemed to be in the minority with that view. Many times while trying to teach him and wondering if he would ever pay attention to me, I began to doubt our decision also. Then came this book and it confirmed our thinking and has given me new ways to work with our son. He is now reading and writing very well and knocking my socks off with his mathematical ability. We are still working on spelling but the techniques in the book are helping us a lot. I think the biggest revelation this book taught me was that ADD and ADHD children (right-brained learners) see things as a series of pictures. This is what gives them the ability to see so much deeper into things - taking a word and making it 3 dimensional! I can also now see how my ADHD husband can look at a bunch of wood and a pencil drawing and transform it into an awesome entertainment center. We truly need these right-brained learners in our world and I believe all parents and educators need to understand the different learning styles so they can teach all of our kids to use their God given talents to the best of their abilities.

Mothering and homeschooling a child who learned "differently" was a trying and exhausting adventure, to say the least! I knew in my heart my child was unique and sort of "quirky", and after searching for help in the public library and discovering little there to really help me or give me some hope and encouragement, I finally did stumble over Jeffrey Freed's book on the shelf. "What a unique title!" I thought. After standing in the aisle and skimming through the book, I was intrigued and hopeful! Mr. Freed's insightful and resourceful book literally turned bright floodlights onto the dark path I was destined to trod with my child, in tow! My child, via the 20 question inventory, was somewhat right-brained according to me, but according to my child's answers, extremely right-brained! After I read Mr. Freed's detailed, easy, and right-brained approach to teaching the traditional subjects, I tried his approach in spelling one Saturday morning. I discovered to both my and my child's delight, just how visual she truly was! My son and husband too, were truly amazed when she spelled "opportunity" and other words both forwards and backwards without skipping a beat! I purchased my own copy and have reread, highlighted, and employed Mr. Freed's suggestions. Almost immediately, my daughter's self-esteem rose and I was "freed" to see her as gifted, not damaged as the traditional school system leads us parents of "ADD" children to believe. Educators, wake up! I would encourage parents and teachers alike to "re-view" and readjust their teaching methods to fit the child. I have purchased another copy for our local school system's exceptional children's program director.

Right Brained Children in a Left Brained World is an excellent book. I've read so many books since my child was diagnosed as ADHD six years ago, and this is by far the best. Now I'm just trying to figure out how to convince our local educators to read it. It could help so many children that are currently struggling in school. Our son is now 12 years old, is not on any medications, is going to a Montessori school, and doing just fine. After reading this book, I've found it so much easier to understand him. I wonder if Jeffrey Freed does any public speaking on this subject. I sure hope he does. We need to get this information out. I will be taking this book with me to our local public school meeting on Curriculum and hoping to get the teachers to pick up a copy and read it over the summer!

I thought my child was learning disabled. This book proved that she is merely a right-brained visual learner. She is also ADHD and gifted. I couldn't understand why she had so much trouble with phonics and spelling. I've teased her that she has a teflon brain because some things just don't stick. Every week I help her with spelling using the visual method described in the book. She often makes A's depending on how much she practices. It's the only method that works for her. I also used the shortened version of teaching her long division and it worked like a miracle. Her teacher read the book and started making comments that she could add in her head much better than some of the others. This comment and other similar ones tremendously boosted her self-esteem. I am a teacher of gifted students also. This helped me understand many of my students that I thought were borderline ADHD. One parent was certain her child was dyslexic. After screening the child for dyslexia I finally proved to her that he is just right-brained. She was a little annoyed with me for teaching him how to spell backwards because now he spells much better backwards! She must think I put a real "spell" on him! I can't thank Dr. Freed enough for finally explaining why my so called "gifted" child couldn't spell simple words. He also made the connection of gifted and ADHD that I felt existed but couldn't prove or explain. I now understand the difference between gifted, ADHD, dyslexic, and right-brained children. I would like a sequel to the book because I've referred to it for other math problems but there was none. This book should be a requirement for ALL teachers!