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Playdhd: Permission to Play.....a Prescription for Adults With ADHD.
Play is the pathway to being an ADHD superstar! Consider all of the famous people who have ADHD- Einstein, Adam Levine, Michael Phelps, Jim Carey, Malcomb Forbes and Shane Victorino, to name a few. All known for being playful in their own way. If you are an adult with ADHD, this book is your prescription to play. This book focuses on how developing a more playful mindset and habit of engaging in playful activities can actually help you to manage symptoms and excel with ADHD. It’s likely that you were never encouraged to play to meet your potential, much less to have fun in an effort to be more creative, happy, energetic, and productive. After a lifetime of being urged to "stop goofing off" and to "take things more seriously," Dr. Milliken offers scientific evidence that play is actually what you need to better manage your difficulties with attention. ADHD is a serious problem. But your approach to it doesn’t have to be. Permission to Play...A Prescription for Adults with ADHD is written for adults with ADHD as well as for those who just want to remember how to play more. This is one book you will actually be able to say you read all the way through! With scientific evidence, humorous anecdotes, playful activities, short passages, and color graphics, this book captures and holds the attention of even the most unfocused mind.
146 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2016
3 people are currently reading
195 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 10, 2018
It just wasn’t for me. I should start by saying I hate books about adhd that attempt to be goofy and wacky (just like people with adhd apparently! We’re all so kooky!) and end up coming off as condescending. So there was probably no chance of this book resonating with me but I guess I was hoping for something emphasizing things like stimming and art therapy. I felt like quite a few of her ideas would just lead to more distraction, and her timeline of famous people with suspected adhd were all men (small nitpick but come on). Additionally, a lot of her ideas for play and rewards involve spending money which is fine, but if you have adhd chances are you aren’t great with money and I felt like a lot of her suggestions could end up being costly. She also goes with the assumption that all people with adhd respond well to stimulants, which is a terrible assumption to make. As I said, I am probably not her target audience. I am too tired and beaten down to do much more than cope (which I do with art and knitting btw) and I assume not everyone has the energy to laugh with their adhd. Like with every other book on adhd I’ve read, I finished this solely because the stereotype of not being able to finish a book about adhd is just shameful.
December 12, 2016
The majority of the book is spent repeating the hypothesis that play is central in remedying ADHD symptoms, so by time the author reaches the proposed action one can take, the solutions seem trite and base.
March 19, 2021
While I wholeheartedly believe her premise, this book was one of the most boring books I’ve ever read. I get it, she’s a psychologist not a writer per say- but if you’re going to write a book you should probably make sure your writing is at least interesting. I mean especially when you’re target audience is people with ADHD who, you know you generally have a low threshold for being bored! Nothing about this felt like a professional writer or a psychologist for that matter, I could have written this book without any experience in either. Also the excessive use of exclamation points throughout is a bit much.
February 15, 2022
Let's start with things that I liked about the book.
The information in the books is broken up into smaller sections, which is really nice for someone who has issues focusing. There are plenty of pictures and a lot of color which definitely helped me to refocus while reading through the text.
In the first chapter, ADHD is described. I liked how it described both symptoms as described in the DSM-5 which is very generalized, and breaks symptoms down into recognizable actions. Chapter 4 describes about play personalities and ways you could play as best suited to your play style. Chapters 5-8 give some great ways to add play into your day.
Now on to a few things that I did not like about the book.
Even with breaking down the information into smaller sections, there is still long blocks of information to get through and I ended up skimming most of the book. I understand that the book is focused on ADHD and play, but like other reviews I found the book repetitive.
Chapter 3 really threw me off because it was upside down and backwards. I know the purpose of doing something like this was to help people refocus, but it was just not for me. Personally, I fell this chapter could have been left out all together.
Chapter 8 is mostly a list of different ways to play. While the list is helpful in giving some ideas people may not think of, some are more distracting rather than helpful.
Most of the book is dedicated to just adding in play to your day to get the dopamine flowing. There is only a small section that talks about how to make difficult tasks easier with play. I would have liked to see more way to incorporate play to help with ADHD specific challenges.
One suggestion for when you are in a boring meeting, "Pull your cell phone or pager out of your pocket, glance at it with a startled look, and leave. Obvious, but effective!" This is not something anyone should do especially in such a professional setting.
In fact most of the suggestions on the list under Stealth Play, are not good for a professional setting. They are great ideas for entertainment but they are all extremely distracting and unprofessional. While most people would know the right settings in which these ideas would be acceptable, there are many people who have a hard time recognizing the right setting. I think it would have been beneficial to explain some of the conditions for when the ideas suggested in the book would be acceptable or not.
The information in the books is broken up into smaller sections, which is really nice for someone who has issues focusing. There are plenty of pictures and a lot of color which definitely helped me to refocus while reading through the text.
In the first chapter, ADHD is described. I liked how it described both symptoms as described in the DSM-5 which is very generalized, and breaks symptoms down into recognizable actions. Chapter 4 describes about play personalities and ways you could play as best suited to your play style. Chapters 5-8 give some great ways to add play into your day.
Now on to a few things that I did not like about the book.
Even with breaking down the information into smaller sections, there is still long blocks of information to get through and I ended up skimming most of the book. I understand that the book is focused on ADHD and play, but like other reviews I found the book repetitive.
Chapter 3 really threw me off because it was upside down and backwards. I know the purpose of doing something like this was to help people refocus, but it was just not for me. Personally, I fell this chapter could have been left out all together.
Chapter 8 is mostly a list of different ways to play. While the list is helpful in giving some ideas people may not think of, some are more distracting rather than helpful.
Most of the book is dedicated to just adding in play to your day to get the dopamine flowing. There is only a small section that talks about how to make difficult tasks easier with play. I would have liked to see more way to incorporate play to help with ADHD specific challenges.
One suggestion for when you are in a boring meeting, "Pull your cell phone or pager out of your pocket, glance at it with a startled look, and leave. Obvious, but effective!" This is not something anyone should do especially in such a professional setting.
In fact most of the suggestions on the list under Stealth Play, are not good for a professional setting. They are great ideas for entertainment but they are all extremely distracting and unprofessional. While most people would know the right settings in which these ideas would be acceptable, there are many people who have a hard time recognizing the right setting. I think it would have been beneficial to explain some of the conditions for when the ideas suggested in the book would be acceptable or not.
July 8, 2017
This was a very insightful book. This book was no ordinary book. I recommend this for Adults with ADHD because of its insights. (You have to read the book to figure out what makes this book so unique.)
October 7, 2016
2.5 stars. Interesting premise, some nice points, but way way too long for my liking and repeats some of the points pretty endlessly. Worth the read for the unique perspective though
November 8, 2024
I had read other reviews that this book was really silly and childish, but I forged ahead and you know what? They were totally right. I was pretty on board until one chapter was printed upside down, without any warning. So once you figured that out, you had to read backwards from where you thought you were. If your target audience has ADHD and they probably don’t actually enjoy reading to begin with, this was bananas. I guess I understand what she was working toward, but the actual product was not helpful.
February 16, 2025
Some good suggestions and overall good message of playing is good for you. I did have to force myself to finish it despite the author trying to make it interesting with illustrations and upside-down pages. Some of her humor fell flat to me.
The quality of the physical book itself was awful. The book was hard to open fully. There were several blank pages between text pages but not missing pages as all numbered pages were accounted for, some of the pages were printed crooked, some pages had repeated paragraphs.
The quality of the physical book itself was awful. The book was hard to open fully. There were several blank pages between text pages but not missing pages as all numbered pages were accounted for, some of the pages were printed crooked, some pages had repeated paragraphs.
February 5, 2024
Non-fiction. This is a quick read focused on adding play to help with ADHD. Her enthusiasm was palpable and there were many ideas to incorporate play if you or a loved one has ADHD. Liked the formatting although if you do have ADHD, you would struggle to get through such long paragraphs and chapters. Nice to see an alternative to medications and specialists. This may be the light-hearted approach that someone needs.
June 7, 2019
I admit I skimmed it, but I like the premise and the lists at the end are really fun.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews