Robert Yehling is co-author of Beyond ADHD, Co-Author and Independent Publisher Book Award winner Robert Yehling is the author of 12 books and the co-author or ghostwriter of eight others. Beyond ADHD is his second co-authored book in the mental health field, following on the heels of Just Add Water (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), the biography of autistic surfing star Clay Marzo. Tune in to Listen!
From the depths of mental despair to one of social media’s premier spokespeople for mental health issues, Jeff Emmerson is a veritable “Rocky” in the field. Jeff has written for and been interviewed by some of the world’s top online magazines regarding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Many of the top medical experts in the field, as well as specialists in behavioral therapy, vision therapy, and neuroscience, regularly post and correspond with him as part of their collective goal: finding a path beyond today’s ADHD “epidemic”. Some share their perspectives in the book Beyond ADHD.
Beyond ADHD weaves Emmerson’s personal story of his ADHD diagnosis, exploring along the way the latest medical, scientific and societal explanations and tools for managing and living with the condition. Including interviews with a number of experts at the forefront of next-generation ADHD diagnostics and treatment, he questions the cookie-cutter way ADHD is commonly diagnosed and treated. Suggesting that the list of symptoms often used to identify ADHD can be attributed to many other disorders and conditions, he explores how and why ADHD diagnoses have increased by 50% in the last ten years.
Emmerson advocates a different approach to ADHD, arguing that it should be a diagnosis of exclusion rather than the other way around and that we must look past the label, recognizing that individual symptoms vary and treatment plans should be better tailored to the individual. He examines mental and behavioral issues from all sides, including the possibility that nurturing – rather than trying to alter or suppress – the active, “360-degree” mind is a viable way for those diagnosed with ADHD to realize their gifts and lead purposeful lives.