Managing the Gift is a book that may switch your perspective and alter your preconceptions on what is becoming an increasingly common phenomenon, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Emery claims that what is commonly known as ADD or the closely related ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) is not a disorder at all, but the next step in our evolution as a species. His work with ADD impacted children and adults led him to believe that these individuals are using more of their brain capacity than the average person.

According to Emery, there were 7 million American children taking amphetamines as a prescription medicine in 1999, the most common of which is Ritalin. Medication is encouraged by the medical profession and by the education system as the preferred mode of treatment for this "condition" commonly believed to be caused by improper brain biochemistry. These drugs do not "cure" anything, they merely suppress some of the symptoms that are common to those diagnosed with this "disorder." In addition, they have many undesirable side effects.

Emery makes a strong case for avoiding the medication approach to dealing with the symptoms of ADD. He presents alternative ways of assisting the ADD impacted individual to cope with a society that is not designed for the unique ways these individuals process information or manage their energy levels.

ADD impacts individuals on four different levels: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Emery points out ways these individuals exceed the norms in sensitivity, receptivity and energy. With understanding and assistance, Emery feels ADD impacted individuals can learn to use these gifts to become outstanding contributors to our society rather than misfits who suffer lifelong frustration.

I am personally excited about Emery's point of. Lee Carroll and Jan Tober in their book, The Indigo Children, observed that many of the children who fit the "indigo" description are also identified as ADD or ADHD. Emery feels that they are basically the same group of people, whether we call them indigo children or ADD children. Like Carroll and Tober, Emery sees this group as having strengths and abilities beyond what we have considered normal. Parents and teachers will need to develop new ways of raising and educating these children so that we as a species don't thwart our own evolutionary development.

The alternative approaches suggested by Emery are a good starting point for parents and teachers dealing with ADD impacted individuals. There are places where, in my opinion he may not go far enough; his suggestions are more geared to helping the ADD individual cope with society as it is than to helping the world change to accommodate these people, but the groundwork has been laid for a new perspective on a phenomenon that has become increasingly common. The concrete suggestions Emery gives can certainly help children and parents cope while waiting for the world to develop new ways of doing things more in harmony with these new abilities.

I highly recommend this book to anyone dealing with ADD or "indigo" children. In fact, it makes interesting reading for anyone interested in human nature and the changes we are undergoing as a species. Perhaps you will feel, as I did, a sense of relief that someone is finally acknowledging what you may intuitively have felt inside: that there is something very right about these new children. We do not need to drug them or worry about them. Instead we need to expand our vision of what a human being can be so that the gifts these children bring to our world can be used to help us all.