Parenting

Smart but Scattered Teens: The

Smart but Scattered Teens: The "Executive Skills" Program for Helping Teens Reach Their Potential

  • Downloads：2011
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-04-09 11:57:58
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Richard Guare
  • ISBN：1609182294
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

"I told you， I'll do it later。"
"I forgot to turn in the stupid application。"
"Could you drive me to school？ I missed the bus again。"
"I can't walk the dog--I have too much homework！"

If you're the parent of a "smart but scattered" teen， trying to help him or her grow into a self-sufficient， responsible adult may feel like a never-ending battle。 Now you have an alternative to micromanaging， cajoling， or ineffective punishments。 This positive guide provides a science-based program for promoting teens' independence by building their executive skills--the fundamental brain-based abilities needed to get organized， stay focused， and control impulses and emotions。 Executive skills experts Drs。 Richard Guare and Peg Dawson are joined by Colin Guare， a young adult who has successfully faced these issues himself。 Learn step-by-step strategies to help your teen live up to his or her potential now and in the future--while making your relationship stronger。 Helpful worksheets and forms can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size。

See also the authors' Smart but Scattered （with a focus on 4- to 13-year-olds） and their self-help guide for adults。 Plus， Work-Smart Academic Planner: Write It Down， Get It Done， designed for middle and high school students to use in conjunction with coaching， and related titles for professionals。

Winner （Third Place）--American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award， Consumer Health Category

 


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Reviews

Katie ，

This has great information and guidance but was clearly written for parents not teens

Jennifer Sakash ，

Comprehensive， with clear and applicable suggestions。

Sharanne ，

Like a book I read a few years ago about apraxia， I found this to be more for parents than teachers。 I have another book by these authors that I reference regularly， but this is one I might recommend， but not reread。

Dee ，

2。5 stars bumped up to 3 because maybe it's too late for me。 The blurb of this book suggested it would be helpful for young adults as well as younger teens。 Not so sure that's true。 Maybe if I'd read this book 3-4 years ago it would've been more helpful。 The book would also benefit by being half as long。 So much of it is repetitive。 I didn't even read the last few chapters because they all followed the same format and ultimately gave advice along the lines of: use privileges， particularly car pr 2。5 stars bumped up to 3 because maybe it's too late for me。 The blurb of this book suggested it would be helpful for young adults as well as younger teens。 Not so sure that's true。 Maybe if I'd read this book 3-4 years ago it would've been more helpful。 The book would also benefit by being half as long。 So much of it is repetitive。 I didn't even read the last few chapters because they all followed the same format and ultimately gave advice along the lines of: use privileges， particularly car privileges， as a motivator for staying on track with behavior goals。 Since my son doesn't have a license yet （long story）， that doesn't help us much。 I'd love a book like this focused on older teens that gives shorter， more concise ideas about how to help them with executive functions。 。。。more

Diana O'brien ，

Lots of good practice ideas for how to help teens learn executive functioning skills。 Will definitely recommend to parents struggling with these issues。

Reuben ，

Executive skills are mentioned a lot。 ADHD and autism severely affect the development of executive skills。 So do concussions。We must look at these skill sets through the same lens that we view our own weaker skillsets and be sympathetic。The number one cause of death for 16 to 19-year-olds is car accidents。 Your teen should be driving the safest car that you can afford。 It takes three positive reinforcement comments to counteract every negative comment。 Focus on praise and reinforcement behavior Executive skills are mentioned a lot。 ADHD and autism severely affect the development of executive skills。 So do concussions。We must look at these skill sets through the same lens that we view our own weaker skillsets and be sympathetic。The number one cause of death for 16 to 19-year-olds is car accidents。 Your teen should be driving the safest car that you can afford。 It takes three positive reinforcement comments to counteract every negative comment。 Focus on praise and reinforcement behavior and language。Following through is critical。When trying to correct a behavior， first identify the deficient executive skill， and then discuss specific behaviors related to this deficiency。 List of executive skills:Eliminate the word maybe。 Huge focus on driving and responsibilities surrounding that。 Having a calendar is super important。Consider hiring a coach for your teen when all else fails。 this can be huge。 。。。more

L ，

This book has many good charts and plans for addressing specific skills。

Lisa ，

In a nutshell。。。 This is my son。 All of it。 From the fights about homework to the missing assignments and everything in between。 Now it's starting to make sense to me。 In a nutshell。。。 This is my son。 All of it。 From the fights about homework to the missing assignments and everything in between。 Now it's starting to make sense to me。 。。。more

Kimberly Alberta ，

Simple， intuitive， helpful

Jamie ，

DNFSkimmed here and there。

Rhonda ，

I am not finished but enjoying skimming this book。 I’ve got a freshman who was always an excellent student。 Her grades & attitude are dramatically effected by this pandemic & causing my blood pressure to sky rocket。 This book has great tools which I hope will really help。 We are also talking to a therapist because executive functioning skills are critical to our lives and future opportunities。

Khan Ashraf Alif ，

A beautiful creation， this book is a must read for people who spend time with & around teens ❤

Maggie Swider ，

Possibly one of the best parenting books I’ve read。 Practical advice for helping teens with execution functioning skills。

Colleen ，

A lot of good ideas。 Now we will see how well they are realistically implemented， which could bring the rating higher。 I like that there are suggestions for kids ranging from those that want to work on these skills， down to the kids that are resistant。 I appreciate this kind of book for the mere knowledge that someone else out there gets what we are going through。

Sarah ，

Wanted this to be more helpful for me as a teacher and was a bit disappointed。

Kim Brown ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 This is the second time I have tried to read this and I was only able to get 1/3 of the way through this book。 I just couldn't bring myself to finish it。 It was very slow and laborious for me to read。 I already knew most of the information from my undergrad degree in psychology。 I didn't really find any new ideas or help for dealing with my child's behavior。 This book was recommended by a therapist for use with ADHD related behavior。 I think it would be more helpful if I didn't already have a so This is the second time I have tried to read this and I was only able to get 1/3 of the way through this book。 I just couldn't bring myself to finish it。 It was very slow and laborious for me to read。 I already knew most of the information from my undergrad degree in psychology。 I didn't really find any new ideas or help for dealing with my child's behavior。 This book was recommended by a therapist for use with ADHD related behavior。 I think it would be more helpful if I didn't already have a solid background in behavioral psychology。 。。。more

Shauna ，

Very helpfulMy kids seem to struggle with a lot of executive functioning weaknesses， so this was necessary for us。 I liked how the authors seemed to realize that it's not possible just to let the kid flounder until he or she figures it out; most of the time， the kid will dig the heels in and keep floundering rather than admit that he or she doesn't know how to fix it。 The tips are super practical and have proven really valuable in my interaction with my son。 My daughter needs a lot more work， so Very helpfulMy kids seem to struggle with a lot of executive functioning weaknesses， so this was necessary for us。 I liked how the authors seemed to realize that it's not possible just to let the kid flounder until he or she figures it out; most of the time， the kid will dig the heels in and keep floundering rather than admit that he or she doesn't know how to fix it。 The tips are super practical and have proven really valuable in my interaction with my son。 My daughter needs a lot more work， so we'll see how that goes。 。。。more

Vzettler ，

Going over it again， it's good for my job！ Well written， informative。 Going over it again， it's good for my job！ Well written， informative。 。。。more

Angelina ，

I’m not giving this book a rating because it was required summer reading for me。。。 it was interesting。 There’s a lot of good strategies and I loved the questionnaires for adolescences and adults to see where their executive skills are stronger/which ones need work。 Some of this is hard to apply as a teacher since it’s definitely written for parents。

Kelly ，

This book overwhelmed me。 So many things to work on。 But the “fixes” seemed almost all about driving。。。not super helpful。

Lydia Ortiz ，

The audio-book I listened to （from the library） did not include the download worksheets referenced throughout the book and I could not find them readily online。 I felt like I missed some of the important points in the book without the benefit of the exercises and worksheets referenced。 So I plan to pick up the book in order to get a complete understanding。

Tanya ，

The quiz was useful （need to take parent quiz！）。 I reviewed advice only on our main topic， and it had some good examples， approaches， and tips。

AddyF ，

This was a helpful book， written very clinically to help parents assess executive skills weaknesses and then take steps to help their teens grow in those areas。 The most helpful section for me was the questionnaires that allowed me to assess my son's and my own executive skills weaknesses。 Like a Myers-Briggs or enneagram evaluation， it gave me insight into how my son and I relate to each other and how our weaknesses may combine to create some of the friction we experience。 This was a helpful book， written very clinically to help parents assess executive skills weaknesses and then take steps to help their teens grow in those areas。 The most helpful section for me was the questionnaires that allowed me to assess my son's and my own executive skills weaknesses。 Like a Myers-Briggs or enneagram evaluation， it gave me insight into how my son and I relate to each other and how our weaknesses may combine to create some of the friction we experience。 。。。more

Justin ，

I find this a really helpful book with good advice for parenting kids at a challenging age。

Gena ，

Very good book with very practical solutions for teenagers with executive skill issues。 I should have read this about 5 years ago， not really relevant for me anymore--but it is really well put together。 So many books of this nature are very vague when it comes to actual actions that a parent can take to help their child with these issues， but this one is not vague at all--complete with explanations and checklists and very specific ideas to solve the problems。 Highly recommended for any parent wh Very good book with very practical solutions for teenagers with executive skill issues。 I should have read this about 5 years ago， not really relevant for me anymore--but it is really well put together。 So many books of this nature are very vague when it comes to actual actions that a parent can take to help their child with these issues， but this one is not vague at all--complete with explanations and checklists and very specific ideas to solve the problems。 Highly recommended for any parent whose child has this type of issue。 。。。more

Linda Vituma ，

Grāmata ar testiem un instrukcijām - praktiska。 Par svarīgām iemaņām - "getting things done"， jeb par prāta "executive skills"。 Ir vēlme attīstīt šīs iemaņas bērnos， kolēģos un。。。 sevī。 Klausoties situācijas， kurās tiek stāstīts par neatttīstītu iemaņu izpausmēm （manā gadījumā impulsu un emociju kontrole）， smaids manā sejā bija skumjš， jo neattīstības iemaņas būtiski pazemina dzīves kvalitāti un mazina iespēju un prieku piedzīvot savu spēju un mērķu realizēšanos。 Bet te ir plāns。 Atliek tik seko Grāmata ar testiem un instrukcijām - praktiska。 Par svarīgām iemaņām - "getting things done"， jeb par prāta "executive skills"。 Ir vēlme attīstīt šīs iemaņas bērnos， kolēģos un。。。 sevī。 Klausoties situācijas， kurās tiek stāstīts par neatttīstītu iemaņu izpausmēm （manā gadījumā impulsu un emociju kontrole）， smaids manā sejā bija skumjš， jo neattīstības iemaņas būtiski pazemina dzīves kvalitāti un mazina iespēju un prieku piedzīvot savu spēju un mērķu realizēšanos。 Bet te ir plāns。 Atliek tik sekot tam。 。。。more

Jostalady ，

I don’t have a teen， but I feel like I do。 This applied nicely to my 12 year old！ I listened to it and I feel I will make better use of this by downloading the assessments or getting my hands on a print copy。 This is the first time I have heard the term executive function， but hello this is everything I have been trying to help my household do better！ I am surrounded by people with a very different executive skills profile than me and I had no way to recognize what was happening， describe or exp I don’t have a teen， but I feel like I do。 This applied nicely to my 12 year old！ I listened to it and I feel I will make better use of this by downloading the assessments or getting my hands on a print copy。 This is the first time I have heard the term executive function， but hello this is everything I have been trying to help my household do better！ I am surrounded by people with a very different executive skills profile than me and I had no way to recognize what was happening， describe or explain it， let alone take steps to improve it。 I needed this series！ 。。。more

Scott Wozniak ，

This was a wonderful book for parents with teens who are behind on their planning/organizing/impulse control skills。 It not only explained why they're struggling （and why just letting them struggle alone isn't going to help）， but it gave very specific options for how to engage， and even had real teens responses to those options to get a flavor of how it works in real life。 This was a wonderful book for parents with teens who are behind on their planning/organizing/impulse control skills。 It not only explained why they're struggling （and why just letting them struggle alone isn't going to help）， but it gave very specific options for how to engage， and even had real teens responses to those options to get a flavor of how it works in real life。 。。。more

Benjamin ，

Great book for parents who have ADD/ADHD teens。 Looking forward to trying some of the tactics and approaches recommended， because what we've been doing so far clearly isn't working！ Great book for parents who have ADD/ADHD teens。 Looking forward to trying some of the tactics and approaches recommended， because what we've been doing so far clearly isn't working！ 。。。more

Poonam Dubal ，

A quick read that focuses on the executive funcitoning skills of adolescents and provides great hacks to help support the development of the critical prefrontal cortex。 This book also offers some great handouts and workbook type pages to aid with actionable planning。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Smart but Scattered Teens: The "Executive Skills" Program for Helping Teens Reach Their Potential

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Smart but Scattered Teens: The "Executive Skills" Program for Helping Teens Reach Their Potential&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Smart but Scattered Teens: The "Executive Skills" Program for Helping Teens Reach Their Potential&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0