Teaching the Restless

Chris Mercogliano sees past the . . . deficit-ridden orientation of the ADD/ADHD paradigm and reveals with great humanistic sensibility the passionate worlds of active kids who don’t fit into the tight little boxes of most American classrooms. –Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D., author of The Myth of the A.D.D. Child

“The Free School made me consider anew what a good school can look like.” –Jill Davidson, Horace

“A sharp critique of schooling, child-rearing practices, and America’s increasing rush to medicate away any perceived ‘problem’ behaviors. In a disarmingly honest narrative . . . Mercogliano raises important questions that should be considered by anyone living with or working with ADHD children.” –Marie Eaton, YES! Magazine

“[Mercogliano] makes his case persuasively in a readable, anecdotal recounting of the academic year as observed through nine students. The result is an encouraging success story that demonstrates an alternative to the ever-growing use of drugs for ever-younger children and calls into question the basis for the diagnostic labeling and the use of biopsychiatric pharmaceuticals in the classroom.” —Library Journal