Instead of putting things into my son, I began to get things out of him. The school psych said overscheduling extra curricular activities for even non-ADD kids is no good and it’s really horrible for an ADDer. Well, I guess I’m a rebel mom.
When my boy started begging to join sports and social groups, I gave in. Besides Sunday school and Cubscouts we joined a small local gym and signed up for boxing and wrestling. This is a very difficult workout and class and it took him a while to get up to standard, but he is now excelling. He plays in organized sport leagues every single season. Basketball, Baseball, swimming and soccor. There is one day of practice meet and one day of an official game. Add another day or two at the gym each week and yes, you could say we are overscheduled, but this kid is thriving!
Thie first thing we notice last year was his tics diminished and he became more in control of his impulses. I swear, the day after a good work out he is able to concentrate for 2 or 3 hours in the AM, almost like a normal attention span.
He’s not the best at all these sports but he’s far from the worst! He’s the 2nd best on the Basketball team and that requires nonstop attention. He is the star goalie of the soccor team. I’m not saying he’s not inattentive during games, but he seems to be learning/training/compensating with other areas of his brain. Yes, you’ll see me hiding behind the goal post yelling “Pay attention! Here they come!” and on th court “PASS! SHOOT! GUARD YOUR MAN!” But it’s been great fun for the whole family. Lots of extra perks too; Confidence, team spirit and sportmanship, friendships/popularity, physical health, awareness of actions/consequenses, and better accountablility/responsiblity. I’m not claimin he isn’t hyper or impulsive any more, but there seems to be a much stronger ability to control himself when asked to during league time. These kids are so special and so full of energy they are ready to explode! Get them out there and help them capitlaize on it!
Re: Psychs; Sometimes they're wrong!
Caren,
Have these physical activities also helped him in school? I was wondering if channeling his energy might allow him to be more available for learning in school.
Andrea
Results at school
Yes, he’s a different boy for the morning half of the school day. I think both the physical exertion and the emotional excitement kind of sap up the reserves that feed his physical and intellectual hyperness. Thats just a mommy theory :) But I can’t deny, the results are much much better than just the meds alone. I don’t think any of us should count on the meds alone, we won’t always be there to make sure they take ‘em! And I forgot another perk; the ability and confidence to stand up to bullies. He’s only in first grade but I’m no dummy. He’s the naive, absent minded professor type and he tics.
Re: Psychs; Sometimes they're wrong!
I have found that physical exercise that requires some concentration before taking on a mental task such as homework does help to focus my son.
I really agree with you about not holding these kids back. They have boundless energy and just maybe there is a tendency to label that as abberrant in our couch potato world.
Just think of the days when going to school and then working on the farm until the sun went down was what was required of children.
I was talking to two men I know the other night who are quite successful, extremely motivated individuals. They were both talked about how they tortured their parents by not being able to sit still in restaurants and teased their siblings etc… Both had difficulty in school.
Both were fairly athletic, both have no signs of ADD as adults but from the stories I heard I suspect they could have been assigned that label as children. Both have children with marginal attentional issues.
I wonder if they worked out their issues through sports. I wonder if things would have been different if they played video games and watched TV all day.
Re: Psychs; Sometimes they're wrong!
I think you are onto something, Linda. Evolution. ADHD was always been part of us, but the world was once different, and to be ADHD must have been quite an advantage once. Now, changes in lifestyle and technology have made our children abnormal and dysfunctional. Kinda sick when you look at it that way, isn’t it?
Dr. Amen, in his book on ADHD, talks about the effect of exercise on ADHD. He says he has seen kids who do fine during basketball season who start having all sorts of problems when it is over. Fits your experience so I thought you might find it interesting.
Beth