To the parents of kids with ADHD, some thoughts to consider.
Find out what your child enjoys that is mentally draining. Jenga, math, reading, lego, drawing, looking at baseball cards...
If there is something that they do (besides television and computer) that they enjoy but you can also tell fatigues them, push it hard, and it doesn't have to be a sport.
Don't look to pidgeon hole them in an activity that you think they'd be good at, or should try or would like to see them do. It can be something mindblowingly simple at a young age, like tying different knots or comparing different leaves. Whatever it is, push that hard. You don't have to incorporate it into another activity or expand upon it right away. Just the basic activity is enough to keep them focused, any more and you've lost it.
An example:
One kid I work with likes seeing how high he can count. Sometimes I don't correct him when he misses numbers. He likes doing it, it takes focus for him to stick to it, and by the time he is ready to stop, I can tell he is in a different head space than before. When I watch him do it with his father, a good amount of the time he doesn't get the same benefit because his father still misses the point. Not on purpose, but he doesn't get it.
If your kid is silent for 15 minutes and you're worried about what they're up to, as long as anything isn't being ruined, try not to interrupt them.
I wish my parents had given me/let me play with more tools as a kid, especially given the aptitude I displayed.
|