He was running full speed towards the soccer goal with perfect control of the soccer ball. This was his moment. I knew it. Last week he had been picking clovers on the soccer field and missed an important pass. The week before he decided to twirl like a tornado down the field. But this week…..oh this week was going to be different. This was his moment and he was about to score for his team. Right as I was about to scream from the sidelines I notice he does a complete halt. And then starts talking to an opposing team member. He recognized her and decided to it was a great time to start a conversation. Needless to say, the goal didn’t happen that day.
This is just a tiny glimpse into what ADHD can look like on the soccer field. Now imagine what it might look like sitting at a desk in a confined classroom. A tiny glimpse is twirling pencils, papers being turned into origami figurines, chairs on two legs and constant movement. Sometimes it’s swinging between two desks and other times it’s building a tower out of erasers. These are just a few of the many faces of ADHD.
Our son has ADHD, auditory processing issues due to hearing impairment and dysgraphia. Here’s the good news…..he’s not defined by his ADD/ADHD and he’s working through these issues. You won’t find him picking clovers or impersonating a tornado on the soccer field. He doesn’t swing between desks anymore.
We’re still learning a lot while on this ADHD journey. Our son has given me permission to post on these things because he said he’d love to help someone else if he can.
I asked our son (a Junior in high school) what helps him focus and stay on task with homework and chores at home and he told me this:
- Reminders (verbal and phone reminders)
- Timers (shower timer, egg timer)
- Note cards (for studying terms, vocabs, facts)
- Typing (spelling words, etc)
- Check-lists
When I asked him what helps him stay focused and on task at school he shared this with me:
- Medicine
- Constant order/routine in the classroom
- Renweb (online tool/app our school uses to list homework/grades. He lives and dies by Renweb.)
- Different study tactics
- Reminders and Repeating
I asked Mitchell what advice he’d give to a kid with ADHD and he said this, “Don’t stress over it. Just work hard at focusing and figure out what distracts you the most and try to fight it. Fidget items are great but the key is not attracting attention from other people.”
I wanted to start this series with our son’s input and perspective. Next I’ll be sharing from my perspective as his Mom. We’re still learning a lot and the struggle is still there but we’ve come along way on this journey.
Do you have a child with ADD/ADHD? What do they say helps them? Will you share in the comments? I’m all about learning from each other.
Oh I love that you (and Mitchell) are sharing about this. Ben has ADHD. He was diagnosed almost two years ago. We’re on good medicine treatment (he takes a pill in the morning and a smaller dose in the afternoon) and have slowly learned how to best help him with checklists and time goals (like be out of the shower at 6:35). I was worried about starting medicine, but it’s been such a wonderful tool for him and us. Thanks again for having this conversation here.
That’s great Kristin that you guys are figuring out what works for Ben too. Yeah, I was totally freaked out about medicine in the beginning. I’m posting tomorrow about our medicine experience and a few other Mom perspective things.