Exercise and ADHD

There has been reliable research that shows that exercise diminishes some of the symptoms of ADHD. This exercise can comprise walking, running, or basically any type of exercise. I have one child with whom I work whose Mom took her for a walk for approximately 15 minutes before school. Her teacher reported that when she entered the classroom she immediately sat down to write in her journal, which she had not done previously. This Mom also took her child for a 15 minute walk after school and found that her child was more focused on her homework and completed it more effectively in a shorter amount of time. Any questions or comments?

Children with ADHD and their summer

The summer is typically a more relaxed time for families of children with ADHD. Even though many of these children go to camp, there is much less rushing from place to place. The summer is a great time to work on social skills, so that by the time that school starts, these children can walk in the door with more positive self-esteem and confidence. One social skill that I have been working on lately which arguably is one of the most important for children with ADHD to learn is to try not to say everything that comes into their mind.

Children with ADHD often do not have a filter that serves as a screen to prevent the child from making comments that are construed as inappropriate and oftentimes, hurtful. Let me give you an example. The child with ADHD is standing on line in a movie theater waiting to buy candy. Due to the ailing economy, the theater only has one person who is selling candy instead of two or three people. The child with ADHD says: "I can't believe that I have to wait so long to buy my candy and popcorn. What in the world is taking that lady so long?"

The lady who is selling the candy is working as fast as she can. She overhears the child make that comment to his mother and feels very badly, knowing that she is working as fast as she can.

Has this scenario or one like it happened in your family? Please let me know, so I can give you suggestions as to how to teach your child to judge whether or not a certain statement is appropriate or inappropriate to say.