Ok, I signed up & recieved a Welcome from the Celebrate ADHD site!They sent me a couple of thier recent newsletters to peruse while I wait for the next one. They are from the holiday season but I figured I'd share so you all can get a feel for the newsletter & see if you'd like to subscribe too!
In This Issue
3 Ways to Improve School
Quick Tip
Personal Note Regarding my Father
3 Ways to Improve the School Experience
1. Boredom is a person with ADHD's greatest enemy. Without stimulation, our kids go into sleep mode. So consider using multi-sensory stimulation to help your child stay tuned-in at school and at home.
School: Encourage teachers to allow your child to stand, pace or move without disrupting the class; chew on gum or something hard (but safe); draw or doodle while listening; use pens with interesting aromas and folders with bright colors. When we coach kids, we teach them how to daydream purposefully while also listening to teachers. Keep kids stimulated and they are more likely to stay tuned-in during class.
Home: Study with your child while he or she is out in fresh air, perhaps kicking a soccer ball back and forth or shooting baskets; experiment using white noise or music in the background; let your child drum fingers, hum or chew on something. Try studying in a bright room with pleasant aromas.
2. Our kids are "circles." Their minds swirl with activity and no real boundaries or end point. So keep the world around them (desks, environment, people) like "squares" or "rectangles"--organized, consistent, predictable. They even do better with squares as mates
3. Break Time--Our kids often need breaks during school, both from the tedious nature of lectures and from being around other kids. So during lunch time, see if the school will allow them a short break time to be alone outside or in the library. In the afternoon, allow them to have a 5-minute break to step outside, breathe in fresh air or just be alone. This will help them feel more balanced, centered and refreshed.
Quick Tip
Catch your child doing good this holiday season. Focus on the positive, praise them for progress and making good decisions. Give more energy to their good behavior and intentions than their misbehavior. Encourage your child to live up to high expectations rather then live down to low ones. And always remember to take time to just ENJOY YOUR CHILD.
My Dad was never comfortable being a father--he didn't know how to be, didn't have a father himself. The ironic thing is that being a Dad is what I am most comfortable being. So being with kids is natural to me. Especially kids with ADHD.
People ask, don't you get sick of kids with ADHD running around your house all the time? And the answer is absolutely not. I don't see them as kids with ADHD. I look at them and see this great wealth within them, all of these amazing gifts and qualities and passions that society tends not to appreciate. What I see most is this bright future ahead for them if the adults in their lives don't mess it up!
I really like our kids. I know all the issues and difficulties--I see it and hear it everyday, I have a son with ADHD; heck, I have it! But when I look inside our kids and see hearts of gold, when I see them making courageous decisions to make themselves vulnerable in a world that's often hostile to them, when I see them pushing themselves inside even though no one gets how difficult it is, it inspires me.
I am proud of the teenagers I work with. I like the fact that they are not perfect. I like their attitude, I like it that they are not predictable to others...because they are always predictable to me in many ways--I have never met a child with ADHD who is not bright, curious, imaginative and kind-hearted to those younger, weaker or hurting. That is the kind of boy God gave me, and it is the children we are so lucky to be around everyday.
In This Issue
3 Tips for Christmas Gifts
Quick Tip
New 2006 Schedule
Kudos to Teachers
3 Ways to Make Christmas Gifts More Special
1. Give your child LESS STUFF and MORE TIME. Our kids love one-on-one time. Please don't substitute things for time, it tends to contribute to our kids being unsettled and more easily bored. When you are considering your gift, buy something that you can EXPERIENCE or do with your child.
2. Build confidence by reinforcing your child's natural gifts, talents and passions. Buy presents that enhance skills your child enjoys--whether it is building, making crafts, drawing or being strategic. Continually cultivate their talents.
The greatest gift you find this Christmas should be INSIDE YOUR CHILD, not inside Best Buy.
3. Shower your child with praise, not stuff, for their good qualities...and to teach them that relationships are more important than things...and that spiritual, inner qualities are more powerful than outer things.
Quick Tip
Our kids have big hearts and like to help others. Use Christmas as a time to focus on GIVING, whether it's collecting or donating toys to Toys for Tots or making Christmas cookies for the elderly. Apply this principle all year long--appeal to their desire to give and be part of something meaningful in everyday life. They will respond to this every time.
Kudos To Teachers
I've had my share of critical words for rigid teachers, but I was recently blown away by the special efforts of two Special Ed and classroom teachers who teach one of the boys I coach. These two special people are representative of many more who are doing really hard work everyday...going out of their way to encourage and affirm the positives, get our kids involved in class, recognize/reward good behavior and allow our kids to be themselves. Special thanks to all of the teachers who believe the best in our kids.
