Hello,
Have a son who runs at 100mph. He is having problems at school because he is so wired. We went to our Dr. and he mentioned parents taking their kids for 30 minute runs before school to stay away from drugs. Has anyone ever heard of this?
working out will definitely help as will avoiding some processed foods- apparently, breakfast cereals are high on the suspect list. Some people use coffee to extend the attention span but we’re not qualified to give you much advice beyond that.
Exercise is good. All the supplements that help for attention are good. Nootropics are good. But for me the difference was when I understood how it would all affect my future. This may sound absolutely crazy…but when I realized that no girl would ever want to date an unemployed 24 year old male no matter how good-looking I was I became a completely changed man.
I went from never showing up to class and failing almost everything to almost never receiving anything under an A. And this happened almost instantly. This did not require medication.
Pi Lambda National Honors style baby…
I remember once I slept through a final in college…not because my alarm went off but because I did not care. Most of the kids at my school were like…man you do not care at all. Which was true, I didn’t. I remember one class I had received three 100’s on the exams (the highest in the class) and a 0 on the final. And then another zero on the group project. My professor told me that he had never seen anything like that in all the years he had taught… this put my grade down to an almost failing grade. I think you get the picture here though. So my point is they have to really care and be dedicated. This is probably contrary to everything you have ever heard, but these are just my thoughts on it. I guess the hardest part for parents of an add student is that this is going to be a decision he is going to have to make on his own. All you can do is guide him and inspire him. Most kids with add have high iq’s, and can do the work. They have to be truly inspired, though, because they will probably require double the effort of a regular student to do well. Desire can outweigh almost anything though.
Just my thoughts.
-Guy
Hey, dr. S — I have disagreed with you several times on this site, but that was a brilliant, beautiful post.
My boy is 5, smart, maybe bored at school. I read where Michael Phelps had ADD/ADHD and used swimmming to calm him down. I suppose getting up at 4 to swim and then swimming after school would relax anyone. I am not sold on ADD but we are dealing with the reality of a kid with lots of energy. Wish he could spread some of that around.
Exercise works, just don’t get him too tired.