My 10 year old son has ADD and I have two boys in my troop
Blayden Thompson (BLAYDEN@WORDPERFECT.COM)
Thu, 27 Jul 1995 11:08:51 -0600
with it also. It can be a trial, but I h
My 10 year old son has ADD and I have two boys in my troop with it also. It can be a trial, but I have learned some
tricks that may help you.
1. The boys don't usually want other kids to know they have it. So keep it private.
2. Don't forget to take their medication with you to camp !!!
3. They enjoy hands on type things and activities.
4. They get bored quick if they have to sit still. Try to keep your activities on the move.
5. When they begin to bounce off the wall, give them something to do. Play a game, send them on an errand, get
them involved personally with the process.
6. At camp provide creative things for them to do. Crafts and such stimulate them and they love being creative
things. My two ADDers love pioneering, hiking, backpacking, repelling, swimming, etc. Sounds pretty normal right?
7. You will have problems if they have to sit for long periods of time. They hate the typical sit and listen meeting,
lectures, and even struggle with campfire programs that go too long.
What you need to allow:
The hardest thing for me to recognize and allow is letting an ADD boy move around during a meeting. If you can
have patience with them changing chairs, or even standing during a meeting, you will have come a long way. They
do have different needs and like other kids, each boy is different.
Ask them what they want to do. They will tell you what they like and what they hate and shift gears and put those
things into the program. The best part about it is, when the ADD boy gets fussy, its my thermometer that other
boys are getting bored too. So it can be an advantage. Keep an eye out for the boy who hasn't been diagnosed
and has the same symptoms. Many children have this problem and their parents just won't accept it. They will
appear to be discipline problems, but when you apply what you know and provide more stimulating activities, you
will see the discipline problems disappear with the ADD boy.
It does take some practice, and some attitude changing. One on my best friends at work is in his 40's and has
ADD. I think the reason we get along so well is because I understand his situation. It's a real stretch for him to sit
at a computer all day long. We take a lot of strolls around the building and take the long way to lunch and back. We
keep out meetings short and sweet and try to accomplish things quickly and not let them drag out.
The skills you learn with an ADD person, really are an advance to you because you learn to keep things moving
and in the long run, you actually learn to eliminate the unnecessary and focus of productive behavior in your own
life.
Good Luck and be patient. It comes over time.
Blayden M. Thompson
Scoutmaster-Troop 24
Pleasant Grove, Utah
Email:Blayden@Novell.com
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