If you have a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, then you have a wonderfully gifted child. The child with ADHD is spontaneous, creative and can hyper-focus on a task that seems interesting.
Conversely, this same child is a challenge for parents because he can often be aggressive, hyperactive, distractible, and impulsive. The world sees these kids as “difficult to handle,” which can permanently damage self-esteem.
All children are impulsive, inattentive, and easily distracted from time to time, but the child with ADHD often lives with these attributes. He can help your child with ADHD by showing him how these character traits are an asset, not a liability.
Despite its name, ADHD is not just a lack of attention, but the ability to exert more focused attention on a chosen subject. People with ADHD do not lack concentration, but they often focus inappropriately. They have a low tolerance for inactivity and get bored quickly.
A sport can be a positive or non-constructive experience for all children, but even more so for the child with ADHD. Expending excess energy is always good for the child with ADHD; however, playing on a team can be difficult for her if she can’t learn the rules of the game or fill the role the team needs.
Martial arts, such as tae kwon do, can be immensely therapeutic for the child with ADHD because it allows for aggressive behavior in a safely controlled environment. Instructions are given by an instructor and action is taken immediately so there is a sense of relevance and immediate gratification.
A martial art like tae kwon do always emphasizes self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-control as part of the curriculum. This is important so that the child with ADHD has the confidence to believe that what many consider to be negative character problems are actually positive.
Children learn the “right action” at the right time that moderates impulsivity and turns it into positive action. Boredom is negligible due to the fast pace of a martial arts class that is full of jumping and turning, punching and kicking; the hyperactive child can trigger behaviors appropriately and be praised for it.
And martial arts training focuses on respect and tolerance for others while receiving the same, regardless of the label given to it in other settings.
ADHD is not exclusive to children. Girls are more often diagnosed with ADD, which is the same problem without the hyperactivity, in equal numbers as boys with ADHD. This “difference,” because it’s not exactly a disorder, is genetic. A fairly large study found that 25% of children with ADHD have a parent with Attention Deficit.
Attention Deficit cannot be overcome, so it becomes crucial to find ways to lessen the burden of handicap. Help your child learn to see the constructive aspects of her character and turn those traits into successes.
The child with Attention Deficit possesses the same positive characteristics that the successful ones cultivate in society. Artists, businessmen, politicians, and athletes are some of the successful people whose stories are described with classic ADHD traits. Some of the most creative, intense, spontaneous, tenacious, and quick-thinking people in history have probably had ADHD; Thomas Edison, Mozart and Winston Churchill to name just a few. That’s not bad company at all.