Parents expect a lot when they have their children go into therapy, whether it is occupational therapy or speech and/or language therapy and physical therapy.

Of course, they expect a lot because they pay a lot of money to be able to get these services for their children.

Here in the Philippines, parents/families of children receiving therapy services pay for these services, unlike those children in other countries who get these as part of their tax benefits.

Getting into these therapy services don’t mean instant relief and instant improvement of the developmental and behavioral problems that need to be addressed.

So what should parents expect during the first few weeks of therapy?

Below are a few observations I have made during the course of working with these therapists:

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Sit.

One of the first things children need to do before they are ready to do some learning.

Sit.

One of the precursors in determining the attention span of a child.

Of course,not because a child is sitting down does not mean that the child is ready to learn.

For children with language processing problems, this is how to tell them to sit down. Not “Come sit here on the red chair.” or “I need you to sit now so we can start our lesson.” Chances are they will not be able to grasp if the message was about coming, sitting, the red chair, the starting, the lesson.

Why do children need to learn how to sit?

They sit when they eat. They sit when they do table top activities. They sit when they need to have a haircut. They sit in church. They sit when they are traveling. They sit when they wait for their turn at the doctor’ clinic. They sit when they watch tv and play with their computer games.

On the other hand, sitting does not mean that there is learning happening. There are those who just sit and not squirm but are not really learning anything.

Some children learn better when they are on the move.

Those schools that have the “Sit-down-and-listen-to-the-teacher” method should be avoided, if there are other alternative school. Children are active individuals and they won’t sit still for a long time. It is important to alternate both movements and table-top activities for them.

Click these Symptoms of ADHD and What to do if you Suspect Your Child has a Learning Disability?

This article, A Letter to My Grandmother by Dale S. Brown describes what she went through when she was growing up.

Another wonderful read: Beware the Sitting Trap.

The world is abuzz with the news about Michael Phelps. He who won eight (Beijing) Olympic gold medals in swimming, surpassing and breaking the record of Mark Spitz who had 7 gold medals in the 1972 Munich Olympics. All in all, he has 14 gold medals, the most any Olympian has ever won.

Need I mention that the predicted fortune the eight gold medals will bring him would be close to $100 million due to product endorsements?

As everybody knows by now, he has ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

So what so special about having ADHD and how does it relate to him winning a lot of gold and breaking world records?

It is NOT just having the ADHD that helped him win these, as the theme of the news reports reporting on this interesting aspect about him. It was a lot more.

His mother, Debbie Phelps was a middle school principal did her best to help her son: “I believe that appropriate treatment, including behavioral therapy and medication, can benefit children and adolescents with ADHD.” Click here to read more.

She was quoted here to have describing Michael as:

“He never sat still. He never shut up; he would never stop asking questions,” his mom says. “He just wanted to go from one thing to another.”

Debbie Phelps is a big help in developing Michael and his skills. She even wrote an article with tips on how to help manage a child with ADHD: Back to School: Help Your Child with ADHD Succeed In and Out of the Classroom.

Michael was diagnosed with ADHD and was on Ritalin until he reached 11 years old. He used to be angered easily when he losses. He focused instead, on winning, on getting his hand on the wall before anybody else does. Click here to read the article.

On dry land, Michael Phelps is said to be unsure of his footing. He even injured his wrist when he had a fall. He was hyperflexible on land, characteristic of those with ADHD who manages to trip on their own feet. Click here to read about the incredible prediction of Michael Phelp’s future victories when he was just 11 years old, written in a 2004 article.

So what does this post of mine have to do with sports and having ADHD?

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Rick Pierce is the author of “How to Help an ADD Child Succeed in Life”. He is a teacher and he is also called the Hyperactive Teacher because he has ADD or now called as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Predominantly Inattentive Type by the DMS-IV.

Now, why am I writing a post about Rick Pierce. I was decluttering earlier (this post was written May 24, 2008) and I chanced upon a folder with printed files from my earlier forays with the internet when all I did was read about special education. I thought this would be a great post so I am sharing what is written on the printed paper.

Rick’s Top Ten:

The top ten reasons why parents and teachers get frustrated with an ADHD student:

10. Blurts out answers in class.

9. Confetti surrounds the desk

8. It takes twice as long to do half as much.

7. You spend three hours helping your child do 15 minutes worth of homework.

6. The homework you help with gets left at home.

5. Lots of potential. No production.

4. Craves everyone’s attention.

3. Knows how to push your buttons.

2. Doesn’t think before acting.

And the number one reason parents and teachers get frustrated with a student with ADHD is…

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Parenting plays an important role in modifying or changing the behavior of children, particularly those that were diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. Behavior modification is always one of the most important treatments for these children. Careful planning and successful behavior modification strategies are keys in helping improve the social skills, abilities to learn and abilities to adapt one’s self to the changes in the environment. These would also include reducing frustration, not just for the child but for the parents, teachers and caregivers as well.

STRUCTURED HOME ENVIRONMENT
Children diagnosed with ADHD work best in structured environment, whether at home or in school. To be able to establish a structured environment, there should be a predictable routine of activities. These can either be set up as a schedule, if possible with time stamp for every activity. If, however, there are any changes in the routine, the child should know about it in advance to prevent a stressful situation.

Established rules should be simple, clear and appropriate. These rules should apply at home, in school or even in places away from both. The application as well as remembering of rules can be done visually, because this is what works best for these children. Writing down a list of rules and responsibilities and posting these in appropriate places where the child can see often would help in establishing the proper behavioral guidance.

Alongside these rules, progress as well as accomplishment charts are also useful. These would enable to make the child see how he/she is performing as per goals set and agreed upon. These would also mean the anticipation of a reward, be it intrinsic or otherwise, upon the accomplishment of goals set for him/her. With these progress and accomplishment charts, focus on new target behaviors can also be started and improved upon later on.

Children diagnosed with ADHD have difficulties in organization. This means, they spend a lot of time looking for things that can’t be found or things that are misplaced. They spend a lot of time thinking how to start doing some tasks that they have a tendency to get tired even without starting a thing or two. One way to prevent such problems is by assigning specific locations of materials that are frequently used such as school things, clothes and toys. Posted reminders or even verbal reminders to put everything back where they belong after usage would be helpful. To those who can’t read well yet, illustrations would be very helpful.

The child has difficulty remembering what needs to be done? Have him/her repeat in proper sequence and if need be, practice. Your child is a part of the wedding entourage? Practice how to walk using the appropriate material. After all, practice makes perfect.

So how would the child knows how he/she is doing? Give immediate feedbacks and encouragement if difficulties were encountered in the learning process. These feedbacks and encouragements as well as rewards and consequences should be fair and consistent between parents or other family members, teachers and caregivers. The focus on positive behavior and rewards should be given more emphasis than the focus on negative behavior and their consequences.

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I received an sms from the Dad of one of my former students. At first he introduced himself. Good thing that he did, otherwise I wouldn’t have recognized his mobile number since I’m using hubby’s. First thing he did was ask me how I am.I replied that I am in Ortigas Center at that time and told him of my teaching schedule. Why do I have to tell him that? I knew something was up and he is still testing the waters, so to speak, and taking cues from me before he tells me what the matter is. Of course, I did ask him how the boy is doing and if they managed to enroll in the school they were referred to when he stopped seeing me.

After a few moments, he replied by telling me that they are having problems in school. “What is it”, I asked. The teacher apparently, can not manage his behavior so he is able to not go back for his classes after recess. Uh-oh! What he does when he does that really beats me and I wouldn’t know for sure the answer to the whys and the hows, not until I talk to him. I remember the post I just did two days ago about how I feel that my students are not just that, students, but that they are like my family too.

Now, why am I doing a post about this? I just need to get this out my system for just a while. In the meantime, I will “digest” what Yvette, an occupational therapist, discussed with me about a possible behavior intervention program that would help the child so that I can discuss this with his parents. Intervention program would be done by them, not me.