Hyperactive, Impulsive, Inattentive Children

Is your on-the-go child always on the brink of danger running and climbing, always in trouble, always fidgeting, always talking, wiggling and jiggling…?

Do you have a child whose teachers tell you he cannot sit still, he cannot stand in line, he cannot keep his hands to himself, he cannot stop blurting comments, he often has angry outburst and temper tantrums …?

Are you worried about your child who always seems to be dreaming, who is always behind in his school work, always seems to be late, to be moody, to be forgetful and has, once more, lost or misplaced his homework, toys or books?

Are you asking yourself if your child can control himself, can snap out of it and if this is just ‘kid behavior’ that he will outgrow? Are you wondering what a parent can do to help such a child?

What is Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention are signs of a common neurobiological condition called Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Children who have ADHD do not make enough chemicals in their brain for organizing thought. Without enough of these key chemicals, the organizing centers of the brain do not work well. It affects between 5-8 percent of school age children, and between 2-4 percent of adults. ADHD makes it difficult for people to control their impulses—responses that can involve everything from movement, to speech and attentiveness.

Can My Child Just Snap Out of It or Outgrow ADHD

Naturally one person does not exhibit all of these symptoms. But as soon as you notice some, seek help. ADHD has serious consequences including your child’s ability to learn, risks for accidental injuries, family stress and disruption, problems making and keeping friends. Moreover these problems will manifest themselves at home, at school and at play. Your child cannot control himself. It is much more than a young child’s antics and these individuals can and should be helped because they will become adults with the same problems.

How to Help My ADHD Child

~Family Doctor First

The first place to look for answers or for ruling out other problems is with your family doctor. There is no single test to diagnose ADHD but research clearly indicates that ADHD tends to run in families and that it sometimes co-exists with other conditions like anxiety, depression and other learning disabilities. To determine what your child has and how best to treat him is a multifaceted process requiring time and effort.

A medical exam including tests of your child’s eyesight and hearing will probably be the first steps. His sleep patterns, food intakes, general health and physical exercise regimen will be discussed. Your doctor may recommend that you see other health care professionals and give you suggestions to try at home and at school. Leave his office with a follow-up appointment already planned as soon as the results of the other tests and reports from other professionals get back to your family doctor.

~Research, Read and Document

In the mean time, read up on ADHD and familiarize yourself with the type of treatment/accommodations/medication your ADHD child might receive. Start journaling your child’s behavior and the events you think might influence this behavior. Save and file all reports, recommendations, names and contact information of every one you see about his problem. Get and give signed permission notes so information about your child can be shared with the team that is working with your child.

~Learn Behavior Management Techniques

Learn about Behavior management techniques that will help you as a family to cope with the demands and disruptions of your child. Have strategies, like being consistent in your discipline, using rewards and consequences, having a routine for homework, bedtimes, mealtimes and free times that include physical activities. Give structure, love and positive reinforcement to your child who will often not find enough of it “out in the world” because of his ADHD behavior.

~Meet With Your Child’s Teachers

Next, get the child’s teachers on board. Schedule a teacher conference and together draw up a plan, to help your child feel comfortable, feel in control and feel successful in the classroom, in the gym and on the playground.

~Get and Sign Permissions Granting Information Sharing

Your family doctor, the school and other professionals will ask for a free flow of information/results from one to the other. Work as a team, cover all bases and you, the parent, will be the glue that holds all this process together and pushes the right buttons to get solutions.

Children who have ADHD and are supported by their parents, are accommodated at school and have professional counsel will have a much better chance to succeed as a child and as an adult.

What symptoms did your child have that led you to believe he had ADHD?

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 Fidgets Toys or Tools
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Michael Phelps ~ ADHD Did Not Stop Him

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Fidgets: Toys or Tools

Are fidgets just toys that should be put away at the sound of the bell?  Are fidgets really a Special Needs’ tool to be used all day at home and in class with the blessing of both parents and teachers and on the recommendation of professionals?

Before choosing sides about the appropriate use of fidgets, one must understand the basic premise of their usefulness and what problems they can alleviate.

Many children can rarely sit still. It is not because they do not want to but because they simply cannot. These children have an uncontrollable urge to move or fidget. Their overwhelming need of movement is beyond their control. Punishment is counterproductive. For many, their brains are telling their bodies to get up and move to help them listen and attend BETTER.

According to Sydney Zentall, Ph.D., of Purdue University, an activity that uses a sense other than that required for the primary task — listening to music while reading a social studies textbook — can enhance performance in children with ADHD. Doing two things at once, she found, focuses the brain on the primary task.

Based on the collected stories of hundreds of people, authors Roland Rotz, Ph.D. — a licensed child and adult psychologist — and Sarah D. Wright, M.S., A.C.T. – a professional AD/HD coach – propose sifting the paradigm: Give yourself permission to fidget. “Restlessness is not just an expression of trying to ‘get out of the fidgets’ in order to become calm. It is rather an attempt to self-arouse to become focused.” So there we have it, a fidget is used to de-stress the body and help increase focus and attention.

Fidgets have particular properties that intrigue sensory systems. The premise is that children with special needs with learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Tourette’s syndrome, autism, anxiety disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), reduce their fidgeting and increase their focus through the handling of a fidget. Busy the hands to calm the mind.

Most adults can relate to a fidget, as they frequently use their own brand of fidget every day. For example, we often doodle, wind and unwind the telephone cord, or play with our pen. We do this naturally, almost subconsciously, to keep focused, and our brain thinking better. A little boy's answer about his new toy was: "No, a toy is for playing, this is a fidget, it is for thinking."

Fidgeting is moving away from its old stigma and now it is considered an accepted coping mechanism to stay on task. Fidgeting facilitates focus for listening, talking and thinking? It is now accepted that excessive movement does NOT prevent learning but actually facilitates it.

Understanding what is going on in these Special Needs children and proactively choosing an appropriate strategy is the essence of the fidget approach. Occupational therapist and teachers agree that fidgets effectively increase engagement and on-task behavior in learners.

To sum it up, NO, fidgets are not toys. The chewable fidgets like Kid Companions chewelry HAVE a rightful place in school. The use of fidgets should be among the accommodations allowed in schools and noted in IEP's.  Fidgets are a necessary coping tool and a life saver to parents, to kids and  naturally to teachers.

What are the qualities you and your child look for in a fidget?

Related Posts:
Hyperactive, Impulsive, Inattentive Children
Tactics Tackling Homework With Your ADHD Child

Children and Teens With ADHD and Depression
Michael Phelps ~ ADHD Did Not Stop Him
Chewing and Biting Tip- Chewing Is a Form Of Moving

Michael Phelps~ ADHD Did Not Stop Him

When Debbie Phleps, mom to Michael PHLEPS, the swimming sensation who dazzled the world at the Beijing Olympics, speaks of Michael as a young boy many parents can relate to the first part of her son’s life. "Never sat still, never closed his mouth, always asking questions, always jumping from one thing to another. But I just said, `He's a boy,'"

But he was not just being a boy, because at age 9, in fifth grade, her son's lack of focus and fidgety behavior, was diagnosed as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD.

In an interview by MICHAEL WINERIP in The New York Times, Debbie Phleps said that as a little boy, he asked 25 zillion questions, always wanting to be the center of attention. If he wasn’t zooming by on his big-wheel tricycle, he was swinging by on monkey bars.

With preschool, teachers complained: Michael couldn’t stay quiet at quiet time, Michael wouldn’t sit at circle time, Michael didn’t keep his hands to himself, Michael was giggling and laughing and nudging kids for attention.


In elementary grades, Michael would disturb other children and could not sit quietly nor focus on schoolwork. Michael was an attention seeker and he used to talk without even thinking once. His teachers used to call him an immature guy.

Michael ‘s mom, a teacher, noticed that he would be calmer if his activities were tightly organized like the swimming group he belonged to. The sport of swimming is very disciplined. I know very well as my three children have been on swim teams. Even though it is an individual sport, there is great camaraderie at practices and around the pool at swim meets. The swimmers feel they owe it to their swim team, their coach and to themselves to improve their personal best times by practicing daily and by living a healthy life.

My swimmers were driven to channel all their energies and stay focused to shave off those few precious seconds. Early morning practices and some days repeating the same thing after school burns a lot of pent up energy. Swimmers must make the most of every minute at school. With many weekend swim meets, daily practices meaning early bedtimes, swimmers do not want to end up with a lot of homework.  Swimmers must learn to organize and prioritize to survive!

For two years Michael was treated with medications, Ritalin, and behavior modification. “He had to go to the school nurse’s office to take a pill at lunch,” Debbie Phelps said, “and felt stigmatized. Out of the blue, he said to me: ‘I don’t want to do this anymore, Mom. My buddies don’t do it. I can do this on my own.”

By 11, Michael was managing his ADHD without medication. "When you look at the sport of swimming, it's very regimented. There's time management built into that component, there's set things you do sequentially," Debbie Phelps said.

Ms. Phelps watched the boy who couldn’t sit still at school sit for four hours at a meet waiting to swim his five minutes’ worth of races. At the Beijing Olympics, Michael won eight gold medals, breaking the 1972 record set by fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz.

For children with ADHD who do not have, the swimming, the teacher mom, the coaches, the behavior management programs and support... that Michael Phelps had,  professional help and medication should be considered because their lives and school work and their parents' lives and homework can be made much easier.


Do you know a child with ADHD who became more disciplined by adding a passionate activity to his life?