More Than His ADHD
ADHD does not define who my son is. Here’s how I helped him see that – and how you can help your child do the same.
My son, Ricochet, isn’t ADHD. Attention deficit doesn’t define who he is — it is one part of him, and a small part at that. He feels that it defines him sometimes, but there is much more to my child — and yours — than meets the eye.
Our therapist decided to do an activity with Ricochet to show him that ADHD is only a small part of him. She traced an outline of him on a giant piece of paper and labeled all the parts they could come up with, including the wonderful other things about him. When I came back into the room at the end of the session, he couldn’t wait to share all the great things about himself with me.
Another eye-opening activity I heard about from a parent who wrote to me is a “me collage.” Using a large piece of poster board, she and her daughter collected images that represented the exciting moments she’d had over the past seven years. The collage pictured all the roles her daughter plays, some of her favorite things, and images of things she is good at.
My son has ADHD and learning disabilities, is smart, kind-hearted, spatially gifted, funny, handsome, a whiz with electronics, great at math and science, a loyal friend, and much more. He is a great kid who happens to struggle with ADHD.
[Free Download: 13 Parenting Strategies for Kids with ADHD]
-from adhdmomma.com
