Disneyland observation: Men and Boys, 99.9% wear sneakers. Women/Girls, 65% wear sneakers, 20% boots, about 15% sandals and 0.001% heels. LOL

Disneyland observation: 3 days at Disney, observed tens of thousands of people. 95% of groups driven by the Adults, NOT the children.

ADHD and Disrespect

Disrespect is tough to deal with and there's often no easy answer.

The first thing to realize is that most ADHD children have spent their lives being disrespected. They(we) have been constantly made wrong for simply being who we are. We've been taught by example to be disrespectful. This can be a very tough pattern to break.

The second thing is that many ADHD'ers are by nature, mis-matchers. Our way of working through issues is by seeing "the other side of the coin". This mis-matching can come across as arguing (i.e., disrespectful).

A third issue can simply be the ADHD need for stimulation. Simply agreeing with people does not create any stimulation. Disagreeing with people creates lots of stimulation.

A fourth issue is that many ADHD children spend every bit of energy and self control they can muster just to hold themsleves together for the 6 hours they are forced to spend in a classroom environment that is completely antagonistic to their needs. When they get to a safe place (home) and with safe people (family), they are able to let down their guard and express the anger and frustration they've been holding in all day.

I'll stop with one more common issue, that being, lack of consistent boundaries. If a boundary is absolutely, positively firm, there is nothing about which to argue. When a child, particularly an ADHD child "smells" that a boundary may not be completely solid, he MUST push and push and push until he finds the point at which that boundary will not move.

- While established habits are not easy to break, structuring a child's environment to provide at least 80% successes and no more than 20% challenge will create profound personality changes.
- Also, learning how to communicate effectively with your ADHD child and treat him with respect can create dramatic changes.
- Boundaries must be reasonable and rock-solid--immovable.

More on parenting your ADHD child at http://www.swish4fish.com/

Disneyland: the most stressful place on earth?
http://ping.fm/T3KPi

Disneyland: the most stressful place on earth?

It’s been 7 years that I’ve been helping children, teens and adults in overcoming the effects of ADHD and Autistic Spectrum Disorders—7 years since I’ve come to grips with my own struggle with ADHD. So when the wife, daughter and I arrived at Disneyland, I was happy, excited and totally expecting to have a good time. We went through the gates, walked up main street, headed for the magic kingdom. It was amazing--watching the parade, seeing the world of Disney through the eyes of our 4-year-old daughter. We were having a wonderful time.

However, after about 4 hours, something began to happen--something I was not expecting and something I'd not really experienced in a number of years.
As we weaved in an out of the crowds, I became more and more uncomfortable. My posture shifted to one that was braced for impact. My chin dropped slightly. My lips ever so slightly pursed. My eyes continuously scanning the crowd. At the time I was unaware that my unconscious mind had become more and more alert to the subtle signs of stress and anxiety among the other patrons. By closing time, even my wife noticed that I seemed to be in a world of my own and my walk had an unmistakable swagger. On a scale of 1 to 10, my hyper-alertness was about a 9.5.

The next morning I was acutely aware of my stress level as well as some very old stress-related behaviors that I had not experienced in several years. Most notably among them was unconsciously tracking my footsteps to avoid cracks and breaks in the paving as well as the myriad of invisible lines created by the corners of wall, doors, columns, furniture, and other architectural features.

If I may just to the end, I was able to walk myself through a short series of physical and mental exercises to restore myself to a relatively relaxed and focused state that was much more conducive to an enjoyable day at Disneyland.

My reason for relating this experience is that anyone, particularly children, with the physical and emotional sensitivities common to ADHD and other ASD’s, is likely to be vulnerable to this type of response to large crowds or stimulating events. (Some of you may recall my experience of becoming overwhelmed during the first game of the 2010 world series.)

It was only the result of my intimate understanding of ADHD and my extensive training in techniques to overcome the effects of ADHD that enabled me to first, become aware of my stress response and over-stimulation, and second, have the tools to do something about it.

Your typical ADHD or ASD child will have no such awareness or tools at his disposal. As his nervous system becomes more and more overloaded by the conflicting sea of emotions and unconscious sensations, he will most than likely feel more and more anxious and dissociated until, ultimately, he releases his anxiety upon whomever he feels is safe to deliver his wrath.

As parents, it is up to us to see beyond how we think our children “should” feel or should respond to a given situation and be present to how they are actually responding. As parents of ADHD or ASD children, we must be even more vigilant to those situations that will overstimulate or over-stress our children. For more information and parent training programs, visit http://www.swish4fish.com

Tip 55... Underline the question. Identify the answer in units. Fit the information/facts to an equation that fits the answer/units.

Tip 55: Math Word problems are written backwards! Try reading the QUESTION first. THEN read the information and arrange the facts as needed.

Turning off the TV (and video games) on school days will improve focus and attention, increase retention and improve memorization.

Tip 54: TURN OFF THE TV! Of all the techniques I use to help children, perhaps the easiest to implement is to turn of the TV on school days.

Talked to Abbie's Mom today. In just a few weeks, Abbie has gone from D's to A's in her spelling!!!! Yea, Abbie! http://ping.fm/wak8z

Tip 53: when writing ab essay, change your perspective. Imagine your are someone else and ask specific questions, What? How? Why? What next?

Tip 50: help your child w/ a compare/contrast essay visualize main elements side by side and VISUALLY find the differences and similarities

To help your child do a compare or contrast essay.
Visualize the two main elements side by side and VISUALLY (

BTW - when I try to teach adults (teachers) to think like an ADHD or autistic child, they tend to get dizzy (and frustrated). Hmmmmm...

Autistic persons naturally think using an outside-the-box, genius-style thought process. It's sad so few are taught to master the process.

Someone reminded me today that "genius" thinking can be taught. It's something I take for granted in my work w/ ADHD and Autistic students.

Tip 48: To improve reading retention, read for 5-10 minutes then pause and take 30 seconds to visually 'replay' what you just read.