A few days ago, I was interviewed by the #CBC Early Edition radio show. In case you missed it, here's the link.
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I actually hate swimming lessons, they bore me to tears AND I'm doing them anyway. Because I lost my cousin who didn't stick with his swimming lessons.
My mom got me a private teacher this summer so I can at least get through the Red Cross program up to level 10. Then I'm doing my bronze cross and bronze medallion like my brother did last summer.
Hey guys, I just got back from an amazing conference called the World Domination Summit. #WDS2015. I've been really excited to tell you about it and wrote this before my mom and I drove home last night. I met some amazing and inspiring people at WDS -- check out some of things I learned from them in my blog. ~...
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I am sharing her message in the hope that other teens, including girls, will realize this: you are not alone, you are not dumb, and together we can speak up about how we feel.
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Just got my report card in the mail and.... Good news -- I passed all my courses. Bad news - some of them were pretty close to the line. Like really close. Seems no matter how hard I try or how supposedly "smart" I am, I don't do well sitting in a class for a year trying to tick off all the expected boxes to get...
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Communicate Your Expectations: A dear friend of mine, a duke of the ADHD kingdom is always late. I’m not talking in minutes; I’m talking in hours. My frustration would be at a 19 on a scale of 1-10. Finally I said, “I know this is hard, but when we get together, I expect you to be on time, or at most 15 minute late. If...
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Adults think that if they get mad enough, or take away enough of our stuff then all of a sudden we'll settle down and stop derping.
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I don’t know about your ADHD brain, but when I make a mistake—mess up my schedule, lose my keys, lock myself out of the car—it’s like these demonic little urchins start a chorus of “Ryan’s an idiot!” in my head. And they don’t let up. I’ll ruminate on that mistake for a long time. My ADHD just locks on the...
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Don't get me wrong, I can use all the help I can get and I honestly appreciate your good intentions. It just that when you plan things without even asking me what I think, you are hurting me more than helping.
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Real Answers from Real People who Live with ADHD
We're getting a lot of great questions and answers about ADHD on our Facebook Page and ADHDKidsRock.com blog. From how to parent us kids with ADHD to how to teach us, and support us -- our community is full of great people sharing what they are going through.
Let's make this a regular thing that people can count on from our site. I'm setting up a Question of the Week Post on Facebook and need you -- all of you who are reading this -- to help me come up with the best questions about living with ADHD. I think this could be big -- maybe we can even pull all these great ideas together and make a book that will help even more kids and families. Like "real" answers not some dumb things experts think works for us.
I would especially like questions from kids that are younger than me so I can share some of the things that have helped me. Post your questions here and let's get started!
But rituals are simply symbolic systems created to produce the same result. And these rituals, these once-in-a-while habits will save our bacon every time -- and they are easy to create once we recognize the need. I'm working on using rituals for traveling, making friends, going to sleep and more. Where could rituals work in your life?
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It's nice to be noticed. I feel really lucky to have a big community of people reading my blog and commenting on it and on Facebook. I thought I'd share some of the awesome notes I've received from the community, from parents, teachers and kids who like what I'm doing, and who are supportive. Here's a couple. Hi Jeff, I just want to...
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There are some pretty exciting websites, apps and techniques emerging that pledge to help teachers with everything from classroom management to raising students' scores. Krista Morris, a teacher who wrote into us from our Facebook community , uses the following websites in her classroom. These websites are free, or have free trial...
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Life is better now that I don't go to sleep with my phone.
I know, weird, huh? All the great games, movies, music, even a chance to text with friends at night... all gone.
It wasn't my idea -- it was my mom's. (Yeah, it was a consequence.) But strangely, I've noticed it's making a difference. I'm getting to school on time. I have time to eat breakfast before leaving in the morning. I'm happier. Seriously!
So, I thought I'd share it. I think it qualifies as an ADHD Hack because for those of you who don't know, most of the kids at school are going to sleep with their phones. It's become pretty normal stuff.
Please tell me this is a bad joke. I keep seeing blogs about the FDA approving a tranquilizer gun to calm kids with ADHD. WTF??
It's bad enough kids with ADHD kids get spanked and punished way more than other kids, now we are going to get shot at a distance by our well meaning parents when we are out of control. Put us to sleep so you don't have to deal with us!
Even if this is a joke it's not funny. When is the world going to start learning about ADHD and step up to help us instead of hurt us.
It's kinda funny, when I look around at my Tae Kwon Do school I'm thinking lots of us have ADHD.
I started Tae Kwon Do to learn how to defend myself against the bullies when I was 12. I don't know if I ever used it against any bullies, but I know I had more confidence knowing that I had a few moves up my sleeve if I needed them.
Now I'm too close to earning my black belt to quit. Here's what's good about Tae Kwon Do for kids with ADHD -- in my experience.
One thing that's making my days easier and better is building up a few"life hacks" for my ADHD tendencies. Let's call them ADHD Hacks. This post is the first in a series I'm going to put up on hacks that make my days run smoother. I'm going to look at some of the regular derpy things I've solved with hacks, and share them with you. It's kinda fun to come up with hacks that really work. It would be way more fun doing this together, though. So, here's what I'm asking for: I'm hoping some of you will write back in the comments and share your ADHD hacks with me, and even share your the things you haven't hacked yet. Because you never know -- someone might have a hack for that! I'd love it if you'd even write me a guest blog post -- if you're interested, email me for deets. (jeff@adhdkidsrock.com)
Little kids are supposed to be full of energy and fun. They jump on things, annoy parents and teachers -- and you know, act like kids! Kids can go forever, talk faster than a freight train, and make huge messes just having fun.So how is a kid with ADHD different from a "normal" kid being really active? The Difference Between Being an...
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The other day on my ADHD Kids Rock Facebook Page, I posted a poem I wrote about my difficult experiences in school. Some of you called it heart-breaking, lots of parents said their kids were going through similarly difficult times at school. The poem got almost 500 comments -- by far, the highest number of comments out of any of...
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Life with ADHD is a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week-adventure. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with ADHD, then you know how challenging it can be at times. Unfortunately, most of our focus is on the “negative aspects and problems” of ADHD and rarely are the strengths or positive qualities of ADHD appreciated or...
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So I could have lied on my McDonald's job application and said I've always been on time but it wouldn't pass what we call around my house the Rotary 4-way test.
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I hate managing a calendar. Dates. Times. Ugh. But I also dread that “I can’t believe I forgot it” feeling whether it’s a school test or a paper. For some reason, my A.D.D. brain just slips up, forgets and something else takes precedence. I suffered in high school hard. Like the overachiever we can quickly become, I joined the...
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In the last few years, school has been way better because I have been working with my parents and school district to get high school credits for doing things I am more interested in. That's right -- I said I'm getting school credit for learning things my way. And it's working. I've picked up extra classes, learned some awesome new skills, and figured out some things I'm good at. ADHD brains do great when it's something we are interested in. It's just how we are wired. Can we change the way we have to work in school for the better?
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Teachers, I'm glad you're reading this blog. Your interest proves that we can make a difference by talking about ADHD. Did you know that kids with ADHD have the highest drop out rate on the planet? I think our experience with other students and staff at schools can make a huge difference in keeping us at school. Here are seven things to think about you teach a child with ADHD, and the impact that some of these things have had on my life. Teachers, I know you have it hard. I promise if you learn more about kids with ADHD and how to manage us better, then your life — and for sure, our lives — will be better.
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I had a really rough time in Boy Scouts. So bad that I quit. Kids with ADHD often have a hard time in clubs, groups, teams and other community activities. Most often the leaders are volunteers and don't know or don' t have the patience for our goofing around. So that is why I quit Scouts. I loved being there but they didn't love me. Today I'm a Venture Scout and loving it. I have been given compliments on my leadership skills and have a blast running around with the younger kids. (I fit right in)
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We are our own worst enemies when it comes to how we view the mistakes we make due to our ADD-addled mind. Enjoy this fun guest post about the ADHD brain by Jeff's mentor, Ryan McRae.
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If a child shows signs of a serious physical illness, most parents immediately see a doctor and investigate all the treatment options. Unfortunately, when a child is showing signs of mental health issues, many parents do not recognize the signs, or are not so quick to respond. Parents are sometimes slow to seek help for mental illness...
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It's OK mom. I hate to admit it but I used to yell at Jeff every morning, afternoon and night until I learned he has ADHD and how much it impacts his ability to do things. From reading Jeff's ADHD Kids Rock's Facebook page, I realize that a lot of parents deal with the same sort of frustrations over day-to-day tasks when they're...
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People are angry at my parents for giving me ADHD medication.
When I was distracting the other kids and not doing my work the world was angry because I was being a derp. Now I'm a lot more focused and doing my work... and the world is angry (again!).
So... I want to know, what's behind this attitude that so many people seem to have -- that all drugs for ADHD and ADD are just plain BAD?
This stereotyping is hard on the kids. Let me tell you.
Today my teacher sent my mom an e-mail...
What was great about this message of support was it came early enough in the day that I got a call from mom to go to the counselling office and take my meds (they have a supply there). My mom also now knows I'm a week behind on this assignment and it's a big one so she can help make sure it's on my list either to do myself or to work on with my tutor.