Keep in Mind

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Keep in Mind
By MsPropel

Please keep in mind (although I know it can be hard!) that his behavior is mostly beyond his control. This is especially true right now because he has not learned how to control it. I had one of these kinds of kids in my
room this year. I always had to remind myself that if he's still doing the behavior, he hasn't learned how to control it yet and part of my job was to teach him that control.

Proximity would work for him for a while so I had him sitting as close to the front of the room as possible so I could be near him while teaching at the board.

Letting him "take a walk around the carpet"

would help because he was moving with a purpose.

Standing while I'm teaching and even while he was supposed to be doing work helped.

Let him take breaks when he needs them. You can give him a laminated break card that is taped to the corner of his desk. You could start off with two breaks in the morning and two in the afternoon (more or less depending on how long your mornings/afternoons are) then change it to less when he's been doing good with that. Use a Vis-a-vis marker to mark when he's taken a break so he has a visual reminder.

Do you have desks? You could put a bungee cord around the front legs of his chair so he had something to bounce his feet off of. I couldn't do this with my friend because we only had tables and he would bounce his legs into the person across from him and that would start a whole new world of trouble.

If he is a chair tipper, our OT suggested buying the arm and/or ankle weights that velcro around your wrists and ankles and put them on the front legs of the chair to make it harder to tip the chair.

Many people have mentioned diet. I think that is EXTREMELY important for kids with ADHD. I've done a lot of research on this. My mom is a nutritionist and always tells me that she wishes there was a way that we could sneak Omega3's (fish oils) into the kids at school because it is supposed to be so good for concentration. She says she wished she knew about it when we were young and she would have made us take them too! Many people come back to her telling her that they see such a difference in their children after having them take the Omega3's. I'm actually going to talk to my principal about the possibility of putting the suggestion in a newsletter or something. (I'm not sure of the legalities of suggesting something like this.)

Most importantly, good communication with the parents is key. (I know this isn't always possible, but it was so important in working with my friend!)

Good for you for seeking out help rather than just putting him out in the hall. You will probably learn more from this guy about patience and understanding than he could learn from you!!! :p