Living with ADD is like driving down a hill without brakes. Life can be a whirlwind of thoughts, rapid speech patterns, actions and impulsiveness. ADD makes it very difficult for a person to regulate attention and control impulses. It is neurological disorder and can be inherited. ADD is not a disorder that you will “grow out of.” It is a biological fact of life.

There is a misconception that you cannot diagnosis a young child with AD/HD. If fact, the younger the child is identified the better. ADD can come along with a host of co-morbid disorders: dyslexia, other learning disabilities in reading, writing, auditory processing, memory and math, mood and anxiety disorders. Most typical children with ADD, by the time they are in the 2nd grade, already have a learned helplessness, extreme low self esteem and a hypersensitivity to criticism.

Many people with ADD are mistakenly thought of as lazy, selfish and/or self centered. These “traits” are identified when ADDers are unable to shift their attention from one subject to another or maintain focus long enough to hear another person out. Most people with ADD are their own worst critics and spend years self medicating or acting out with destructive behaviors.

Despite the struggles that can come with ADD, Inspire Behavior would like parents and their kids to also see how ADD can be turned into so many STRENGHTHS. ADD can actually be your child’s gift- it can take their born talents and enable them to achieve them: faster, with more persistence, more passive and with intense focus.

Do you realize how many TOP CEO’s, Artists, Doctors, Teachers, etc that  have taken this “disorder” and refocused it to their advantage? Have you ever met someone who you were amazed by their ability to think of things “off the top of their head”- that ideas, public speaking seem to come easy to them, who is the “life of the party”, the person who seems to get 20 things done in a day, a person who is super organized or a empathic person with the ability to quickly access situations.  If you have – then most likely have met a happy ADDer how has learned to work WITH the distractions and focus on the strengths of themselves. 

Inspire Behavior will assess your child to see what form of intervention will be the most effective. We offer groups and individual sessions to accomplish this.

Let’s get to work on helping your child be that person you can run into!