Scouter's Summit – March 8, 2007
A DVD entitled "Why you should love your ADD" by Steven Plog was shown. Steven Plog is the founder of The Results Project and he is committed to improving the lives of children with ADD/ADHD. The DVD is aimed at teachers and hints for them to use in the classroom when teaching children with ADD but can easily be adapted by leaders. It focuses on the positives of ADD.
Points taken from the DVD include:
· ADD people are creative, artists, musicians, writers, poets, architects.
· ADD people are the most sensitive of people.
· ADD people are quick and intelligent.
· Having ADD is like being a bull in a china shop. There's nothing wrong with being a bull, you just don't belong in a china shop.
· ADD is a great gift. ADD is like a gift that hasn't been unwrapped. A gift that isn’t unwrapped is nothing more than a paperweight. An unwrapped gift that you don’t understand is still just a paperweight.
· ADD people speak & understand at 450 words per min. and are multiple thought capable. Hint - talk a little faster. Everyone will get it. It will be a little fast for some but they will get it, and it will be faster for those with ADD so they don’t tune out. Our normal talking slowly and clearly so we think everyone will understands is slow motion to them.
· They learn better standing up or lying down. So in a classroom situation it is suggested that there be a stand up desk for them to go to if they choose. Maybe we need to watch how much we have them sitting.
· Focus on what they are good at not on what they don't do well on. People who are successful do everything better.
· From the teaching angle, focus on the A's, manage the D's. Focusing on the A's brings up the D's. Focusing on bad grades erases success traits. The most important thing a child can graduate with is their self-esteem. So focus on what they do well and the not so good will improve as well.
· Recognize future ADD success traits while the child is still in school.
· Focus on the concrete building blocks for success.
· A deficit implies something needs to be fixed.
· There is no attention span that is:
* Normal
*Supposed to be
* Standard
So there is no attention deficit. There can be a short attention span or long attention span. Neither are right, neither are wrong, just so.
· Does a short person have a height deficiency? Is a tall person are they height enhanced? Which one needs the fixing? Some people are right handed, and some are left. The left is in the minority so does that mean one needs fixing? It is neither right, nor wrong, it is just so.
· There is no such thing as child ADD and adults ADD.
· ADD kids don’t need behavior modification, they just need behavior direction.
For more information visit www.resultsproject.net
The Ottawa Coordinator is Erika Keller at 826-1567, email - - www.hws.ca