FAHA: Student with ADD

[Rick TYler]

There is so much to be written here, and so little time...

First, I would like to encourage you to remember that "disabilities" can take many forms. We are all willing to accommodate someone with a visible physical problem, such as being in a wheelchair, but chemical/mental issues like ADHD/ADD/whatever the diagnosis is this year is just as real a handicap, and just as deserving of careful consideration. She doesn't want to be disruptive, she just is. Part of the universe of ADHD is the forgetfulness that causes her not to take her medications regularly, too.

Second, I am not a mental health professional, and my experience with ADHD is as a Scout leader and Robotics mentor. I've read on the subject and talked to professionals, including a clinical psychologist. My opinion is that of a pretty informed layman, not a professional.

Some comments and observations:

1. This is a matter for a teacher or mentor to handle, not a peer. If the OP is a student member of a team, I encourage him to share his concerns with an adult leader and hand off the problem. No offense intended, but very few teenagers are emotionally or experientialy equipped to deal with this issue on their own. If you don't have a teacher or mentor who will deal with this, talk to your school counselor.

2. Once you've included an adult in the process, have them meet with the girl and arrive a "contract" of behavior to which both parties agree. She might have to agree not to attend meetings on days she forgets her meds, or she might have to work with her doctor on something that she CAN take in the afternoon. ADHD meds come in many forms, some of which only have four hours or so of affect, so that she could take it at lunch and still sleep.

3. If lots of people on the team find her disruptive, bring in an expert and the girl to a team meeting and explain what is going on. If the team is too big, at least meet with the leadership. We did this in a Scout troop for a boy with a different problem, but things were MUCH easier to manage once the older boys understood his issues, and how best to help him manage. The boy was still disruptive at times, but once leadership knew how to cope his behaviors just "happened" but didn't negatively affect the activities and fun of others.

4. Sometimes folks with ADHD can be kind of impulsive. This is a BAD tendency for someone working with edged tools and power tools. Again, your team leadership needs to reach an agreement with this girl on the rules. Perhaps she doesn't use tools on no-drug days?

5. In extreme cases, we have had to require that parents attend events that certain Scouts were attending. This is especially true of out-of-town trips or other long events. In Scouts, we have had boys drop out (mostly because of their parents), but more often, one or the other parent becomes an active volunteer. I haven't ever had to try this in high school robots, but I have on 11-13 year olds.

6. Try to remember that she is just a more-extreme person on the continuum. I think a lot of people are ADHD to one extreme or another. I know several adults who don't take drugs, but have evolved various coping mechanisms to deal with their own mild-to-moderate ADHD. Or, as a friend in Scouting says about a different condition, "We all have Asperger's , it's just more noticeable in some people than others." She isn't weird, just a little more.

Someone with this kind of problem can get marginalized and left out of a lot of things. I encourage you to get help on figuring out how best to make her a productive member of your team, and to help HER get the most from this experience. Good luck.