Help for a child with PDD/ADD

Dear Bert,

Thank you for your incredible post! Your information is very valuable to me and I will definitely look into the resources you quoted. And yes, aggression may be a problem. His dad tipped me off to how his body language changes just before he strikes. He says if I can stay aware of his son's posture and how his visage changes we should be okay. But aggression is a definite issue with this particular child.

Many of your classroom management tips were exactly what I was looking for, I will have to be very attuned to how he reacts and see what works best for him. Speaking with his para and his teachers at school will help alot I think. I am glad you brought up the part about kata and how it may be difficult to unlearn something if it needs to be changes later. We usually teach "sho" kata to the L'il Dragons, with him we may need to rethink this because integrating the rest of the movements may cause some confusion for him.

Once again, thank you very much!

 

Greetings again, ma'am!

You're quite welcome...

If this child does indeed have Sensory Integration issues, it might be good to look at a local Occupational Therapist (or possibly a Physical Therapist, but usually OT handles this) who specializes in DSI. They can offer invaluable assistance. It sounds like you're on the right track involving his teacher and para.

Definitely find out how he reacts to change in routine. A lot of it is things you'll learn on the fly. Also talk with the parents and help them help you learn, when something is not going right in class for him, what is PDD and what is in just misbehavior. Since they see him more often, they are more attuned to what is the cause of what behavior.

I'm sure I'll think of something else. If I do, I'll post it...

Thanks again!

- Bert in Springdale, Arkansas

 

i am 16 mind you vbut i am also disabled in that i have a general body weakness which basically means that i have to work like 3 times as hard as anyone else to build muscle mass... im 16 years old, 5'2" and can bench a whole 20 Ilbs. i also have really bad concentration but was never officially diagnosed as ADD but i did have ritalin for 3 years.

anyway as to any physical issues i have this to say. i had PT and OT all through elementary school. the PT did not help me build muscle at all almost and the fine motor skills that the OT was supposed to work on seemed never to happen (god just look at my handwriting). i never really started making large gains until i joined karate. before i joined i weighed 47 ILBs. for maybe 5 years. when i joined i went up to 65 in a year and a half, my coordination is better and basically it was almost a miracle. as for my concentration and focus it is great.

i hope i have made my point

 

Well you have made your point and it makes me really want to try and help this kid. Thanks for the story, it really has inspired me.

 

lol Nine-year-olds shouldn't be lifting. Young lifters will mess up their body structure, specifically their bone structure, if they lift. Regular every day weights (books, sporting equiptment, anything else) are good because it developes muscle for the kid to function. About six months after puberty is a good time to start lifting, but that's my opinion. I'm not an expert on when to start lifting.

 

I wasn't suggestion weight lifting, I was questioning KE's suggestion of weight lifting.

 

Hello Mrs Owt, now that I've read the other posts I'm almost speechless.
The depth of experience here and the sharing is quite overwhelming.
I'll try not to repeat any of the earlier posts.
When you begin a class it might be a good idea to ask him how he is feeling before you start. I've taught a few ADD kids and if he is not ready for the lesson trying to push it will not work.
You will need patience. It might be a good idea to make up a list of activities that span the range from calm and still to active and energetic. You will have to learn when it is best to raise or lower the excitement level.
Best wishes.

 

I've always wondered how you diagnose a 9-year-old with ADD.

I'd be scared if my 9-year-old kid WASN'T hyper all the time.

PL

 

Aren't young kids just in the process of developing attention span?

 

Mrs. Owt,

My brother has Asperger's Syndrome, a condition which gives him the mental capability of about a ten year old right now, and he is twenty-one. I do not claim to be an expert but here is what I know:

Things which promote coordination help mental development. My brother could never take Martial Arts, because he also has epilepsy and it would cause seizures most likely. But there is a student at my Dojang named Stefano, he is ten years old and has qualities like my brothers. I spoke with his father and he said since Stefano started Tang Soo Do he has been more coordinated, more confident, less frightened of trying new things, and easier to get along with.

It is as far as I know common that kids with syndromes like this tend to become idle and gain weight/eat badly etc. I think this could help.

In my opinion go for it, and I wish you the best of luck.

Jake.

 

I have to say i've really enjoyed reading this thread and seeing more of the posotives about MA helping people with this type of condition.

my two pennies being that it can be a posotive thing to give someone a focus and could probably help the others who they train with another perspective of MA.

 

Thank you for your story and encouragement Jake, I appreciate it. It is because of comments like yours and some earlier ones that I am determined to at least try and help this little boy. Thanks again!

 

I have a little experience with ADD as we had a student for a while in our class. He was aged around 11 to 12 yrs. At first i found it very difficult to handle him. But as with regular students i got to know him.
I found if i gave him personally one specific instruction at a time, he could work with that(& very well too) but after a short while he had to be given another specific instruction as he would lose the concentration & get bored, this then could lead to his misbehaving & causing disruption in the class. So i found the key was to keep referring back to him often, more often than the usual student but thats how i try to teach now, for the individual. It does indeed help to have asistants you can rely on.
If you can(or ass' instructor) take the students to one side & teach individually for a short time this may help too, as they can become bored so easily, but it is good to do this with all students as it is not then percieved as singling out any individual.

I have only this experience & don't know if this is the common way of ADD, but i hope it helps in any way.

 

I suggest you read a book called "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time"

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I had read that before I had this dilemma and I think you are right, I will revisit it. Even though it is not a scholarly tome the fact of its perspective and author are what make it very useful in this case. Thanks for the suggestion - I am going to dig it out again.

 

I was browsing the net and found this which could be of some use as well
http://hometown.aol.com/twdiii/webpage/ADDarticle/ADDArticle.htm

 

here in bristol there are even specialist judo clubs for children with autism, and this seems to work

 

Something you may want to look into is how bad the student's disabilities are. Three people I know have asperger's syndrome, and one of the things I've noticed is that one of them repeats himself, is spacey, and overreacts about many things, while the other two are pretty normal, but can act a bit odd at times. I don't know what PDD is, but if his disabilities are minimal, I recommend treating him as normally as possible.

 

Well since you were all so helpful when I was on the horns of this dilemma I figured I would give you an update.

The little boy attended his first class last night. Even for the children who do not have any developmental delays it was a dizzying evening. The class was HUGE and many things were going on.

Fortunately I had met with the little guy and his parents over the summer and he seemed to do really well in class. I think watching the BB's do a display of kicking using full power and blowing people backwards was a very helpful manouver because now he has a black and white concept that what he will be learning can really hurt someone.

I hope this is foreshadowing for the rest of his training but I fear it will not be this easy. He had an amended diagnosis over the summer and he isn't just PDD but officially diagnosed as autistic. Fortunately he has lots of support and is getting much help. Hopefully we can be a part of his progress.

Thanks again everyone for you ideas, suggestions, stories and comments. MAP'ers are the most helpful people in the world!

 

I don't understand how you can diagnose a 9 year old kid with ADD. I mean, is he REALLY that chaotic?

PL