This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
In my prior post ("The Creative Gifts of ADHD"), I argued that there are a heck of a lot of creative possibilities that remain dormant in children with ADHD due to the way we treat such children in an educational context. Since that post, I've received an outpouring of emails from parents who told me stories of their children with ADHD and the immense creativity they display, and that the schools don't appreciate. The parents also asked me for recommendations for resources to help their children unleash their creativity while simultaneously helping them control their attention.
At the end of the day, that's what matters, right? That we simultaneously help children manage behaviors that are getting in the way of their flourishing, while helping them capitalize on their strengths? Based on the response I received from my post, I reached out to people whose advice I respect and compiled this list of resources for parents of children who have been labeled ADHD. Hope they are helpful! Of course, this list is by no means exhaustive. Feel free to add additional resources in the comments section!
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Books
Understanding Girls with ADHD (Kathleen Nadeau, Ellen Littman, and Patricia Quinn)
The Family ADHD Solution (Mark Bertin)
Taking Charge of ADHD (Russell Barkley)
Hyper: A Personal History of ADHD (Timothy Denevi)
More Attention, Less Deficit (Ari Tuckman)
Organizations & Online Resources
Additude website (Strategies and support for ADHD & LD)
C8 Sciences by Bruce Wexler
CLEOS counselors can help creative/ADHD “blends” to make academic and career decisions. Soon there will be an international nonprofit spinoff that will provide online assessment and skype counseling to creative adolescents everywhere! Let me know if you’d like me to set you up with their Skype counseling program.
They do “curricular interventions” when attention issues manifest in schools. They are many engagement strategies for creative thinkers who have a hard time paying attention with the standard academic diet. Also, they teach students (and their teachers and families) about creative thinking, and help them leverage their strengths.
You can find a local psychologist here.
Thanks to the following folks for helping me with this resource for parents: Catherine Reid Day, Susan Perry, Katherine Mulvenna, Barbara Kerr, Christof Putzel, Loriann Centineo, Katie Haydon, Marie Foregeard, Mark Bertin.
image credit: istockphoto