The journey to success for kids with ADHD starts here

The Feeling of Sameness

Have you ever wished that your special needs child could live in an environment full of people who totally understand his differences? An environment where the other kids all had challenging differences too? I think we all have — all parents of kids with ADHD, autism, learning disabilities see how much our children struggle with being misunderstood and treated as an outcast. Of course we want to erase that potential pain.

To be honest, I didn’t think an invisible disabilities utopia like that existed. I send my son, Ricochet, who has ADHD, SPD, Dysgraphia, autism, and a gifted IQ to school and he feels like a failure, due to his neurological differences. I send him to track club and overhear fellow parents discussing the obvious differences in focus and body control between their child and my own. It feels like we can’t escape his differences.

Finding the Right Environment

Being mindful of his struggles, there have been many places I wouldn’t even try to send him, because it felt like feeding him to the wolves, and he doesn’t need more of that. Places like Little League, Boy Scouts, or summer camp. But what I discovered when we attended SOAR’s parents weekend is that it’s not necessarily about the activity not meshing with my child’s differences — it’s instead about finding the right environment for our special children to participate in these types of activities successfully. That is the crucial element! We should never limit our kids.

It certainly feels like these “special” places that accommodate our “special” kids are few and far between. I knew there were summer camps for kids with developmental and behavioral disorders, but they never felt financially attainable for our family and, despite that, I still felt Ricochet would struggle there, even in a catering environment.

The Feeling of Sameness

Have you ever wished that your special needs child could live in an environment full of people who totally understand his differences? An environment where the other kids all had challenging differences too? I think we all have — all parents of kids with ADHD, autism, learning disabilities see how much our children struggle with being misunderstood and treated as an outcast. Of course we want to erase that potential pain.

To be honest, I didn’t think an invisible disabilities utopia like that existed. I send my son, Ricochet, who has ADHD, SPD, Dysgraphia, autism, and a gifted IQ to school and he feels like a failure, due to his neurological differences. I send him to track club and overhear fellow parents discussing the obvious differences in focus and body control between their child and my own. It feels like we can’t escape his differences.

Finding the Right Environment

Being mindful of his struggles, there have been many places I wouldn’t even try to send him, because it felt like feeding him to the wolves, and he doesn’t need more of that. Places like Little League, Boy Scouts, or summer camp. But what I discovered when we attended SOAR’s parents weekend is that it’s not necessarily about the activity not meshing with my child’s differences — it’s instead about finding the right environment for our special children to participate in these types of activities successfully. That is the crucial element! We should never limit our kids.

It certainly feels like these “special” places that accommodate our “special” kids are few and far between. I knew there were summer camps for kids with developmental and behavioral disorders, but they never felt financially attainable for our family and, despite that, I still felt Ricochet would struggle there, even in a catering environment.