Guest Expert

Find the Right Education to Fit Your Child with ADHD

Are you open to the possibility that your child may learn in a different way from his or her peers? That your child's love for learning may not necessarily be best explored in a traditional educational setting? That it may take a little effort to find the right education to fit your child with ADHD?

Guest Expert Rick Green and Elaine had a wonderful conversation about how to find the right education fit for your child, and we were planning to share that interview with you here. Unfortunately, the recording was lost forever in the vast technological wasteland of the internet. So sad!

So instead of the interview itself, what follows are some of the ideas Rick shared. In a nutshell, Rick’s message is simple: find the right education fit for your child instead of trying to fit your child into something that doesn't always work for the way your child's brain is wired.

Rick's childhood report cards revealed a classic checklist of ADHD symptoms, all of which could have been clues to his underlying ADHD (had anyone known anything about it back then). He struggled through University, which ultimately had very little to do with his successful career in comedy (and now ADHD education) that followed.

As a father of two adults, he's watched a younger generation and seen many examples of young adults following the traditional path, only to find that it didn't exactly lead to happiness and success.

So what does lead young people to happiness and success?

According to Green, it's all about teaching them to focus on their interests and their strengths. If parents can be open to the possibility that a wide variety of paths might lead their kids to happiness and success, then that would allow parents to help their kids get the education they really need.

The formal education system is not designed for everyone, so when we meet our kids where they are, we can guide them most effectively. Perhaps one kid needs an extra year of university, or to sit in on classes to figure out what she likes, or to work in a temp job to find out what kind of work environment is a good fit.

Now formal education can be great for some kids, and it's important to make sure that those with ADHD have the supports they need to learn to manage school effectively.

But when the traditional path doesn't work, it's time to try a new direction.

For more on Rick Green’s passionate thoughts on education and ADHD, read his previous article, What is a “Good Education”?


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