Jumping Outside of the Box: ADHD and Kinesthetic Learning
Before my son Devon was diagnosed with ADHD, we nicknamed him Beasty Boy. The joke was if he wasn’t crashing, dashing, and bashing, he wasn’t happy. He needed to move, jump, kick, and run constantly, and from a very early age. At first we thought this was just toddler behavior, and then he was “just a boy.” Soon though, we realized that Devon’s need to move, and fast, went beyond what was considered “normal” for his age. He started chewing on everything, and kept it up. He was very loud often at inappropriate times. And he was always fidgeting, unable to concentrate for more than a moment. It began to impact his ability to learn and be social. We knew we had to do something.
We spent several years and went through myriad tools and therapies to come to terms with his crashing and bashing, and the struggles that resulted from his inattention and constant need to seek out sensory experiences, but nothing seemed to “cure” him. And that’s what I was looking for, a cure. Something was “wrong” with my son and he needed to be fixed. If it wasn’t my job as his mother, then whose was it?
Needless to say, we were nervous when it came time to send Devon to kindergarten. And within a few weeks, our concerns were realized. All we heard from his teacher was, “he just wants to play.” And that’s bad news for a kindergarten student. It means they don’t want to conform with the class, to sit still and learn, and that they aren’t doing well.
Things started to get serious when the teacher informed us that he wasn’t keeping up with the rest of his class in memorizing learning his sight words. I knew Devon was smart, I knew it, but I just couldn’t get him to sit down long enough to “teach him.” I became frustrated, but out of that frustration came a breakthrough. After some research, I found a book called “The Out Of Sync Child” which opened up the world of sensory learning to me, and the idea that Devon could be a kinesthetic hands-on learner who needed sensory play.
You see, the mind of a child is incredibly active, and it’s difficult for them to block out those sensory experiences. I like to compare it to a carnival. The sights and sounds of the rides, the smells of funnel cake and buttered popcorn, the presence of the crowd all around you. Children with sensory issues have a hard time learning how to listen to only one sense at a time. That is why it’s so difficult for them to learn in a traditional classroom, even more so for kids who are active learners that feed off of experience. Because we’re taking a child that can’t differentiate what they’re seeing, smelling, feeling, and touching and asking them to sit still and concentrate. Their desk becomes a seatbelt and the classroom a jail.
But back to Devon’s sight words. Through research I learned that children who are hands-on learners need to experience things from a sensory perspective. And if you can engage all five senses, then you can engage the brain. So, armed with Devon’s sight cards, I got a baking dish and lined the bottom of it with cinnamon and sugar. Then I showed him a card and asked him to write the word in the bottom of the baking dish, and explain what it meant. When he was done, he got to lick his finger. Using this method, Devon learned his sight words in a week and a half.
A WEEK AND A HALF.
If there ever was an “aha moment” for me, that was it. My son might have ADHD, but what if in many cases an ADHD diagnosis is actually a child that needs sensory experiential learning? What if that diagnosis becomes all we see and we stop asking the questions and doing what it takes to help that child learn in the way they need to? The label becomes the frame through which we see the child. And we box them in. We stop trying to teach them in new ways to engage their mind and harness their energy. We limit who they can be because we make them fit what’s “normal” instead of using their uniqueness to chart a new life for them.
That day I decided that I didn’t want my child to fit in a box that says, “This is how the world operates.” Instead, I want to bring the world to him and say, “Now let’s make sense of it in light of who God made you to be.” Which is a mover. A shaker. A kid who experiences life.
It’s important to talk to your doctor if your child might be showing symptoms of ADHD, but ultimately, you know your child best. You need to ensure that your doctor, and you as a parent, are assessing your child from a perspective that thinks about both the diagnostic indicators of ADHD and the behavioral aspects of kinesthetic leaners. A good place to start is with this learning style assessment to find out just what type of learner your mover is. If he is a kinesthetic or visual learner, just know that traditional teaching methods, which are 70% auditory, are not going to be best for him. And if you’re still curious, below is a handy infographic on some of the differences between both and some shocking statistics about ADHD misdiagnosis in America.
And, even if your child does have classic ADHD, it’s not a tragedy! It can be a gift. The reality is, when we take away the restrictive walls of education for these hands on learners and give them the ability to move, we open up the door to success in ways we can’t even image. It might mean math facts are done on a trampoline and spelling tests while your child is swinging. It might mean you have to break out of the “school” box you’ve put your child or homeschooling routine into. But it just may be the best decision you’ve ever made. I know with every jumping jack, with every bounce on the trampoline or throw of a ball during math time that I am putting Devon first.
It’s been 5 years since Devon’s initial diagnosis and we’ve never used medication. Now I no longer view my son’s diagnosis as a burden. Yes, sometimes it can be exhausting, but it’s who he is. It’s an asset, and part of whom God needs him to be to serve Him best. And I hope that this new insight will help other parents struggling to cope with their child’s behavioral disorder find the right path for themselves.
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