Can we give them art?

[Douglas]

Whether your ADHD child is home-schooled or being helped thru public/private school, we as parents inevitably see communication failures and a struggle in our child for self-expression that others will accept.

Often, the formal communication paths that schools create are not compatible with our child's cognitive possibilities. Might we have success in giving our child an outlet that has not fixed "correct" response, one that lets them do the best with what they have?

By this, I refer to art and music. Have you tried this, or discussed it with your child's psychiatrist/teachers? I had limited but encouraging success with my two ADHD kids by giving them access to musical self-expression and letting them run free. They are older now, and in one case it took, the other it didn't. But I'm so glad I tried. With more time and more help, it might have done even more good.

Has anyone else had such an experience, or considered such a course?

[catseye]

Very interesting... The school that sd goes to does incorporate art and music, but I dont think it is quite to the extent you are talking..

Sd is allowed to "sing" the letters to the word she is attempting to spell, and it does help a great deal for her (she has a beautiful voice in my utterly biased opinion LOL)...

Art we use for anger management basically... What other things are done in this type of course??

cat

[sierra]

We make musical expression available in this house. Let me see. An acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, two bass guitars because DH has a Fender Jazz he plans to pass down to the grandkids, a paino, a synthesizer, 3 regular band instruments and 4-5 recorders (flutes). Oh yeah and the drum set. They fiddle with all the instruments and want more. The next instrument we'll get is probably a better acoustic guitar with steel strings. We'll have to move to a bigger house before we get the dang tuba. I'll have to leave home before they get a real trap set. I just keep hoping nobody settles on drums as their main instrument.

The sprouts like creating graphic art on the computer. They like real art too. Bean Sprout writes lyrics to songs for his garage band.

Bean Sprout is very creative and uses arts of many forms to express himself. Li'l Sprout is more logical. That boy has the makings of a lawyer much as it pains me to contemplate. No offense to any lawyers here.

Art in the classroom was a joke until middle school. They've got a humdinger of an art teacher and the students amaze themselves at what they can do when they have real professional art supplies at hand. The material fee is steep but worth every penny.