Lisa Aro and husband Mark

I’m happy to report that our Mother’s Day with ADHD: How to Keep It Happy! webinar went off (almost) without a hitch.

On a personal note, I was terrified before we started. I’d planned to create a visual presentation but only had 3 hours to create it – right before the webinar!

With minimal time, I decided I’d keep it simple, and let the content be the focus of our session. I knew my special guest had great content, having read her excellent blog, Queen of the Distracted, and having had a preliminary phone call to plan what we’d cover in our webinar.

But – what I didn’t count on was for three friends to drop in – all at the same time – and all needing my attention just before the webinar!

t horizontal.integration via Compfight

It appears that my little rant on spanking has struck a mighty chord.

In addition to readers and comments here at my blog, I’ve received a lot of input on my Facebook page and elsewhere from those weighing in on the weighty topic of how the heck do we deal with our ADHD kids?

It’s distressing to see that some of you (and I suspect many more whom I haven’t  heard from) are suffering and agonizing over what the right way to discipline your ADHD children.

The blog comment that tipped the scale was (excerpted here):

“…how in the world do you get an ADHD kid to learn the social skills required to get along in life before their parent finally finally [sic] loses it and spanks them..” [read molbiomom's full Comment here]

How indeed?

Vinoth Chandar via Compfight

In Spanking Hurts ADHD Kids More Than You Think, Part I, we considered the first 2 of 7 critical factors that suggest that spanking may be especially detrimental to ADHD kids.

Having considered an ADHD child’s heightened sensitivity and their parent(s)’ possible undiagnosed ADHD as two reasons to rule out spanking, let’s move on to the 5 final considerations.

D. Sharon Pruitt via Compfight

Recently, I read Parenting a Child With ADHD – Is Spanking Helpful? by ADHD expert Keath Low. Low does a good job of explaining why it’s difficult to parent a child with ADHD, and offers some general guidelines on how to do so appropriately.

From my perspective, some critical considerations about whether or not to spank a child with ADHD need to be added to the discussion.

Full disclosure

My mom hit me until I was 17.

Paolo Margari via Compfight

Finding the positive side in any situation is something I’m pretty good at. In spite of life’s challenges, I’ve been called “insufferably cheerful” (whatever that means) and consider myself to be irrationally optimistic.

Even so (and even though it’s been over 7 years since my ADHD diagnosis) until recently, I couldn’t really come up with any benefits of being diagnosed later rather than sooner. (Besides the obvious one of life finally making sense.) (Sort of.)

Imagine my surprise when I finally did stumble over a plus.

While enjoying some live funk / R&B music at a local venue last night (with a kick-ass female vocalist fronting the band, I might add), I suggested to my younger companion that we should request a special song for International Women’s Day.

“What’s that?” she asked.

I have tremendous respect for this amazing mom of 7; with her intelligent, inquiring mind, I’m not surprised she asked. I was happy to share. It’s not the first time over the years I’ve introduced another woman (or girl, or entire classroom of young students) to IWD.

International Women’s Day reminds us that human rights for women (such as the right to vote!) are not universal and cannot be taken for granted; they’re hard-won and had to be fought for – have to be fought for as we see how easily stripped away they are, once gained (witness the current and seemingly endless controversy over Roe vs. Wade amongst my southern neighbors).

7 ADHD Advantages to Help You Butt Out

photo credit: Arif Akhtar (AAPhoto)

If you have ADHD, chances are one of your New Year’s resolutions is to quit smoking.

Sadly, research shows that not only are more people with ADHD addicted to cigarettes, we’re more deeply addicted to them.

Don’t despair!

I’ve recently discovered a book called Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking.

Sir Richard Branson, famed Virgin Airlines entrepreneur, is an ex-smoker who has publicly acknowledged his ADHD. He’s also been a long-time advocate of Carr’s approach.

Gaining ADHD social skills while socializing at the pub instead of social media

A friend’s recent abdication from a popular social media site and his careful reasoning behind it gave me pause. Not for the first time, I considered my own participation in social media.

In the past, I’d often bemoaned the fact that younger generations are missing out on what I consider to be critical social skills. How can you learn social graces and develop social aptitude when your face’s buried in an App?

Boing!

These two considerations collided forcefully this morning.

I landed at the intersection between my own acquisition of social skills versus my social media use.

Only yesterday, I’d been congratulating my friend for opting out of social media in favor of increased face time. Yet I hadn’t considered how my own online interactions were affecting my hard-won social skills.

photo credit: saxoncampbell

Ever wonder why your favorite Christmas Carols are your favorites?

Thinking about that the other day I discovered the reasons why, over the years, certain yuletide tunes appealed to my ADHD self.

Jingle Bells

I don’t know about you, but when I was little, singing “alternative” lyrics to Jingle Bells was the sign of a rebel. And who amongst us with ADHD (especially those of us in the blurtatious a.k.a. verbally impulsive camp) can’t relate to that?

Bonus points if you were brave enough to sing “Jingle Bells, Santa smells…” in front of a teacher or parent. (Guess who got the most bonus points?) (There’s no point in being jealous; you’ll never catch up to me now. Pin your hopes on your ADHD kids.)

Morpheus: This is your last chance. After this there is no turning back. You take the blue pill the story ends you wake up in your bed and you believe whatever you want to believe.

You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

[Neo reaches for the red pill]

Morpheus: Remember. All I’m offering is the truth, nothing more.

[Neo swallows the red pill]

- from the film The Matrix, 1999

Sometimes I wish I’d taken the blue pill.