I think it’s so important to emphasize to teens that ADHD or LD does not mean you are stupid or less intelligent. As you well know, some of our greatest minds and historical figures exhibit symptoms that we would now suspect as ADHD. I can’t say enough about how important it is to ensure that we always project the most positive aspects of this condition and always present it as a challenge rather than a completely negative disorder, since this can often lead to unnecessary stigmatization.

Great website. I will add to my feedlist.

-Chris

‘Keep in mind that difficulty in school does not equate with lack of intelligence. Different kids excel at different things. Remember also that thousands of other parents have made this journey before you.

“It is important to remind people that children with learning disabilities are among our brightest and most gifted.”

— David Neeleman, CEO, JetBlue Airways
Honorary Chairman, Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities

However I found giving awards , finding a ‘ winner’ , finding the best and most successful kids counterproductive to helping kids deal with very personal challenges. We can recognize and pursue excellence without the negativity of competition for the kids who did not make the list or have not made it but are still trying very hard.

People often react to awards like these , imagine if he was just smart , how far he could go . The kid is more than the diagnosis, why define him thus . If as the Chairman of Smart kids said that LD , ADHD has nothing to do with intelligence and potential for achievement, why make a competition only for them , is this the same idea as the olympics for disabled.

The implications of ‘ competition ‘ in our educational system is widely discussed by Alfie Kohn. He talks about an alternative , cooperative learning.
From AK’s article – Competition vs Excellence
scroll down article section of his site http://alfiekohn.org/

we should review recent surveys of managers in which their top complaint about employees is that so few know how to work effectively with others.

Indeed, where would they have learned that skill? In most American classrooms, students are forced to work against each other, competing for gold stars, grades, and recognition. The central lesson that all competition teaches is that everyone else is a potential obstacle to one’s own success.

Instead of more competitiveness, we need to emphasize cooperation, which research and experience suggest is far more likely to produce real excellence. The President apparently is unaware of perhaps the most exciting development in American education over the last decade, which is known as cooperative learning. When students are encouraged to work in pairs or small groups to help each other to learn, they feel better about themselves, like each other more, and develop more sophisticated cognitive strategies that result in higher achievement .

Can ADHD , LD kids benefit from cooperative learning. Yes ! I remember the words of an child ADHD doc/consultant praising the ‘ Chavruta system used in studying the Jewish legal case studies – the Talmud , discussing the text in pairs and then in a bigger group as the answer for these children. Cooperative learning promotes so many life skills , cognitive skills

From
Caring Kids, the role of schools., – the importance of cooperative learning
Cooperation, by virtue of being an interaction in which two or more people work together for mutual benefit, is not itself an example of prosocial behavior as the term is usually used. Neither does its successful use presuppose the existence of prosocial motives in all children. Rather, by creating interdependence and a built-in incentive to help, cooperative learning promotes prosocial behavior.

The question from the site ‘ Do you want to show this special child how proud you are, and how much you respect him or her? . I think we need to be able to love and respect a kid , not because of their achievements but for who they are. Love and respect is pretty personal and should be unconditional.

Again thanks for sharing . I recommend everyone to read the stories.

Allan