Recreation for neurodivergent children
We often find that it’s not what children and teens learn in school that counts, but what they learn outside of school.
If parents are passionate about sports, they will introduce their children to sport. Some families live in a religious tradition or serve others as volunteers, and will take their kids along. My friend’s family has a history of playing board games together, and she has been introducing the games she played as a child to her own children. In our family it’s books, music, and TV. What family traditions do you have?
Neurodivergent people are usually seen as creative. Sports are also a good way to burn off excess energy, as well as keeping fit. Just like with neurotypicals, any hobby or sport may be suitable. The best ones vary according to the individual.
Morning exercise
Can children or adults exercise before school or work? Or walk the dog? Walking or riding a bike to school helps with fitness and makes it easier for some children (those with ADHD, for example) to concentrate. They can certainly play sport after school / work, or use a trampoline in the garden.
A recent study found that 30 minutes of exercise before school can help kids with ADHD focus and manage moods.
Read more about daily exercise ideas for children with ADHD.
Playtime for children
- Try play therapy with your children.
- Children enjoy diving hands first into play experiences. Completing the tasks of building blocks, working a puzzle, or drawing pictures will yield skills that the child will use throughout his lifetime. A toy that can be used in many ways, and those that activate more than one sense will automatically be more enjoyable. Multi-sensory activities open up more pathways to brain development.
- Some board Game suggestions for kids with Dysgraphia: Boggle, Bananagrams, Storycubes, and Pictionary (especially combined with a whiteboard and large marker.
More schools are including exercise in their curricula to help kids do better in the classroom. A school in Colorado starts off students’ days with 20 minutes of aerobic exercise to increase alertness. If they act up in class, they aren’t given time-outs but time-ins: 10 minutes of activity on a stationary bike or an elliptical trainer. “The result is that kids realise they can regulate their mood and attention through exercise,” says Ratey. “That’s empowering.”
Many UK schools do the Daily Mile. Belgium has now joined this initiative.
An excellent article included in the book “Developing Recreation Skills in Persons with learning disabilities” by Lorraine C. Peniston explains why it’s useful for children and adults who have learning disabilities to also take the time to pursue leisure activities. The book also includes in-depth information on many different types of learning disabilities, and how they (as well as executive function difficulties) can cause interference with recreation.
Some conditions include dyscalculia, dyslexia, auditory acuity difficulty, auditory-vocal association problems, auditory memory deficit and auditory sequencing problems. Auditory and visual over-stimulation can also cause difficulties.
Chess and ADHD, autism, learning difficulties
Our organisation encourages the use of chess as a tool for therapeutic and educational purposes, especially targeting people with ADHD, as well as other groups with learning difficulties or autism.
Different chess based tools can stimulate certain cognitive abilities, such as concentration, memory, attention, spatial visualization, abstract reasoning and making of decisions.
Jonass (Flemish autism group)
JonASS is a Flemish group based in Leuven for autistic adolescents. They organise monthly activities, and an annual summer camp.
Sports
Sports are often recommended for people with ADHD.
- Finding many high profile people have ADHD completely blew my mind
- What’s up with athletes and ADHD?
- 3 inspiring athletes with ADHD
- Top 5 Sports for Autism + Dyspraxia
Athletics events give your child an opportunity to improve themselves without having to compete with other children. Different events provide variety for children who are easily bored, and different skills are required such as running, jumping, and throwing. Track and field events are an effective way to encourage discipline, pacing, and routine.
Sports such as archery, martial arts, swimming, diving, and ballet focus on mastering individual skills and are particularly good for children with ADHD. When a child with ADHD is active in a sport (especially if the sport has a feeling of controlled risk or excitement to it, such as rock wall climbing, horseback riding, or martial arts), it can help them develop a better ability to focus and sustain attention in other areas of life, suggests Debbie Crews, PhD, of Arizona State University.
Martial arts are indoor sports, so not weather dependent. Good for moving different parts of the body and for self-defense. It helps to promote focus and concentration, and to learn self-discipline.
Children with ADHD do better when they get plenty of individual attention from coaches. They are more likely to succeed with individual sports such as wrestling, swimming and diving, martial arts, and tennis — or even more rarified endeavours such as fencing and horseback riding.
Baseball as an ADHD team sport
While individual sports may provide certain benefits for kids with ADHD, there are still some team sports that they may enjoy playing. If an athlete with ADHD would like to play team sports, “Basketball, hockey and soccer are sports where the athletes are almost always moving and there’s very little idle time,” Dr. Pollack explains. “That constant motion provides a good outlet for the athletes to use their energy, and having less idle time, means they are less likely to become distracted.”
How to make a sport neuroinclusive
5 top tips to consider for sports organisations, clubs and more from Differing Minds
- Use visual aids / show don’t tell – we all process information differently so it’s important to use more than words to ensure everyone is included.
- Support and encouragement – there’s an often strange mentality in sports that we need to push players really hard and ensure they can cope with the stress. But for many neurodivergent people (and others!) this won’t work, and support and encouragement is far more productive.
- Equip captains, coaches, team mates and colleagues with neurodiversity knowledge – without it how can we expect them to understand and enable everyone.
- Recognise sensory differences – the sensory environment can have a huge impact on a person’s ability to engage and perform. If this isn’t understood we can often put people in an environment that’s working against them and their potential.
- Understand the impact of transitions and routines – transitions can be hard to handle for some, even small transitions. But there are ways to make these as smooth as possible. Conversely, routines can be really beneficial and this can work really well in sports.
Sports and dyslexia
When helping your child to choose a sport, look at how dyslexia may affect their own learning style, strengths, and weaknesses. Shawn tried karate for a while, but discovered that hand-eye coordination problems made that activity difficult for him. Amy finally settled on swimming as her favourite sport, and the one at which she excelled. “I was good at listening to and applying the things my coaches said. If they said ‘hold your elbows this way’ I did it—and remembered it each time. Also,” she laughs, “in a swimming pool with clearly marked lanes, you always know exactly where you’re supposed to be!”
Arts and music
Some autistic people may enjoy arts and music.
ADHD and Video Games
Studies have shown that playing video games may actually be beneficial. The idea that video games can be effective in treating ADHD is centred around a relatively new treatment called neurofeedback. In neurofeedback, a patient is asked to focus on a monitor or television screen while electrodes are placed on his or her scalp.
Writing
Plenty of neurodivergent folks love reading and writing. Check out this list of neurodivergent books and authors.
