I’m blown away by how out of touch many parents and educators are when it comes to understanding why our kids with ADHD do what they do.

Please Please Please STOP seeing undesirable behavior as the problem and stopping said behavior as the solution.

I had an exchange with a mother in an ADHD Facebook group. Her son keeps getting in trouble for hitting classmates.

Other parents in the group suggested dietary changes, medications and a functional behavior assessment.

My suggestion, ask him why he hits his classmates.

We determined that her son is very anxious and wants things to happen in a certain way because he feels calmer when things are predictable.

When a classmate doesn’t follow the unspoken plan he becomes anxious and hits the student.

The issue here is a student with inflexible and self centered core beliefs. Pills and diets won’t help here but a good counselor or coach can.