A Tale of Two ADHD Kids

ADHD Kid #1 - Oscar - Beginning Instruments - Drummer

Oscar's mom e-mailed his teachers on the second day of school. She basically laid out his behavior patterns, and gave suggestions for being pro-active at dealing with his behavior in a positive way. She invited the teachers to stay in contact with her regarding his progress.

As advertised, Oscar is one squirly kid. Constantly talking and distracting other students. Underneath all that erratic energy, however, is a kid that loves to drum... and drum he does, on anything within reach. I can work with that. Plus, he has something likable about him... can't put my finger on it...

ADHD Kid #2 - Samantha - Beginning Strings - Violin

Samantha's reputation got to me before she did. Two separate students warned me about her before the first day of school - how they found out she was signing up for orchestra, I don't know. By the way, my informants are not Sam's age - she's a 7th-grader. The two students in question are upperclassmen who know about her through various disastrous interactions at other institutions... the "kicked out of summer day camp" variety.

Since the first day of school Samantha has managed to earn the ire of my string coach by refusing to participate in class - claiming "I just don't get it" as an excuse to to completely mentally check out a majority of the time. On Friday she packed up her violin 20 minutes early and refused to cooperate. Today she came in and said that she left her instrument at home by accident (Which I suspected was B.S., because she's probably the last kid who would take her instrument home to practice... I should have checked her locker, but I didn't have time)

She doesn't have me pulling my hair out... yet... Fortunately I've had more than my fair share of ADHD kids, and I know how to deal with them, especially the ones who use their 'condition' as an excuse to get away with stuff. At some point they either have to agree to work around their 'condition', or they have to admit that they are not in control of themselves, and that being a member of a musical performing group is beyond their capability.

Oscar has hope - I'm not sure about Samantha.

Oh and I forgot Ned, one of the new drummers in band - he doesn't have ADHD... just bad judgment. Tomorrow I have to retrieve something from the inside of a bass drum that he managed to slip through one of the pressure holes... just because he was bored.