Any recommendations to help an ADD child keep still in a church service?

Question

Our 1 room church is often packed on Sunday with children and grown-ups and there is a 3rd grade boy with ADD who comes with his single mother and has a hard time during the service. Everyone tries to help out,but he can get pretty antsy, going up and playing musical instruments during the service, tried to play around with the projector, goes back to the "nusery" area and makes huge messes and brings back dangerous materials (such as scissors or chokable items) which he refuses to clean up or keep away from the small kids. He has also hurt some kids unintentionally. His mother says he needs an adult to stay with him all the time in school and she says she has a hard time controlling him as well.

We have tried giving him access to books, toys, games, given him roles (such as passing out pamphlets when people come in the door and playing a box drum during worship time), but he cannot keep himself occupied for very long before he is getting into mischeif. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Blessings for all you have tried to help this mom and son. I agree with the first answer the mom needs to look at his diet. the dyes they use on foods like cereal will do this to a child. the red dyes especially can be bad. I have a son that was the same way and we determined that is was food allergies. once that was found out he calmed down. I also used to make him play very hard running and jumping until he was tired out. Just talk to this mom and suggest she look into food allergies and keep him off the red dyes. also if he is truly hyper and not just active. have her try a plain cup of coffee no sugar caffeine had the opposite effect on people that are truly hyper. Good luck

Answer 2

I think u should recommend she takes a look at is diet. No wheat, no artificial colours or sweetners etc, no lactose. Mostly fruits and veggies and grains etc. I believe it's all about the diet.

Answer 3

His mother needs to get up and remove him from the service. That's not fair to everyone else. It's not anyone else's responsibility.

Answer 4

Has she tried medication?  I know its the evil of the world when someone says to medicate a child.  But in all fairness there truely are some people with ADHD and ADD that benifit from taking them.  I do not adovcate it for every person on the earth, who is a bit distracted or impulsive.  

But.  I have two friends, who without the medication couldnt lead normal lives or work to support themselves.  John takes a small dose of medication daily.  He tried everything in the book. Diet modification, herbs, oils.  even accupuncture and behavoir modification.  None helped.  A small dose of Ritalin at breakfast and he now works as a engineering designer.  My other friend is a copy editor for a newspaper.  She uses a differnt medication but is so scattered without it she had lost a car in the past,  stoped got out and distracted because she "had to do something" and then couldnt remember exactly where she left it parked.  

For the meantime, in your church.  See if you can talk to some of the teens, and if they will help by getting him outside when he becomes overly active and disruptive.  A youth group at the chruch I went to did that with 4 children with ADD that disrupted the whole service.  While its not their responcibility to control them, their mothers are so grateful for the smallest respite, and chance to be alone with other adults that its worth it.

Answer 5

He is a little old for the advice Im about to give, but I think it will still work. My son has severe ADHD. When he was 2 ,

I started teaching him how to control him self. When he couldnt sit still or had a fit I would calmly sit indian syle on the floor and place him on my lap. I then put his arms around his chest like he is hugging himself and I would place mine over his. It is very important for the adult to stay calm and talk in a low calm voice even if the child is screaming. Dont say things like calm down. Just talk normal about anything else. Do not hold him tight either. When the fit or behavior is over then let go of him and dont say a word about it. You have to do this every time he gets out of control. My son is 12 now and does not take any meds. I do catch him if he gets angry sitting down and hugging himself. He even talks himself down. Please keep in mind this is not a fast fix, but it worked for me and at least 10 other mom's I had try it. Please remember this child does not mean to be bad. In his mind he cant proccess things like we can. He cant stop and think cause and effect unless he is staught to slow his own mind. I also have a stepson in collage I used this on and he doesnt need meds either. It is my opinion meds just cover the ADHD symptoms up. I think a child needs to learn how to control it himself. I really hope this helps. If I can be of any further assistance please dont hesitate to email me. [e-mail]