At Kids Place Therapy Services, we believe that helping children thrive starts with understanding the whole child.

October is ADHD Awareness Month, a time to increase understanding of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), celebrate the unique strengths of children with ADHD, and explore the many ways we can support their success at home, at school, and in everyday life.

When a child struggles to sit still, focus on a task, follow directions, manage emotions, or complete daily routines, it can be easy to focus only on the behavior we see. But what if we took a step back and looked at the bigger picture?

At Kids Place Therapy Services, we believe that before building higher-level skills, we must first evaluate and strengthen the foundational skills that support them. This holistic approach helps us better understand what a child needs to feel regulated, engaged, and ready to learn.

Looking Beyond the Symptoms of ADHD

ADHD can affect a child’s attention, impulse control, activity level, organization, and ability to manage everyday demands. Every child experiences ADHD differently, and each child brings their own strengths, interests, and challenges.

While strategies such as visual schedules, reminders, movement breaks, and organizational tools can be incredibly helpful, it is also important to consider the foundational factors that influence a child’s ability to participate in daily life.

Think about a house. Before adding additional floors, we need a stable foundation. The same principle applies to child development.

If a child is not sleeping well, struggles with eating enough nourishing foods, or has difficulty with breathing and regulation, these factors may influence attention, energy, mood, and participation throughout the day. Addressing these foundational needs does not eliminate ADHD, but it can help create better conditions for a child to learn, grow, and use their skills.

At Kids Place Therapy Services, we look at the whole child rather than focusing on one behavior or one skill in isolation.

Start With the Foundation: Sleep, Nutrition, and Breathing

1. Sleep: The Foundation for Attention and Regulation

Sleep plays an important role in children’s attention, memory, emotional regulation, and overall well-being. When children do not get enough quality sleep, they may have a harder time managing frustration, staying engaged in activities, or coping with the demands of the day.

For children with ADHD, sleep difficulties can be especially important to recognize because ADHD and sleep problems can occur together.

Some questions we may consider include:

• Is the child getting enough sleep for their age?
• Do they have a consistent bedtime and wake-up routine?
• Do they have difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up in the morning?
• Do caregivers notice snoring, restless sleep, or persistent daytime fatigue?

Supporting healthy sleep habits may include creating predictable bedtime routines, reducing stimulating activities before bed, and establishing a consistent sleep schedule. Persistent sleep concerns, particularly loud snoring or pauses in breathing, should be discussed with a healthcare professional.

When sleep improves, some children may find it easier to participate in daily routines and learning activities.

2. Nutrition: Fueling the Growing Brain and Body

Children need adequate nutrition to support growth, energy, learning, and participation in everyday activities. However, mealtimes can be challenging for some children with ADHD.

A child may have difficulty sitting through a meal, become distracted while eating, have a limited range of preferred foods, or struggle to recognize hunger and fullness cues. Medication can also affect appetite for some children.

Rather than simply telling a child to eat better or sit still at the table, we can explore what may be contributing to the challenge.

Questions to consider include:

• Is the child eating regularly throughout the day?
• Are sensory sensitivities affecting food acceptance?
• Is the child able to participate comfortably in mealtimes?
• Are distractions, routines, or environmental factors making eating difficult?
• Are there concerns about growth, nutritional adequacy, or restricted food intake?

Occupational therapy can help children develop greater participation in mealtime routines, address sensory barriers, and build independence with feeding-related activities when appropriate. 

3. Breathing and Regulation: Helping the Body Feel Ready

Breathing is an important part of how we regulate our bodies, manage stress, and respond to our environment. Some children benefit from learning simple breathing strategies to help them pause, recognize how they feel, and transition between activities.

For example, a child who becomes overwhelmed during homework may benefit from a brief movement break, a calm environment, and guided slow breathing before returning to the task.

We also recognize that breathing concerns can sometimes be connected to sleep quality or other medical issues. Persistent mouth breathing, chronic nasal congestion, noisy breathing, or snoring may warrant evaluation by a healthcare professional.

At Kids Place Therapy Services, we consider whether a child has the opportunity to develop effective regulation strategies and whether environmental or physical factors may be making participation more difficult.

Breathing exercises are not a treatment for ADHD itself, but they may be one useful tool within an individualized plan to support self-regulation.

This October as we celebrate ADHD Awareness Month, we encourage families to look beyond the behaviors they see and consider the foundational factors that may influence their child’s everyday experiences.

If you have questions about how occupational therapy may support your child with ADHD, contact Kids Place Therapy Services to learn more about our services and how we can partner with your family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While having time off from school before the next year can help your children unwind, it is important for children to participate in activities that stimulate their minds. Many children lose about one month’s worth of reading and math skills over the summer.  

In order to make sure your children maintain what they learned in school over the summer, you can:

• Limit screen time. Too much time in front of the screen means less time children are allowing their minds to be creative and use critical thinking. Set an appropriate time limit on screens each day so that they have more time to play outside and engage in problem solving tasks.
• Have your children read for 15-20 minutes a day and complete 3-5 age-appropriate math problems each day.
• Combine gross motor games with academic skills. Catching a ball back and forth while counting or answering trivia questions is a way for children to use gross motor movements along with critical thinking. This improves problem solving skills, attention, and motor coordination. 
• Encourage your children to play outside every day. When children are outside running, climbing, and riding bikes, their brains are using different neurological pathways that help strengthen different movement patterns. Not only is movement important for your children’s regulation, it helps children who are still developing their speech coordinate movements required to form words and sounds.  
• Create movement games indoors. On days where it’s too hot to go outside, create fun indoor games that involve movement and critical thinking such as Simon Says, Twister, scavenger hunts, and multi-step obstacle courses.

Since children don’t spend much time in the classroom during the summer, it is a perfect time for them to be outside and participate in games that involve problem solving. If children are able to maintain the academic skills they already know, they will be more confident learning new skills during the upcoming school year.