Ruth Spodak - Take Control of ADHD: The Ultimate Guide for Teens with ADHD

Jake was always getting in trouble. He didnt mean to act up; he just couldnt stop himself from moving and talking all of the time. It was like Jake had a motor inside of him that was always revving at high speed. In fact, his parents used to call him Motor Man because of the way he would run around the house with his toy cars and planes. And when he got an idea about something, Jake just could not stop himself from acting on it, such as the time when he was 6 years old and wanted to see how many LEGO bricks he could flush down the toilet. He wasnt trying to clog the toilet and flood the bathroombut thats exactly what happened. His parents were really not happy with him that day.

When they werent upset with him, his parents liked to tell stories of how they had to Jake proof the house when Jake was younger. For example, they put locks on all of the kitchen cabinets to keep 4-year-old Jake from getting into everything. They also talked about what a poor sleeper he was and how they used to end up with bruises from Jake kicking them in his sleep when he would climb into his parents bed at night. Jake didnt like these stories because they made him feel like he was a loser. Even though his parents often told him that they loved him, he was still always getting in trouble. The two most frequent phrases he heard from his parentsand teacherswere stop doing that and settle down. Jake was tired of being scolded all of the time.

Things werent much better in school either. In fact, now that hes in ninth grade, things are worse than ever. Jake has a hard time paying attention and never seems to get his class work finished. Truth is, hes bored most of the time in class, especially when his teachers are presenting new information and Jake is supposed to be taking notes. He tries to listen, but before too long his mind starts drifting, and he ends up thinking about his upcoming baseball game or what he is going to do next weekend. When he isnt daydreaming in class, Jake is talking to his friends. It is bad enough that he gets in trouble for talking, but sometimes he gets his friends in trouble too. For example, his best friend, Mike, asked to have his seat changed in English class so that he could move away from Jake. In fact, many of Jakes friends are getting frustrated with him. He has lost count of the number of times his friends tell him to chill because he is talking too much or interrupting them when they are talking. Last week the whole baseball team got upset with him because he missed an easy fly ball when he was daydreaming instead of paying attention to the game.