Strategies for Calm : Autism , ADHD and OCD By Kelly Jean Sullivan

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Without calm, no learning can take place and no problems can be solved.

7 Ways to Calm Your Child with ADHD

• Follow instructions. .
• Be consistent with your parenting. 
• Break up homework with activities. .
• Form the behavior. .
• Allow them to fidget. .
• Let your child play before taking on big tasks. .
• Help them practice relaxation

Create an actual or virtual Calm Kit

Depending on the age of your child, you may want to help him develop an actual or virtual “Calm Kit.” An actual Calm Kit will have some physical items or representations of these items in the form of pictures or words. Your child can decorate a box or keep a backpack full of useful items. Keep a Calm Kit in your child’s room, in the car, or in any other place where it might become useful. In creating an actual Calm Kit, you will certainly want to include your child. The process of making the kit may be a valuable lesson in and of itself. At times, merely having the physical kit will be enough to help your child call upon his or her reserves to switch gears and calm down. Be creative and change the contents often. Here are some physical items you may keep in the kit:

• Stickers
• Crayons
• Paper
• Bubbles (the act of blowing bubbles can help calm a child and regulate breathing)
• Cards
• Play-Doh
• Small hand toys
• Laminated card with ideas like I Spy and other interactive verbal games

You can discuss with your child the ways he can calm down that don’t involve “things” that can be placed in a kit, such as the suggestions that follow:

● Have your child regulate his breathing and visualize his body relaxing.

• Try this: At the beginning or end of a meal, or in the car, ask everyone to sit at the edge of their seat so that their backs are nice and straight and their feet are under their knees. Then have everyone breathe in through their nose slowly, then hold for 2 seconds, and then breathe out through their nose slowly. You can have everyone place one hand on their heart and one on their belly so they can feel their breathing. Repeat this three or four times each day. See if everyone can experience a nice, calm feeling.

● Make laminated cards with ideas your child has to help him calm down.

● Suggest quiet time in a room—just like a turtle learns to go into his shell when scared or threatened.

● Provide something for your child to use to vent his anger/ frustration (drumsticks on a pillow, punching bag, etc.).

● Suggest physical exercise to release some tension. In fact, exercise increases levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine in our brains. A lower level of serotonin is associated with depression. Try a brisk walk or run around the block, 5 minutes of basketball, “wall push-ups” (place your hands on the wall and lean in and out), handball, lifting weights. Playing ping-pong or Nerf ball against a wall can let you hit hard without causing any damage.

● Consider a bath or using some soothing scents.

● Provide a journal or pad of paper for your child to write down thoughts and feelings to help him gain clarity, release negativity, and perhaps begin to brainstorm a more positive response to the trigger.

● See if perhaps your child has or would like some type of soothing blanket or cloth. It need not be associated with a baby blanket to bring true comfort and relaxation.

● Provide music or magazines to flip through.

● Help your child learn words of emotions (“I feel…”) so he can tell you how he is feeling. For younger kids, you can print up Emoji pictures with different expressions and laminate them.