Part 2 of 2 Incredible Discoveries About Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Let them Squirm – It Helps Them Learn!

Before reading this 2nd scientific discovery, make sure to read the first - here.

II.

Have you heard a parent or teacher yelling at a child to "sit still and concentrate"? A command echoing through classrooms and homes,  especially towards children and adolescents with ADHD. But what if I told you, this is counterproductive advice? The opposite of what you should be barking out?

Outdated norms of how children think and learn? Nah, this looks like my 11-year old daughter’s classroom today.

A groundbreaking study found that the foot-tapping, leg-swinging, and chair-scooting movements of youth with ADHD are not signs of distraction but vital to how they remember information and tackle complex cognitive tasks.

This revelation means that typical interventions seeking to reduce ADHD in kids might be misguided. It's not about letting kids with ADHD run rampant. Instead, it's about channeling bodily movement into mental activity. Transforming their squirms, wiggles, and fidgets into kinetic energy that powers the wheels of information foraging and retention - exactly what precedes knowledge acquisition.

This research carries major implications for how parents, teachers, and society at large should engage with ADHD. It suggests that facilitating movement helps rather than hinders performance.

The Dirty Data Details

The study was conducted in the University of Central Florida clinic and involved a group of 52 boys, aged 8 to 12 years. Out of these, 29 boys had been diagnosed with ADHD while the remaining 23 showed no sign of behavioral problems.

The researchers designed a series of interesting tasks to measure "working memory" - the system our brain uses to temporarily store and manage information.

Here's how it worked: The children were shown a series of scrambled numbers and a letter that quickly appeared and disappeared on a computer screen. Their challenge? Put the numbers in order and remember the letter, all while a high-speed camera recorded their every move and observers monitored their focus on the task.

This innovative method provided a window into children's minds, allowing researchers to observe how they processed information and managed distractions.

Previous research unveiled that hyperactive children's excessive movement, previously thought to be constant, is actually only evident when they need to use their working memory. And the core problem of ADHD is working memory - which fails to be captured adequately by the AD - attention deficit - or the H - hyperactivity.

REFRAME: think of ADHD as a problem in “persisting” and “resisting.” Persisting at activities that are uninteresting but important. Resisting distractions that can prevent you from staying on-task.

This work offers an important leap forward - suggesting that movement serves a purpose, helping youth (and adults) with ADHD to remain alert and perform better. That is, movement is an intervention that aids persisting and resisting.

The Twist

Be more careful than California schools that extrapolating these findings to all youth and adults (click here). Why? Because while the children without ADHD also move more during cognitive tests, the more they moved in the study, the worse they performed on cognitive tasks! Swap their desks for yoga balls and you might have inadvertently interfered with their attention and memory.

This revelation underscores how a one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with youth won’t work. Be it in the classroom, at home, or on athletic fields, we need to invest time to understand each person’s unique capacities, personality, and motivation. Armed with this understanding, we can then match them with the right scaffolding and strategies.

The key takeaway? Champion individuality and remember - sometimes, you gotta let the kids squirm! But only in the presence of pre-existing working memory difficulties.

Provocations

So, how can we put this newfound knowledge into practice? Here are concrete suggestions for people with ADHD or perhaps better described as situation-specific working memory difficulties:

Improve Interoceptive Awareness and Emotion Regulation.

Cultivate an awareness of your body and its movements. Know where tension lies. Know where your body is relaxed. Notice changes in your heart rate or sweat glands. This self-awareness serves as an alarm for considering the use of an emotion regulation strategy. But what should you use?

In a 2021 study, 582 therapists, with a median of 4,000 hours of face-to-face time with clients, were put to the test. Their mission? Identify the most effective emotion regulation strategies for a variety of common, yet stressful, situations.

Imagine the scenarios: a heated argument with a partner, the sting of social exclusion from a party, the crushing disappointment of failing an important test, the anxiety of trying to secure a loan, or the physical and emotional toll of falling ill. These are the real-life stressors that their patients grapple with.

The therapists were given a toolkit of emotion regulation strategies: Acceptance, Distraction, Concealing feelings, Expressing emotions, Gathering more information, Improving relationships, Leaving the situation, Problem-solving, Seeking support and advice, and Reappraisal. Each of these strategies has its own merits, but which in their experience are the most effective?

The therapists rated each strategy on a scale of zero (as effective as a chocolate teapot) to 100 (the emotional equivalent of a hot spring on a winter hike). The results? Take a look at the table below...

These researchers discovered that (once again) there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy - different situations call for different approaches. However, when averaging across situations, some strategies proved more effective than others. Interestingly, therapists, regardless of their theoretical leanings or experience, agreed on the most effective (problem-solving) and least effective (concealing emotions) strategies. This suggests a shared understanding among professionals that you want to lean toward problem-solving, emotional support, rethinking about yourself and the situation you’re in, information foraging, and acceptance.

Use Physical Tools.

Tools like stress balls or fidget spinners help facilitate movement without causing major distractions. Swap out your regular chair for a physio ball while studying or working. It allows controlled movement and can help maintain alertness.

Take Breaks.

Allow yourself short breaks to move around or do light physical activity or move from an intrapersonal task to socializing (or if socializing to an intrapersonal task).

And if you are a parent or teacher working with children who have current working memory difficulties, know that these strategies should be part of your arsenal. You are often part of the problem, and that includes me. Build environments and self-regulation skills that allow for someone with working memory difficulties to showcase their potential. Fail to do so and you might not be witnessing impairment - you might be observing someone struggle in an inhospitable environment to showcase strengths and exceptional performance.

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Todd B. Kashdan is an author of several books including The Upside of Your Dark Side (Penguin) and The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively (Avery/Penguin) and Professor of Psychology and Leader of The Well-Being Laboratory at George Mason University.