ADHD and Covid
I know I am a bit late to the party, but I didn’t confidently feel I could write about this until really having to deal with it.
Covid has rocked all of our worlds in one way or another. For some it’s been the push they need to make big decisions and for some its completely put a stop to things.
For us covid has had a number of impacts some not great and some great! When it all first happened, we realised that our support networks for our active bean (my son) were things like swimming, gymnastics, the indoor skate park, the trampoline park. These were the things we used to survive on a daily basis. And these were all taken away as soon as Covid arrived. This was a disaster for us. Plus we lived in a second floor flat, so getting outside and getting exercise or at least the amount of exercise needed was tricky. So for a while it was bad! What was good is we were able to ask for help from the school and it finally gave us the push we needed to move to a house with a garden and a trampoline. Which has made a significant difference.
We’ve been able to get back some normality as the time has gone on, we’ve gone back to the trampoline parks and the skate parks and weekly gymnastics.
But then my active bean got covid recently and had to self isolate for 10 days. All my fears were realised, I have dreaded being in for that amount of time. We’ve never done it. But although it wasn’t as bad as I thought, it did get me thinking. Especially as when track and trace call and ask if you need any support and the women got a diatribe about how we need to do more about support adults and children with ADHD whilst self isolating (I’m not sure she knew what to make of it).
I then read a research article about covid and ADHD (I’m so sorry but I can’t find it again) but the conclusion was this…
So what are some of the challenges? and what can be done?
1. No exercise – during lockdown at least we could get out for at least an hour a day (no way near enough, but it was something). But when self isolating there was no way we could leave the house. Annoyingly it also rained a lot so the garden was off limits too.
Answer – One day we did a lot of running on the spot, another day we joined in a session of Apple fitness. Another day he just slid down the stairs a lot!
Another research article I read supports the absolute need for physical activity. They scanned peoples brains who have ADHD and after physical activity they were able to have the greatest amount of executive control.
We find this so much in our every day life, after school we have to go out on some massive run or climb or something to allow him to unwind and then the evening is better. So if in self isolation make time for physical activity. Carve out the time, if you have a child with ADHD find a fun way to make room for at least 10 mins of physical activity, life will feel a bit better.
2. No structure – There was no structure for us, it was the Christmas holiday, so we didn’t have to do home learning. We also obviously couldn’t see family or do all the things we’d planned so that was difficult. It was our decision that we wouldn’t have restrictions on screen time, but we did try to plan in at least one activity a day. I must confess that this was tricky, but we did manage it. We used the joy of amazon to buy in new activities such as Polymer clay or games, and we enjoyed a lot of cake and watched films together.
3. Cabin Fever – This did get to us, especially my little one. By 5pm most days he would be having a melt down. So we began to plan things in for around this time. Fire pits (If it wasn’t raining) or a nice dinner. But mostly we were just with him in the melt down.
The reality is self isolating with someone with ADHD is tricky, self isolating with someone without ADHD is tricky.
Some things I wish I had done.
1. Forced garden time each day – this may have helped getting some fresh air.
2. Not done the day 6 & 7 test – he was so upset and disappointed when we tested on day 6 & 7 and found he was still positive. So in a way I wish I would have just stuck it out.
3. Transitioned for day 10 – He was really anxious about leaving the house when he actually could. I wish I had done a picture timetable to help that transition.
4. Support sensory needs – In some way I think I should have created a calm down sensory space.
But hopefully my wish list might give you ideas if you ate in the same situation.