Disney Dollars For ADHD Behavior Modification??!!

[ThruTheEyesOfMyChild]

I am planning my DD's 3rd WDW trip this year and am always looking for ways for her to earn her Disney Dollars...usually through chores. Well, the past few weeks have been rough ones. She has been having a hard time at school, calls from the teachers, flipping cards and coming home with yellow and red ones, culminating with a call from her teacher with some "concerns" she wanted to discuss with me. Well my 8 yo DD has always been very high energy, very talkative, 3rd year competitive allstar cheerleader, (a sport that made sense with all her energy)...and comments from teachers on report cards each year have always been the same...excessive talking, disrupts the class with talking, etc. Academically she has always been on schedule and average/above average. Well, her lack of focus, and easily distracted-ness have become a concern and her grades have drasticlly dropped the past 2 months. I took her to see her pediatrician, who both her and I trust 100%. After, the questionaires were filled out by both the teacher and I, same results and DD is displaying core symptoms of ADHD.

I have decided to go full force with behavior modification before considering meds. So, I have implemented Disney Dollars as her daily reward for staying on task with whatever her task may be. Last week it was "not shouting out in class and raising her hand". She had a great week and earned $1 (Disney) each day. Of course, if she gets really motivated by this, I could go broke before our trip, but I guess its worth it...right?! She seems to respond very well to immediate feedback. Is is wrong to reward her for behavior that is expected? Or is this an exception to that rule?

This thread may even be in the wrong forum, so I understand if it needs to be moved.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ThruTheEyesOfMyChild]

I could really use som help here DISers. Any other parents of ADHD children?

 

[MandM-Mom]

I don't have any advice about this but you may want to hop on over the the disabilities community threads there may be someone to answer your question for you! Good Luck

 

[Schmeck]

Have you asked her if she understands why she cannot shout out in class, why her teachers are concerned? Sometimes kids are just feeding off attention from their peers when they act up in class, even those with ADHD. Has she been able to express that she knows she needs to raise her hand, and wait? Or is she just motivated by the $$$? That's what you need to find out, and that will answer your question about rewarding her for behavior that is expected.

The alternative is to take $$ away, but negative discipline often backfires.

 

[ballle_98]

Just my opinion here...
I think giving her a positive incentive for developing some self-control is okay. I mean #1 you are not going to always give rewards for controlling herself... and #2 if it helps her develop some self-control before she has to face negative consequences for her lack of self-control, what's wrong with that? I can tell you that if she does have ADHD, this is not an easy thing for her to accomplish and she will need alot of encouragement and support (so will you, mom). Good luck!

 

[mapmakerj]

My DS8 has ADHD. We tried behavior modification and therapy as a treatment for 2 years but in the end we ended up putting him on meds. The meds are not a cure-all, but they have helped a great deal. We use rewards as an incentive for positive behavior in school. He gets 10 talk tickets in class and everytime he feels the need to talk (not related to whatever they are discussing in class) he has to give one up. At the end of the day we are giving him a dime for each ticket he has left and if he has 1/2 of his tickets or more left at the end of the week he gets to pick out a favorite activity to do on the weekend (ie. video game, swimming at the YMCA, zoo trip, movie etc.) It seems to be working and the teachers are completely with us on the rewards. They also reward him for having tickets left by giving him one minute of talk time per ticket left at the end of the day that he can use to talk with a friend or the teacher at a designated time the next day. It is a very frustrating and difficult disorder to deal with but with time, patience and hard work it does get easier. BTW, thanks for the Disney Dollar idea. We are planning our next trip and that would be a great idea for my DS to trade up his dimes for at the end of each month.

 

[barkley]

i can just tell you that when we were working with a psychologist on behaviour modification for our adhd son we were told to re-think what our child currently had and determine weather any of those things should not be considered privledges that he should not receive if he did'nt control himself appropriatly (to the extent he is able). to that end ds knows that if he 'chooses' not to behave he does not earn the right to use his video games or the computer. they are not rewards, simply privledges that are accorded with an expectation of behavioural standards (same thing our non adhd dd has with her stereo, videos, computer).

one thing in reading your post would cause me to question weather your dd's behaviour in school is adhd related or simply a choice on her part-you say she's successful in competative cheerleading. everything i've ever seen or read about cheerleading indicates that the participants have to be highly focused and realy pay attention to the coaches. i can't imagine any coach worth their salt would permit a child to behave the way your child is behaving in school-so that makes me wonder if your dd may have slight adhd but in reality if she chooses-can make the right behavioural choices. just food for thought.

honestly-rather than reward her with disney dollars re. the school behaviours, i would be clear that continued participation in cheerleading is dependant on her demonstrating appropriate behaviour. she should'nt be permitted to pick and choose where she exercises self control and where she does not-if she is truly adhd then behavioural expectations need to be very clear cut (within their capapbilities) and consistent.


btw-did'nt her cheerleading coach participate in the questioneers for the adhd evaluation? i know when my ds had his done the pediatric neurologist as well as the pediatric psychiatrist were adamant that we include any adults that observed or interacted with our child on a regular basis in order to determine if the child's behaviours were selective depending on the circumstances (they esp. mentioned coaches or teachers of private lessons like music or dance).

 

[guzwoman]

I feel your pain and frustration and joy of ADHD...there is joy with it! I have ADHD as does my daughter. I also used to work at a behavioral mod. teacher. What I can say it that behavioral mod will only go so far. I know medication is a tough one, b/c you are talking about a simulant. I am currently using Caffine for my little one, I take meds for myself. 2 oz of Coffee w/ soy chocolate milk in the morning and lunch with behavior mod has been doing the trick for her. She had made major gains in the past 3 weeks since starting and is a happier child too!

You may want to read anything by Ned Hallowell (sp?), he is one of the guru's of ADHD. I have found his book Driven to Distraction as God-sent, but that book is geared more for adults with ADHD. Either way it is helpful. I am still looking for a good one geared towards children. I just heard of one by a female Doc with the lastname Levine (sp?), I was told it was excellent geared toward the 3-12 yr old group. May want to check that out.

good luck!

 

[meandtheguys2]

If it works for you, have at it! It probably will only work short term, however, so have the next plan in mind.

I believe in working towards positive behavior, and that kids NEED something to feel good about. I'd never take away the cheerleading. It gives an avenue for stress release, activity, and positive reinforcement for positive behavior. Earning time on the computer, phone, or whatever else she enjoys is also an option.

 

[Matt'nMeg'sMom]

Cheering for you! I think your idea is great!

My son is diagnosed ADD. He is not "hyper", but he is impulsive and often blurts out inappropriate, "shocker" statements.

Originally, we tried the basic reward/discipline system. For example, when he is good, he has earned rewards, and if he has a really bad episode, he has lost privileges. Sometimes those privileges were the very same reward he earned the day before (e.g. webkinz time, xbox game.)

The unintended consequence of this system is that he NO LONGER WANTS REWARDS because they can so easily be taken away for discipline. He sees no point in working for the reward, no matter how tasty the carrot. Once I understood this, I changed my tactic.

THEREFORE we started the Disney Dollar system. When I catch him being good/kind/respectful/whatever, he can earn a dollar. They are his to keep. If he's in trouble, he won't earn a dollar, but I won't take away what he has already earned. So far, this has been working beautifully.

I love the Disney Dollars because they can't be frittered away on Pokemon cards or impulse-lane candy. He's already planning how he is going to spend them in DW!

What I'm learning as a parent of ADD, is that nothing works forever. Stick with this while it works, then rotate it with another positive reinforcement plan.

Forgot to mention: DS is also on 18 mg Concerta. It's not a cure-all, but it immensely helps to make him more receptive to positive reinforcement.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

I have A DS8 with ADHD. We struggled so long with the best approach. He too, was staying on grade level with his work. In the end it was the social aspect of ADHD that made us decide to try meds. He communicated that his friends got frustrated with him for not paying attention, like loosing his place in line. We have him on a non-stimulant called Strattera and have had remarkable success. He is doing well in school, his piano teacher is amazed and most importantly it has really helped his self esteem. Friends ask him to play sports at recess now that he doesn't "space out" on them. We as his parents and his teachers do not have to constantly be all over him to keep him on task. He picks up a book and reads for 20-30 mins without being asked.
This does not mean that medication solves everything. When behavior modification is still needed we use the approach of taking privileges away if warnings to fix a behavior are not headed. We have told our son that while we realize that paying attention is hard for him that means he has to try harder. Lots of kids have things they struggle with and we will not let him have an excuse for inappropriate behavior.

 

[HolidayRoad]

O.K. you asked for opinions so here is mine, I hope I offend nobody here as I'm sure everyone on here does what they think best for their child: I think that what you are doing is right on, rewards are a great way to help your child behave the way you want them to act especially if they way they are acting is inappropriate in certain situations and small rewards help to negate this. Just be careful that she doesn't use this to take advantage of the situation, as you have indicated she is very smart so she will probably put two and two together pretty quickly and manipulate the situation. Now, like some other have brought up positive reinforcement may not be enough so here is where things may get iffy. First off, IMHO and I'm certainly aware that it is just my opinion and others are certainly entitled to theirs and theirs are no less valid, I don't believe in medicating children unless they are completely off the wall or can't concentrate, some major issue etc. Not because they get a little hyped up in class. Some kids legitimately need medication some people on this thread have given legitimate reason to do so, however, I feel that educators today over medicate our children, they run to drugs way to quickly, they want cookie cutter children that all act the same way at all times. So your child gets a little hyper in class, as long as she is not disturbing or hurting the other children or her actions are not allowing the teacher to do her job then who cares. So your daughter doesn't fit the cookie cutter mold - GOOD, who wants that? Tell them to deal with it. Secondly, sometimes negative reinforcement works pretty well, don't be afraid to take away those Disney Dollars as quickly as you hand them out.

Once again, If any of my opinions offended anyone, I apologize, that was not my intention.

 

[barkley]

If it works for you, have at it! It probably will only work short term, however, so have the next plan in mind.

I believe in working towards positive behavior, and that kids NEED something to feel good about. I'd never take away the cheerleading. It gives an avenue for stress release, activity, and positive reinforcement for positive behavior. Earning time on the computer, phone, or whatever else she enjoys is also an option.

i'm not suggesting taking away cheering as a punishment-just utilizing it to point out to a child that they apparantly have the skills in place to choose to some extent how well they 'behave'. utilize cheering to point out how the child sucessfully (just examples since i don't know the specifics of this child) does not speak out of turn, interupt the adult leader, distract the other participants (by virtue of engaging them in conversation when it's not the appropriate time)-and focus on learning the task at hand. all skills that should be able to be transferred into a classroom setting.

one of the common traits with adhd kids is their ability to hyper focus/self regulate their attention and behavioural skills for activities and subjects that they find personaly interesting or rewarding. i deal with this with my son in the areas of math and science-he loves them and is able to control himself such that his participation in these subjects at school is very much in the normal spectrum of attention and behaviour. other subjects he does'nt care for (reading and writing in particular) he chooses not to work against his natural adhd tendancies and we see the distracted/hyper behaviours with. he does the same with leisure activities-if it's something HE enjoys and wants to do he can focus and be very restrained in order to participate, an identical activitity that is not based on his choosing to do it can result in much different behaviour.

it's a constant struggle knowing that he has and will always have issues where he has a medical basis for not 'behaving' in the way a non adhd child would-but not wanting him to view this as an excuse for not doing his best to reccognize this and compensate to deal with it. it gets horrendously harder when he sees other adhd kids in class and activities whose parents do use it as an excuse and hold their children to no consequences for behavioural choices totaly within their personal control. i have found it realy telling when i've observed him and other kids with adhd interacting on the playgrounds and in activities-and one in particular will act out (his parents never hold him accountable), the other kids (adhd and non adhd) will cut to the chase and say st'such and such we know you can 'act' better we see you do it at soccer every week and you were calm at lazer tag last weekend, so if you want to play this with us you need to stop pretending with us like you do with the teacher and just do it'. that one kid in particular learned after being excluded on several occasions that it was in his best interest to choose to work on modifying his behaviour on the playground and successfully did.

there are issues with adhd and then there are just basic behavioural issues with all kids-the trick is in knowing which issue you are dealing with at a given point in time with your adhd kid (and letting them know you're aware of the difference).

 

[ThruTheEyesOfMyChild]

WOW!!! Thanks for all of the info, feedback, opinions, etc. I am still pretty overwhelmed, considering we just received my DD's diagnosis last week. I feel less guilt today, and a little more knowledgable. I am still researching ADHD and learning all I can about the disorder.

The behavior mod last week and this week in school was a picture of a target and a sudsy bucket taped to her desk. Her specific goal was to "not shout out" and to "raise her hand". When she was on task, the plastic chip stayed on the target, when she shouted or did not raise her hand, the plastic chip moved tot he sudsy bucket ("time to clean up your act"). Well, because the teacher moves the chip immediately, my DD receives the immediate feedback (which seems to work well for her so far) and she can adjust her behavior ASAP. She has come home each day with a report and comments from the teacher that she stayed "on target" and has been awarded her Disney Dollar each day. Very rewarding for her....because she comes running off the school bus asking for it...so I know she was focused on it!

We had a discussion last night (DD and I) about ADHD and what it was and what it meant for her and I. I explained to her that it was a problem (disorder) and no one could control or correct her behavior BUT her. I told her that her teacher and I would work with her and give her the tools she needed to be successful, but it would be work...lots of it.

I agree that cheerleading is a crucial part of her life and who she is. It is crucial to her creativity and energy. Her talent in the sport is exceptional and I cant ignore that. My dilema there is this though...it is a team sport...not an individual sport...so using it as punishment for bad behavior is not an option, because it affects and entire squad, not just her.

Someone also mentioned about a pediatric neurologist & pediatic psychiatrist along with questionaires for her coaches. NO! Never happened! I only spoke with her teacher and the school psychologist (who never followed up with an inclassroom evaluation or anything, after 2 calls). I received the diagnosis after 2 visits with her primary pediatrician and questionaires from that doctor given to me and her teacher only. Should I be concerned? I trust her doctor completey though!

I am sure this thread should be moved to disABILITES!

The Disney Dollars seem to working right now, so far!!!!

 

[barkley]

WOW!!! Thanks for all of the info, feedback, opinions, etc. I am still pretty overwhelmed, considering we just received my DD's diagnosis last week. I feel less guilt today, and a little more knowledgable. I am still researching ADHD and learning all I can about the disorder.

The behavior mod last week and this week in school was a picture of a target and a sudsy bucket taped to her desk. Her specific goal was to "not shout out" and to "raise her hand". When she was on task, the plastic chip stayed on the target, when she shouted or did not raise her hand, the plastic chip moved tot he sudsy bucket ("time to clean up your act"). Well, because the teacher moves the chip immediately, my DD receives the immediate feedback (which seems to work well for her so far) and she can adjust her behavior ASAP. She has come home each day with a report and comments from the teacher that she stayed "on target" and has been awarded her Disney Dollar each day. Very rewarding for her....because she comes running off the school bus asking for it...so I know she was focused on it!

We had a discussion last night (DD and I) about ADHD and what it was and what it meant for her and I. I explained to her that it was a problem (disorder) and no one could control or correct her behavior BUT her. I told her that her teacher and I would work with her and give her the tools she needed to be successful, but it would be work...lots of it.

I agree that cheerleading is a crucial part of her life and who she is. It is crucial to her creativity and energy. Her talent in the sport is exceptional and I cant ignore that. My dilema there is this though...it is a team sport...not an individual sport...so using it as punishment for bad behavior is not an option, because it affects and entire squad, not just her.

Someone also mentioned about a pediatric neurologist & pediatic psychiatrist along with questionaires for her coaches. NO! Never happened! I only spoke with her teacher and the school psychologist (who never followed up with an inclassroom evaluation or anything, after 2 calls). I received the diagnosis after 2 visits with her primary pediatrician and questionaires from that doctor given to me and her teacher only. Should I be concerned? I trust her doctor completey though!

I am sure this thread should be moved to disABILITES!

The Disney Dollars seem to working right now, so far!!!!

my post may get 'wordy' but i feel the need to disclose before commenting.

my adhd son was born when i was 36-and my background included allot of education and experience in working with kids. at the time he was born i was doing social work, but i had degrees in psychology, early childhood education and 'environmental education' (not 'tree hugging' it was a discipline the college i attended offered to teaching credential candiates that spoke to evaluating and basing a child's educational needs on their physical, psychological, biological and cultural experiences/needs). i KNEW by age 2 my son was exhibiting behaviours that were not 'normal' and i did'nt want it to come to a point where he had negative educational experiences so i PUSHED to do early testing and intervention.

that said-before we explored adhd we insited and had our son evaluted for :

hearing issues (he did have issues with highly sensitive higher range sound hearing-we addressed this with an audiology specialist)

allergies (he was found to have lactose sensitivity that led to irritability when given dairy so we eliminated this from his diet which resulted in a minor decrease in hyperactivity).

finaly we were faced with doing an adhd eval. our pediatrician was forthcoming that she was not trained to fully evaluate a child for adhd and while she could make a presumptive diagnosis-it realy was better for ds to be evaluated by a ped. neuro and a ped. psychiatrist. ped. neuro ruled out any organic non adhd issue (adrenal, apparant neuro) and referred us to the ped. psych. ped. psych met with ds on a couple of occasions but admitted that children behave differently in new circumstances than they do in existing and provided us with questioneers that we had to provide to any and all adults that observed/interacted with our son on an established basis. to that end she meant-teachers, childcare providers (incl babysitters who were periodic but with who ds had a comfort level such that he was'nt hesitant to 'just be himself' around them), coach's or private lesson teachers, and if ds participated in-sunday school or other regularly schedualed activities (as in scouting, kid's gymnastics....).

it was only after the ped psychiatrist received and reviewed all of the questioneers and looked to the commonalities and differences that she was willing to make a diagnosis. based on the info. form the questioneers she was able to determine what was adhd behaviour and what was selective behaviour on ds's part. based on that we were able to make decisions on medication and behaviour mod.

one thing i have learned re. adhd-most of these kids are VERY intelligent (exceeding 'normal' for their age range) and are capable, should they choose to be so-of reccognizing and manipulating adults based on what they (child) perceives as the adult's view of how adhd children should be dealt with. for that reason my ds (11) has never been told he has 'adhd'-he understands his 'issues' in the context of an allergy and has learned how to adapt in that context. it is interesting therefore to observe his reaction to other adhd kids he encounters and how he reacts to their behaviour ('mom he gets hyper like me but why does'nt he just stop, take a couple of deep breaths and concentrate on focusing-it works with my 'alergy' could'nt it maybe work with that 'ahdd thingy' he has?' ).

 

[buckler]

I don't have a child with ADHD so these are just comments from me as a mom in general. How much money will your daughter have accumulated by your trip? If I read it right, you aren't going to WDW until December and she should have over $200 to spend. Do you want her to spend that much money on souveniers? Does having too much "stuff" or clutter aggravate ADHD symptoms by distracting focus? If so, you probably want to discourage her from buying lots of little things and focus on a few larger special items. Or maybe you could offer to split the cost of an extra character meal with her? This would be above and beyond what you were originally planning to do so it would really be a reward, not her paying for something she would have received anyway.

 

[bookmama]

what a great idea. My DS10 was diagnosed with adhd and depression last year. He's on 15 mg of adderall and weekly therapy. we've tried many behavior modification ideas, our latest is stickers for GBA games. He has to get 90% of plusses on his behavior chart. He has a problem with turning in homework. (perfectionist, if he doesn't think it's perfect the homework never makes it to school and I pack his bag) The school he goes to really worked with us.

What I would suggest so that you don't go broke is stretch it out, up the ante like doing something without being told repeatedly.

good luck

 

[ThruTheEyesOfMyChild]

my post may get 'wordy' but i feel the need to disclose before commenting.

my adhd son was born when i was 36-and my background included allot of education and experience in working with kids. at the time he was born i was doing social work, but i had degrees in psychology, early childhood education and 'environmental education' (not 'tree hugging' it was a discipline the college i attended offered to teaching credential candiates that spoke to evaluating and basing a child's educational needs on their physical, psychological, biological and cultural experiences/needs). i KNEW by age 2 my son was exhibiting behaviours that were not 'normal' and i did'nt want it to come to a point where he had negative educational experiences so i PUSHED to do early testing and intervention.

that said-before we explored adhd we insited and had our son evaluted for :

hearing issues (he did have issues with highly sensitive higher range sound hearing-we addressed this with an audiology specialist)

allergies (he was found to have lactose sensitivity that led to irritability when given dairy so we eliminated this from his diet which resulted in a minor decrease in hyperactivity).

finaly we were faced with doing an adhd eval. our pediatrician was forthcoming that she was not trained to fully evaluate a child for adhd and while she could make a presumptive diagnosis-it realy was better for ds to be evaluated by a ped. neuro and a ped. psychiatrist. ped. neuro ruled out any organic non adhd issue (adrenal, apparant neuro) and referred us to the ped. psych. ped. psych met with ds on a couple of occasions but admitted that children behave differently in new circumstances than they do in existing and provided us with questioneers that we had to provide to any and all adults that observed/interacted with our son on an established basis. to that end she meant-teachers, childcare providers (incl babysitters who were periodic but with who ds had a comfort level such that he was'nt hesitant to 'just be himself' around them), coach's or private lesson teachers, and if ds participated in-sunday school or other regularly schedualed activities (as in scouting, kid's gymnastics....).

it was only after the ped psychiatrist received and reviewed all of the questioneers and looked to the commonalities and differences that she was willing to make a diagnosis. based on the info. form the questioneers she was able to determine what was adhd behaviour and what was selective behaviour on ds's part. based on that we were able to make decisions on medication and behaviour mod.

one thing i have learned re. adhd-most of these kids are VERY intelligent (exceeding 'normal' for their age range) and are capable, should they choose to be so-of reccognizing and manipulating adults based on what they (child) perceives as the adult's view of how adhd children should be dealt with. for that reason my ds (11) has never been told he has 'adhd'-he understands his 'issues' in the context of an allergy and has learned how to adapt in that context. it is interesting therefore to observe his reaction to other adhd kids he encounters and how he reacts to their behaviour ('mom he gets hyper like me but why does'nt he just stop, take a couple of deep breaths and concentrate on focusing-it works with my 'alergy' could'nt it maybe work with that 'ahdd thingy' he has?' ).

I really appreciate what you have said throughtout this thread and it makes a lot of sense to me. I feel the need to call my DD's pediatrician tomorrow and discuss getting a referral for a ped's neurologist &/or psychologist. I am not sure if I truly know enough about ADHD to run with this "just because she display some core symptoms". Thanks so much. I wasn't looking for that when I started this thread, but it sure was a pleasant surprise. I will keep your user name handy for PM's...if thats ok!?

 

[EC0323]

I just wanted to send you . Adhd is not easy to deal with. No matter what route you choose.

My Ds now 10 has it. We decided not to medicate unless his grades in school slipped. No matter what the school system told us.

Here is what we learned.

1. Positive comments worked the best. Even if he only stayed still for 15 minutes saying great job made him what to try harder the next time. Stickers in his agenda with smily faces or with nice comments also worked well.

2. Rewards worked but did not show fast results. So when someone wrote that she would have $200 my DS would have nevered earned that much. If he could, I do no think it would ADHD. In my opinion, Adhd is not easily controlled. It is more impluse than control. I also used a variety of treats and rewards. For example, after 1 get this, after 5 get this etc.

Mostly it is trial and error. It has never been easy. Very very hard in fact. But now he is maturing and I can see he is more focused and (this year) at least it seems there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I am send !

 

[hoosiergirl7]

one thing in reading your post would cause me to question weather your dd's behaviour in school is adhd related or simply a choice on her part-you say she's successful in competative cheerleading. everything i've ever seen or read about cheerleading indicates that the participants have to be highly focused and realy pay attention to the coaches. i can't imagine any coach worth their salt would permit a child to behave the way your child is behaving in school-so that makes me wonder if your dd may have slight adhd but in reality if she chooses-can make the right behavioural choices. just food for thought.

This is so true with our son. He is not ADHD because he listens and follows directions from his soccer coach and others. He just doesn't want to always listen to mom and dad (typical kid). One of our big problems is that there just aren't a lot of kids for him to socialize with and he gets bored easily, so he acts out. We do allot a certain amount of time with him for playtime with mommy & daddy but I have enough other things I must accomplish during the day that I can't give him every minute of my time. Neither can my husband, his dad. He is getting a bit better about entertaining himself but it's still not at the level I would like it to be.

We're looking at getting him involved in more extracurricular activities such as tae kwan do so that he can focus his energy. Maybe we'll even try swim lessons again.