I've never really dealt with people with ADHD or ADD before, but I got two in the line this year, they are brothers. Any help on ways to get them to focus would be appreciated. At our last practice, I called the line to attention then asked everyone one by one what they were going to focus on correcting. I get to the one bass drummer and say "What are you thinking?" and he replied, "I am thinking that I think I can see my dad's house from here." I had this guy in line last year and if he started to lose focus when I was speaking to the line, I would have him fold his hands and have him place them on top of his head. It seemed to work fairly well. Now his brother, who is new to line this year, is a different story. He puts the hyper in ADHD. First he gets distracted by the shiny cymbals and later, he started chasing a leaf that had blown across the field. I wouldn't have thought much of it if we were, say on break, but we were in the middle of playing an exercise. I think I need to start carrying large doses of Ritalin with me at all times. Anyone had any similar problems and know of ways of working with these kids.

Dude...I have ADHD...trust me, it sucks. And please don't joke about the Ritalin thing...I had to take it...and i got made fun of for it. But with all of those things aside..try to get with them one on one and tell them about this problem...if that does'nt work, then try talking to their parents about it...it might help...

ADHD and drumline are very hard to mix. We had a guy in front ensemble that had ADHD, but its just a matter of finding a medicine that works to stop it, and keeping up with it. When he had taken the medicine, he was fine, but other than that, no.

Personally i think taking medicine to control mental ailments is not right..It's not natural. It will mess with your mind after a while.

Back on topic, the only way i have seen an ADHD sufferer to be controlled on a drumline is to just constantly remind them of what they are doing (such as chasing leaves and things} until they realize what they are doing.

one of my drummers was on Ritalin for ADHD, but he'll still wonder off and as long as you remind him where he's at, he's ok. it might get on your nerves repeatin yourself, but they gotta know that they have to work and that them havin ADHD isn't an excuse.

Here's a thread that might be of some help. While it's not specifically for ADD students, it is equally applicable.:
http://www.drumlines.org/threads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/102272/page/0/fpart/1/vc/1

You need to be sure that you keep their attention by changing what you are working on every few minutes (around 15 or so.) Working on the same exercise or technique for half an hour straight is a sure way to lose their attention. When you see them starting to lose their focus, bring their minds back in by changing to a different exercise that works something else entirely. You can always go back to the original task a little later and call it a "review".

Don't give them lots of downtime between activities as they will start to wander. Whenever I've given them breaks, I've always had them start up again as soon as they started to look bored and/or get off focus. By keeping things short, you are not endangering them of becoming complacent and overconfident to the point where they don't think they have to pay attenetion. It's called playing to their weakness.

The hardest part of teaching ADD students is keeping them focused when the entire group is together and you can't concentrate your focus on them the whole time. During times like this, you have to give them specific individual tasks to do, like improving the quarter note timing of their in the section you are working on or in making instrument/implement transitions more efficient.

The trick is to make sure that you are not giving them time to become bored while still improving their performance.

Thanks for the help, seems people agree that repition in the key. Will work on that.

I have ADHD. Don't give him ritalin, it has this certain side affect of being weak in the knees. If he marches I don't think you should give him it. When you speak to him, make sure he looks at you and makes eye contact. Repeat yourself alot a lot, even though he/she might get mad, it works. Tell him to ask his parents for help, if he see's a doctor about it, tell him to mention dexedrine or concerta.

Ritalin thing was a joke, I apologize to Little Wonder about joking about ritalin.

-Repitition and Eye Contact

I happen to be a special education minor and I have a few good tricks to help with ADHD students.

1.) they do not handle lectures well, so make everything as hands on as possible.
2.) create the perfect environment for them so now distractions may occur

and finally as a side note. Believe it or not, most problems with ADHD can be fixed by discussing the illness with the student, if that knowledge has been given to you by the student. Meaning, if he told you he has ADHD. I have dealt with students in a line as well with ADHD and hands on, busy from the beginning of the rehearsal to the end is what will help.

I do not know much about ADD and ADHD, but I know a few things about autism. I was diagnosed with autism at an early age. It can be hard to work with students as well. What I suggest is to get together with the guys who have ADD or ADHD and talk with them to find out what they can do to get focused on their playing and marching. With a lot of patience and some time, the process should work for students with ADD and ADHD as well as autism.

Something I forgot to add, as much as it seems wrong, Caffine actually has a chemical that calms us ADHD kids down. If he's too hyper and jumpy, you can actually tell him to go get a soda and he will be better. I'm not lying about this, you can search about it yourself.

The only problem with giving kids with ADHD caffine is that it is a temporary fix. To simplify things....our brain works in 3 stages (high-medium-low) Most people are at the high level all day except when they get ready for sleep (medium) and then when they do fall asleep (low). Students with ADHD have brains that are stuck in (medium). SO, caffine will kick them into high, but it will not last long and they will then go to (low).

Believe or not, 75% of all problems with ADHD are stemmed from the diet. They should not eat alot a lot of the following products:

1.) Dairy products
2.) Wheat
3.) Oranges
4.) Grapefruits
5.) MSG
6.) Artificial sweetening

The best thing to do is hands on instruction. Take my word for it.

A good book to read, and it isn't that long, is called The Complete ADD Answer by: Dr. Frank Lawlis for only $25.00.

Worth every penny.

i agree with the hands on approach.
we had a guy with ADD and he gave us a lot of problems but we kept at it and he made the line,was cymbal capt. the next year,and was drum major this past year.he now is going to college and i think he wil try the college band thing now.

we have a guy on our bass line who has ADHD. some days he is fine then other days he really can have an attitude, along with being hyper active. it is really tough, but when he is concentrated on drumming, he is really good.

I agree. Talk to the students about it. Let them give you some ideas on how to keep their attention better. They will feel more comfortable if they have some say in how they are being treated and may try harder knowing that you only want to help them. Do your best not to isolate them by constantly picking them out of the group.

UrsulineMusicEd, I didn't know our energy was catogorized in levels. Well I guess I'm high staged. I'm always hyper, but I don't have a medium level, I go straight to low if I'm sleepy. Caffine works well for me for some reason and it lasts awhile, I would say a period and a half long.

I find that guys with ADHD can be calmed down a lot easier when they have something to do, after all, Idle hands are the devil's playground. 0.o