A child with ADHD will certainly face many frustrations and stumbling blocks along the way. Our job as parents, teachers, and caregivers is to also recognize and value the innate strengths these children bring to the table.
There are gifts that accompany ADHD. One gift that many individuals with ADHD possess is the gift of creativity. Unfortunately, there are times when the natural creativity of our children is stifled or undervalued.
“The socialization process restricts the natural creativity of our thinking potential by automatically assigning value judgments such as good, bad, right, wrong, proper, improper, ugly, beautiful,” notes Dr. Calvin Taylor, one of the pioneers in education for the gifted and talented. “Small children have no conception of these values and interact without these limitations. Our proficiency in expressing our creativity gradually drops off as we learn to accept others’ opinions, evaluations, and beliefs.”
E. Paul Torrance, another great expert in the field of creativity and intelligence, and often referred to as “the father of creativity,” explains that we may unintentionally “kill” creativity by insisting that children do things the “right way” rather than embracing the different ways we may solve problems and the value of trying new ways, new approaches. Many times we are guilty of comparing children and end up pressuring children to conform rather than celebrating their differences.
Dr. Torrance was once quoted as saying: “One of the surest indicators of creativity is curiosity; yet we often brush questions aside because we are too busy for ‘silly’ questions.” Curious children ask lots and lots of questions and though we may be busy and can’t respond to all the questions at the time, we can let our children know that we value what they are asking and will get to their questions as soon as time allows.
Nurturing Your Child’s Creativity:
Below are more suggestions from Dr. Torrance about ways to nurture the creative spark in your child.
Value Your Child’s Imagination (Don’t Discourage Fantasy)
“One of the qualities of the creative person, young or old, is their ability to move freely between the world of facts and reason, and the vast realms of the mind that lie just below the surface of consciousness. Their greater flexibility, depth of feeling and keenness of insight come from being open to vague feelings and hunches others dismiss as ridiculous.”
Allow Your Child To Make Mistakes And Learn From Them
“Don’t be so intent on sparing your children the hurt of failure that you deny them a chance to learn from their mistakes. To learn creatively, children have to bite off more than they can chew, overestimate their capacities and take risks. Educators have found that many children can start learning long before they reach the supposed 'readiness period.' The point is not to teach them creative thinking but to stop interfering with it.”
Avoid Sexual Stereotypes
“Don’t let your boy feel that it is ‘sissy’ to be open to feelings and interested in color, form, movement and ideas. Don’t make your daughter feel that it is wrong for her to be intellectually curious, interested in exploration and experimentation. Such stereotypes are destructive of creativity.”
Don’t Judge Your Child By Their Reading and Writing
“Creative children often lag behind the group in verbal abilities. One nine year old, at the bottom of his class because of reading and writing problems, turned out to be near the top on creativity tests. Most children love to dictate stories to their parents, and this is an excellent way to keep their ideas flowing.”
Help Your Child Use Their Creativity In Social Relations
“One of their biggest problems in life will be getting along with others without sacrificing the qualities that make them different. Show them how to use their sensitivity to be kind, their insight to be understanding and tolerant of those who don’t see things their way. Suggest that they can assert themselves without being domineering or hostile, work alone without being withdrawn, be honest with others without being overcritical.”
Additional Reading:
Sources:
Lagemann, John Kord. Guiding Creative Talent: Excerpts from interviews with E. Paul Torrance. Readers Digest 1962.
Land, George and Jarman, Beth. Break Point and Beyond: Mastering the Future-Today. (Calvin Taylor quote, page 153) Harper Business. 1992.
Torrance, E. Paul and Goff, Kathy. “Fostering Academic Creativity in Gifted Students.” Eric Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children. Reston, Va. 1990.
