Michael Phelps: ADHD Success Story
As Michael Phelps smashes swimming record after record, he's had to overcome challenges beyond the constant, grueling training and the need to eat 12,000 calories a day: Phelps also had to beat attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity (ADHD).
Diagnoses of ADD or ADHD generate a lot of controversy, no doubt in part because today being a "normal kid" can be considered problem behavior. But along the spectrum of learning styles and abilities, there are certainly kids who don't respond well to conventional teaching methods. In Michael's case, he had the good fortune to have a mom, Debbie Phelps, who recognized this. Here's an interview with Debbie from the May/June 2007 issue of ADDitude:
Michael might not have loved swimming at all, were it not for the ingenuity of his mother, Debbie Phelps. “At age seven, he hated getting his face wet,” says Debbie. “We flipped him over and taught him the backstroke.”Michael showed swimming prowess on his back, then on his front, side, and every way in between. But in the classroom, he floundered. An inability to concentrate was his biggest problem.
“I was told by one of his teachers that he couldn’t focus on anything,” says Debbie. She consulted a doctor, and nine-year-old Michael was diagnosed with ADHD.
“That just hit my heart,” says Debbie. “It made me want to prove everyone wrong. I knew that, if I collaborated with Michael, he could achieve anything he set his mind to.”
Debbie, who had taught middle school for more than two decades, began working closely with Michael’s school to get him the extra attention he needed. “Whenever a teacher would say, ‘Michael can’t do this,’ I’d counter with, ‘Well, what are you doing to help him?’” she recalls.
The article goes on to describe some of the novel techniques they used to help Michael learn to focus and to attack difficult subjects (like math). Interestingly, as their efforts bore fruit, Michael himself decided he wanted off his Ritalin. While the article doesn't make the claim, I got the impression from reading it that the swimming and teaching style changes were the keys to Michael's success, not the stimulant medication. This is a helpful, hopeful sign for parents of kids with learning challenges who are trying to avoid putting their kids on ADD medication.
Go Michael!
Comments
Wow! I'm trying to imagine how great it would be to HAVE to eat 12,000 calories a day. I've really been amazed at this guy's physique.. he has some amazing shoulders and lats.
I think kids with this problem need lots and lots of exercise. Obviously they will benefit from special learning approaches as well, but exhaustion can cure a lot of ills. Many good chemicals flood the body when you work it hard.
Posted by: Betsy Cuthbertson | August 14, 2008 12:35 PM
Betsy, your point about exercise is a really good one. I agree that physical exertion makes a huge difference. It shouldn't be surprising, really, that exercise affects how our brains work. We all know about things like "runners high" and the reduction in stress from exercise. It just makes sense that learning should be affected, too.
I wonder if the dramatic rise in sedentary habits among kids might be affecting the rates of ADD and ADHD. Wouldn't surprise me a bit.
Posted by: Don Roberts | August 14, 2008 2:13 PM
I know so many kids who are on drugs for ADD and ADHD it is unbelievable. I agree that sedentary lifestyles are one factor but I would also include too early exposure to TV/visual media. I think some kids are hyper-stimulated by trying to process the rapid imagery on the tube...I don't think you find these problems so much in countries where kids walk and run and where they don't watch much TV. In addition, and this is very politically incorrect, all the kids I know who are medicated are from 2 working parent homes. They have been in daycare and pre-school from 6 weeks on. Now obviously this is not across the board true, but I simply note the coincidence.
Posted by: Betsy Cuthbertson | August 15, 2008 10:14 AM
You're right about it being very non-PC to suggest that daycare affects kids' behavior. To me, as a scientist, it seems incomprehensible that people can assert that when we change a huge variable in a kid's life (who raises him or her much of the time), we should expect absolutely no effect on outcome. Even without knowing much about child development, history, or human nature, one would expect the outcome to be either better or worse, but not exactly the same.
Unless we're dealing with an amazing coincidence, the only way the outcome could be unaffected is if outcome is independent of input. Some people, like John Derbyshire at National Review, believe that how a kid turns out is all genetics (or, when it's not genetics, it's peer pressure). The available data, however, suggest a more complicated mixture of nature and nurture is involved.
Posted by: Don Roberts | August 15, 2008 11:58 AM