Hello everyone its been awhile. I been in hiatus due to a large amount of work I been doing on behalf of ADHD. In the future I will try to have at least one post on the blog a week so when work clutters around me I will able write before I become incapicated.
The end of October was marked by a exhibition competition held in King Faisal Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. King Faisal Hospital is largest tertiary (severe causes) hospital in the Middle East. The competition was called Quality Day an event that had all the departments in the hospital showcasing what positive impacts their work is having on society. Since the ADHD Support Group is located in King Faisal Hospital we felt it was good opportunity to allow people to become aware of our organization and the disorder.
So we planned three months in advance the details for the booth and activities. Everyone in the ADHD Support Group came up with the idea of having the booth be split into three sections that represent the symptoms of ADHD- hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity. Each of these sections will represent the life of a ADHD child through background pictures and activities. Also the booth had to look fantastic and unique to stand out from the rest and as you can see below we were able to accomplish that.
As you can see the booth is made up three symptom sections as well as having the logo of the Support Group on top.
Hyperactivity Section
The Hyperactivity section is modeled after a child bedroom with information in the background showing the prevalence of ADHD as well how children with hyperactivity can’t help fidgeting or not paying attention to leisure activities. Our activity is our home made built ‘Connect the circuit board game’. Modeled after a homework sheet the point of the activity is to emphasize how these children’s hyperactivity make it difficult to do tasks that are not stimulating. A participant feels this through the challenge of getting to the end of the game in a minute without touching a cable and lighting the light bulb. So we advocate by making the homework easier (make the handle longer) will allow the participant or student to accomplish the task rather then failing miserably.
Impulsivity
The second section has to do with impulsivity which is when a child does a reckless action before thinking. Usually this leads to children hurting themselves or making them socially awkward when they say inappropriate things. 
The activity in this section is that we tell the participant to role play as a child with ADHD. Inside the candy wrapped bowl might be possibility of a prize but its unknown what’s else is inside so they have to stick their hand in willingly to find out or they could follow the sign that says ” Warning Don’t Touch. We’re inside we bite”. If person ignores the warning he or she will have a nasty surprise of getting slime all over their hand effectively showing the dangers of being impulsive but if they had followed the warning the attendee will give them prize and say ” I wish more children were like you.”.
Inattention
Children with ADHD usually have problem paying attentions in classes which are filled with noisy students, unclear instructors and boring subjects. The children frustrated by this venture into the dream world to fill the void until recess starts.
Our activity consisted of a flash game which had participants count the number of green squares on screen while having to wear earphone that blares loud and distracting sounds into their ears. Also which green squares on screen to count is made purposely unclear because ADHD students in classes are always reprimanded for not understanding the teacher ambiguous instructions. Watch this video below and count the green squares while wearing earphones to make the game more immersive.
[youtube REPsH1am5rM]Its very difficult to do this game unless you have excellent concentration which I don’t so we put an easier version below to see if people can accomplish the task.
[youtube 0ViSxcG_wSo]
The point of these games is to demonstrate that if teacher were more clear, less students in the class and the children were in front seat then they could be able to pay attention. These changes we advocate through these activities can lead to changes for better for ADHD children.
Our booth was great success and many people learned about ADHD through our fun activities. In the future I will be trying to post more events done by the ADHD Support Group . Well until next time.