Hi All,

Has anyone had any experience, either personally, or with a child, of the effects of martial arts training on ADD symptoms?

My daughter had ADD and is now a 2nd degree black belt. My son, who isn't ADD, also has his 2nd degree. While it's been a terrific experience, and I think they've both gotten a lot out of it, I'm not so sure it's actually helped my daughters' ADD. It has helped with confidence and self esteem, but she doesn't seem to have transfered any of the persistence skills she has in Karate to her school activities.

Has anyone else had any experience???

Angela

I don't have personal experience, but I would consider the boost in confidence and self esteem to be GREAT effects on ADD symptoms, considering ad/hd is known for causing low confidence and self esteem.

In my completely unprofessional opinion, I don't think it's very likely that an ad/hd'er is going to intuitively transfer concepts from one scenario to another. It might be helpful to clearly illustrate how persistance used in martial arts can be applied to success in other areas, but a lot may depend on her age and internal motivation.

Regardless, success in any area is success! Congrats to her for finding a niche and working hard, and congrats to you for finding and supporting that opportunity!