Holiday Traveling with your ADD ADHD Child

The holiday season is hectic for everyone, but holds particular challenges for the parent of a child with ADD/ADHD.

If you plan to travel with any child, things can go south in more ways than one.

Travel stuff

It seems you’ve no sooner gotten your child into the swing of things and settled into the routine of the school year than the holidays come along and send you all back to where you started. It’s quite bad enough for the vacationing family who chooses to stay at home—familiar surroundings can make a difference for the ADD/ADHD child when the schedule is shot to Hell—but the family who intends to travel to a holiday destination is facing some serious difficulties. You can head off the nightmare by thinking ahead as you plan your trip and by taking the time to prepare your child, too.

Preperation Is Key

If you are planning to travel by train, plane, or automobile, offer your child a map of the route you’ll be taking and mark out the special sites you’ll be visiting along the way. Explain the distances you’ll be traveling and give them an estimate of how long the trip is likely to take.

Easy travel tips

If the mode of travel is one that they have never before experienced, give your child some background information. Describe the airport or train station, and what they can expect to happen on-board the train or while the plane is in flight. If you will need to catch a connecting flight, explain how that works.

Prepare activities for your child to bring along. You may want to allow them to choose the books, games, and toys they will bring along. These items will keep your child entertained as you travel and by being included in choosing these familiar items, your child feels a part of things and enjoys a sense of security, too. Appropriate items to bring along include books, hand-held games, iPod or MP3 player with earphones and a Frisbee or a small ball for breaks during road trips.

Nonstop Chattering

If your child is like most other children with ADD/ADHD, expect them to chatter about the sights he sees throughout the trip. You might suggest they record their thoughts with a small recorder to keep them occupied while you drive or navigate.

If you take a road trip, allow time for frequent stops. This gives your child some time to stretch and exercise. It will help your child make the switch from play to travel time if you offer a gentle warning, “Ten more minute of play and then we’re back on the road to drive some more.”

If you travel by plane or train, allow your child to walk around the airport or train station as much as possible, so they can explore. Stay by his side for safety’s sake.

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Driving Dyslexic

Most people know that dyslexia can cause reading difficulties, but how many know that dyslexia can have an adverse effect on driving skills? One small study compared the responses of dyslexic and non-dyslexic drivers to traffic signs and found that dyslexia can slow a driver's reaction to the same degree as a moderate drinking bout.

30% Longer

These results are bound to cause some controversy as people wonder whether it's safe to allow people with dyslexia to get behind the wheel. According to the study, the reaction time of those with dyslexia is 30% longer than for the typical driver. In the UK, drivers who just exceed the drinking limit of two pints of beer, tend to have a 10% longer reaction time. Experts are wondering if those with dyslexia should undergo testing beyond standard driving tests before receiving driver's licenses.

Simulated Roads

Hermundur Sigmundsson of Trondheim's Norwegian University of Science and Technology administered two tests to a group of 17 volunteers, including six individuals with dyslexia. The first test had the participants drive for 4 minutes along a simulated rural road at 50-80 kilometers an hour. The second task required the volunteers to drive on simulated city roads at lower speeds for10 minutes.

Traffic Signs

As the participants drove, a simulator flashed traffic signs within the drivers' visual field. The drivers were asked to respond to these signs by pushing a button or saying the word, "Now," and their response times were recorded. When driving in the rural road simulation, the signs were located straight ahead, while during the urban simulation, the signs appeared in random locations.

Delayed Reactions

During the rural road simulation, the 6 dyslexic drivers needed an average of 0.13 seconds longer to react than did the non-dyslexic participants, and took 0.19 seconds longer to react while using the more complex urban simulation. In both the urban and rural simulations, the control group—the non-dyslexic participants—needed 0.6 seconds to respond. This means that the drivers with dyslexia experienced a delay of 20%-30% reaction time.

Sensory Information

These results jibe with earlier studies in which dyslexia was found to affect the method by which the brain processes sensory information. Those with dyslexia are known, for instance, to be clumsy as children, and are often later in achieving developmental milestones such as crawling, walking, or riding a bike when compared with their more typical peers.

Cellphone Usage

The UK has banned certain activities known to slow a driver's reactions. Drunk-driving has long been illegal and cellphone usage while driving has also been outlawed. Cellphone usage while driving has been found to slow a driver's reaction by 45%.

Issue Warnings

But driving impairment expert Oliver Carsten from the UK's University of Leeds says that it isn't sensible to outlaw driving while dyslexic. Carsten says it makes better sense to issue a warning to dyslexic drivers rather than forbidding them to drive. Meanwhile Sigmundsson says that larger studies must be performed to confirm his results before taking any action regarding the dyslexic population and driving.

Other Factors

A spokeswoman for the UK's Department for Transport specified that reaction time is just one cognitive function used while driving. Furthermore, quick reaction time has not been found to be a good predictor of driving excellence. Young drivers in their teens, for instance, have shorter reaction times but tend toward more accidents due to overconfidence. Drunk drivers have other impairments in addition to their slowed reaction times. Their peripheral vision may be impaired so that they cannot see objects on their periphery. They also tend to be more aggressive when driving.

This article has been reproduced with the kind permission of www.cognibeat.com and can be found at http://community.cognibeat.com/2010/12/driving