He can’t stay in his seat in class, and when he is finally seated, he fidgets.  She daydreams and twists strands of her hair. Could each of these children have attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder? Possibly. In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that that 11 percent of American children, ages 4 to 17, have the attention disorder. Boys are diagnosed two to three times as often as girls.  Would these children be able to focus better if they had a fidget spinner—the fad that swept the nation last spring?  No, but there are practical ways to help children with ADHD.

The Patrick Beaver Learning Resource Center, as part of its Parents as Voices in Education series, wants to help the community understand more about how attention deficit disorders affect a child’s success in school.

Families, educators, and interested individuals will benefit from attending “Beyond Fidget Spinners: Practical Helps for ADHD Kids,” on Sunday, November 5, beginning at 3 pm in room 159 of the Rhyne Building at Lenoir-Rhyne University.

Angela Sinclair Poovey will be the guest presenter.  Ms. Poovey grew up in Hickory and is a graduate of St. Stephens High School. She is a national board certified elementary school counselor with 13 years of experience in Johnston, Wake, and Mecklenburg counties. She is currently a lead counselor in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools where she serves approximately 1100 elementary students. Angela has presented at the national, state, and local level on numerous school counseling topics and is author of the blog Life on the Fly School Counselor.  She is a proud two-time graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill.

In her presentation “Beyond Fidget Spinners:  Practical Help for ADHD Children,” Ms. Poovey will explore practical and proven techniques to help students stay focused. She will welcome questions from the audience.