ADHD, Impulsivity and Consequences Part 2
Dr. C: You’re trying, and you’re doing better.
Elwood: Thank you, Dr C. Do you have other thing I could do to…control my impulsivity?
Dr. C: You could count to ten.
Elwood: Count to ten!?
♪You need to count to ten and do some thinking then
You won’t act without thinking again
You need to have a plan and practice when you can
Yes, don’t act without thinking again
You need to slow yourself down
You need to smile, not frown
And you’ll stay out of trouble when
You think before you act, you use a little tact
You don’t act without thinking again
Elwood: Well…what’s this count to ten stuff?
Dr. C: Sometimes it helps to count to ten, or twenty or even to a hundred, since that gives you time to settle down and think before you act.
Elwood: And…what’s this have a plan and practice when you can?
Dr. C: The first part is pick out a problem that happens over and over, again.
Elwood: Like me getting teased and then hitting.
Dr. C: Right. Next come up with a plan of what you’re going to do next time you get teased.
Elwood: Uh, a plan…Let me think here…I’ll, I’ll walk away, and ignore it.
Dr. C: Very good, Elwood. The third part is to practice. Go home and have your parents pretend to tease you.
Elwood: I don’t know if I’d like my parents to tease me…
Dr. C: It’s just for pretend. The more that you practice the easier it will be for you to walk away when you get teased for real.
Elwood: I still don’t understand.
Dr. C: When I was a little boy…
Elwood: Now we’re really talking ancient history!
Dr. C: …As I was saying before you interrupted me, when I was a little boy, my plan was to say to myself, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but name can never hurt me.”
Elwood: But names do hurt me. What I say is, “Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.”
Dr. C: That’s the same kind of idea.
Elwood: But sometimes I get in more trouble when I say that.
Dr. C: The trick is to say it to yourself, and then you won’t get into trouble.
Elwood: You mean I should talk to myself?
Dr. C: Right. Talking to yourself gives you time to think.
Elwood: I thought that talking to yourself was weird, Dr. C.
Dr. C: Talking to your self is not weird. It gives you time to settle down, and think before you act.
Elwood: And when you calm down and think, you don’t act so impulsively.
Dr. C: Very good, Elwood! Now I want to show you my impulsive toy.
Elwood: You have toys that have ADHD?
Dr. C: Not exactly, Elwood. (Dr C picks up stacked ball toy) Watch carefully. This happens very quickly. (drops the toy)
Elwood: Wow! That happened really fast, Dr C.
Dr. C: It happens so fast that they could hit you in the eye.
Elwood: I get in trouble if I hit anybody in the eye.
Dr. C: That’s why impulsivity is so dangerous because it happens quickly. Now, (Picks up another toy) this one takes time before it jumps. (Sets toy down on table, waits.)
Elwood: It hasn’t even jumped yet.
Dr. C: Because it takes more time. It’s not as dangerous.
Elwood: And we have time to get away. So it doesn’t hit us in the eyes!
Dr. C: Just like with the toy, if we take time to think before we act, calm down and talk to ourselves, we don’t get in as much trouble.
Elwood: I understand, Dr. C. (Toy pops into the air) There it went! Wow! It did take more time. Do you ever get in trouble for acting impulsively, Dr. C?
Dr. C: Everybody gets in trouble for being impulsive, sometime
Elwood: What have you dome that was impulsive?
Dr. C: One day, I was driving down the street with my wife and I saw this sign that said, “Lizard sale”.
Elwood: Wow! I like lizards.
Dr. C: That’s what I said, too. I told my wife, “Let’s stop and buy ourselves a lizard.” And she said, “Don’t buy a lizard”. And I said, “No, I want a lizard!” So we went into the store…
Elwood: And did they have lizards there?
Dr. C: Yes, they did. And I saw this giant monitor lizard, and bought it.
Elwood: Why is that impulsive, Dr. C?
Dr. C: Because, I acted fast without thinking first about how to take care of the lizard.
Elwood: What is there to know?
Dr. C: You have to know what to feed it, what kind of environment to put it in whether it’s healthy or sick and finally, whether or not it’s dangerous.
Elwood: Lizards aren’t dangerous!
Dr. C: That’s what I thought, but I found out differently.
Elwood: How did you find that out?
Dr. C: Two ways! First of all, I talked to a man at a pet store, and he told me that the lizard was dangerous. Secondly, I bought a little lizard leash to take the lizard for a walk, and one day I put the leash on the lizard, but the lizard didn’t want to go for a walk.
Elwood: So, what did he do?
Dr. C: He started biting everything in sight. He bit the leg on my chair so hard, that he broke off one of his teeth.
Elwood: What did you do?
Dr. C: I picked him up, put him back in his cage and sold him to somebody else who knew more about taking care of lizards.
Elwood: So, you made a mistake. You acted impulsively.
Dr. C: Everybody makes mistakes, sometimes.
Elwood: That reminds me of one of your songs
(Scene changes to Dr C making mistakes with song playing)
♪Even Dr C, you see
Makes mistakes like you and me
Sometimes though we really try
We make mistakes and don’t know why
Brothers and sisters, Mom, and Dad
Sometimes mess up and feel bad
We all goof up from time to time
So don’t forget our little rhyme
Elwood: ♪“We all goof up from time to time So don’t forget our little rhyme” Is it time for us to stop, Dr C? I want to go home, so my parents can practice teasing me!
Dr. C: (Chuckling,) Elwood! Before we stop, why don’t you tell me what you learned today?
Elwood: I learned that alternatives mean other things you can do besides hitting or fighting.
Dr. C: Very good.
Elwood: And I learned that impulsivity can get you in a lot of trouble. You need to slow yourself down, count to ten, have a plan and talk to yourself.
Dr. C: Very good. Anything else?
Elwood: Yes, Dr C. I learned that lovely large lizards sure don’t like little lizard leashes.
Dr. C: No doubt about that, Elwood! No doubt about it.
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Tags: ADHD, attention deficit, consequences, hyperactivity disorder, impulsivity
