ADHD, Impulsivity and Consequences Part 1
Roy: You cheated.
Elwood: You’re the cheater.
Roy: You’re a liar!
Elwood: You’re the liar.
Roy: You’re stupid.
Elwood: You’re a dummy.
Roy: Naaa!
Elwood: Don’t make a face at me.
Roy: Come on, Elwood, let’s fight.
Elwood: I’m gonna tell…
(Scene opens to Dr. C and Elwood)
Elwood: …and that’s exactly what happened, Dr. C. Roy got into a lot of trouble for doing something so wrong! I got I trouble, too, for calling names.
Dr. C: Well, the good news, Elwood, is that you told the teacher, and you didn’t hit. The bad news is you helped to make a small problem into a bigger problem.
Elwood: How did I do that, Dr. C?
Dr. C: You did it by calling names, and arguing. It’s just like my magic chain. (Pick up chain) You can take a little problem and make it into a big problem. But the good news is you can also take a big problem, and shrink it down into a little problem.
Elwood:I get it! I get it!
Dr. C: Now, I want you to imagine a way you could have handled your problem without making it bigger.
Elwood: (looks away) Hmmm. Let me think.
(flashback to Roy and Elwood)
Roy: You cheated.
Elwood: No, I didn’t.
Roy: Yes, you did.
Elwood: No, I didn’t, but if that’s how you feel, may be we just shouldn’t play together any more
Roy: Fine by me!
Elwood: Fine by me, too.
(dissolve back to Dr. C & Elwood)
Dr. C: That would have been better, Elwood.
Elwood: And I wouldn’t have gotten in trouble, either.
Dr. C: Right. Can you think of another way you could have handled the problem?
Elwood: Let me see…Aah,. Well, we could have talked about what he thought I was doing wrong, and maybe solved the problem, and kept right on playing. Who knows, maybe I was doing something wrong.
Dr. C: I can tell that you’re really trying to act less impulsively.
Elwood: (sings) “When you act without thinking that’s impulsivity, which is the very final part of ADHD!”
Dr. C: Impulsivity is acting fast without thinking first about alternatives or consequences.
Elwood: We already talked about quinsecuansis.
Dr. C: Consequences, Elwood.
Elwood: That what I said, quinsecuansis. Quinsecuansis is what happens after you do something. But what are alternatives?
Dr. C: Alternatives means choices. You had a lot of choices available of what to do in your problem with Roy.
Elwood: Yeah, I even could have hit him, but you said, “No more hitting, Elwood.” So I didn’t hit him.
Dr. C: You’re trying, and you’re doing better.
Elwood: Thank you, Dr C. Do you have another thing I could do to…control my impulsivity?
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