What if Kids with ADD, ADHD and OCD are not “Special Needs” kids but “Special Talents” Kids?

Children who come into the world with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) and OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) are often referred to as "special needs children." We would like to re-reference this point of view and call them "special talents children."

We have found that these kids are extraordinarily perceptive. They pick up whatever is going on around them. They are so psychically aware that they oftentimes don’t have the ability to discriminate between what is theirs and what is not. Their ability to perceive is actually a skill and a talent, but they need some tools to learn how to live with it.

One of the important things we can do with all kids, but especially those that have OCD, is to teach them to discriminate between what emotions, feelings and thoughts are theirs and which are not. If you ask children, "Are you perceiving this – or are you having this?" they will ask, "What is the difference?"

Perceiving means that you are aware of something. Perceiving is stepping outside of something and looking at it. When you perceive something, it constantly changes from moment to moment. It’s like the wind. Having something means that it is in your body. When you explain the difference, almost every time kids will say, "Oh! I am perceiving it!"

This is an entirely new concept to them. People ask them questions like, "What is causing your feelings?" or "Why do you feel this way?" Nothing is causing their feelings and thoughts! They belong to other people. The kids are just picking them up. Teaching them the difference between perceiving things and having them sets them free.

Kids with also pick up everything telepathically. Good luck giving them rules. Rules do not work. However, if you give them a whole picture of what you’re going to do, where you’re going that day and what you’d like them to do, they understand what’s going to happen and what you want, and they calm down. Parents who have tried this way of communicating with their autistic kids say things like, "This was the first time, that I can remember, that my child was calm all day long."

With any kid, when you’re willing to communicate from the point of view that they have awareness and they’re aware of energy, they respond dynamically.

If you have children who have ADD, ADHD or OCD, give them tools that will help them learn to live with their abilities. Teach them the difference between perceiving emotions, feelings and thoughts and having them. Ask "Are you perceiving this – or are you having it? Does this belong to you – or are you picking it up?"