ADHD and Self-Motivation

Neuro-Linguistic Learning Center

Helping Children, Teens and Adults Succeed in the 21st Century

Self-motivation is an important element to one’s success both in school and in life. Children are ‘wired-up’ to want to be successful. However, when struggle and failure become routine, self-motivation inevitably wanes and is replaced by procrastination and avoidance.

Surprisingly, many Dyslexic or ADHD children who exhibit significant struggles in grades 3 through 12, often begin their schooling with relative success. There are several reasons for this phenomenon. First, is the freedom and flexibility afforded to children in the early grades. Second is the relatively literal and hands-on (vs. abstract) subject matter offered in these early grades. Third, much of the work asked of the students is based on the students intuitive thought process or natural intelligence. And fourth, for the most part, children in the early grades are considered successful if they can simply arrive at the correct solutions regardless of the steps or process they used to arrive at those solutions.

Conversely, in the later grades, the time in school is much more regimented, the material more abstract, the thought processes require are more linear (less intuitive) and the steps or process by which a student arrives at his conclusions or answers is critical.

The sum total of all these factors is that for some 20% of children, school gets more and more difficult each year. I often ask parents, if given a choice, would you stay on a job that gets harder and harder each year? Would you choose to stay in a career in which you are less and less successful each year?

The obvious answer is an emphatic, “No! Absolutely not.” Anything else would be insane. To continue in an activity that continually results in failure is not only crazy, it is damaging to one’s self-confidence and self-esteem.

When a child resists participating in an activity in which he will most likely fail (or at least not succeed), his only logical, rational behavior is to resist and avoid that activity.

So improving a student’s self-motivation must begin with reducing failure and improving self-esteem. It could almost be said that any responsible, comprehensive educational program must provide tools to help the student achieve success, thereby maintaining or restoring self-confidence and self-esteem.

Once the tools or strategies are in place to re-establish a student’s success, new strategies for building self-motivation can be introduced. Only then does the student being an upward spiral—more success, improved self-esteem, increased self-motivation.

At the Neuro-Linguistic Learning Center, building self-esteem, confidence and self-motivation are key to the long-term success of our students and our programs.