The topic of ADHD and proprioception has been on my mind … I was remembering the years when my ADHD son was a little kid and struggling with clumsiness and doing all sorts of sensory seeking things like chewing, bouncing, and leaning against objects. I was so flustered by his all over the place, uncontainable energy. A wise teacher friend told me he struggles with “proprioception” (a term I had never heard of) or in other words, perception/awareness of his body’s position or movement.

The body’s proprioception system is like the sensors on a vehicle that beeps when it detects that you’re too close to something! Someone with poor proprioception won’t sense or “beep” when their body is bumping up too close.

As irritating as it was, he was not intentionally bumping into other kids or things, he was just not aware of how his body moved in space. If I knew then what I know now, I would’ve approached him with more patience and intentionality.

Here are some suggested activities if you have such a child!

Get your kids playing outdoors: climb trees and play on monkey bars! It helps strengthen the part of their brain responsible for proprioception.