ADHD strengths in children and teens

What are ADHD strengths?

Children and teenagers with ADHD have many strengths. These might be strengths when compared with their peers or strengths within their own skill sets.

ADHD strengths include:

creativity and problem-solving skills
hyperfocus
high energy
adaptability
resilience
empathy and compassion.

ADHD strengths come partly from the natural variation in the way ADHD brains process information. For example, in people with ADHD, the brain’s reward system responds strongly to new, unfamiliar or stimulating activities. This helps people with ADHD focus on tasks they find interesting.

Why is it important to identify and understand your child’s ADHD strengths?

When you identify and understand the strengths of your child with ADHD, you can help your child make the most of these strengths. And this can help your child thrive at home, at school and in social situations.

You can also help your child understand their own strengths. This has many benefits:

It empowers your child to use their strengths and develop strategies to work around their challenges.
It helps your child develop self-regulation skills.
It helps your child understand themselves and feel good about the way they think, feel and do things.

How to identify your child’s ADHD strengths

You and your child can identify their ADHD strengths by looking out for things they do well. These might be skills or talents like drawing or maths. Or they could be personal qualities like being caring or honest, having a good sense of humour, or being able to ask for help when they need it.

Sometimes ADHD challenges might also be strengths. For example, your child might feel strong emotions, which can sometimes be difficult. But these strong emotions are also a strength because your child is passionate and cares deeply about other people. Or it might be hard for your child to wait to speak in class. But this can also be a strength because your child is an enthusiastic learner.

You can learn more about your child’s ADHD strengths from an assessment with a neuropsychologist or psychologist. These professionals can give you an in-depth understanding of your child’s strengths and suggest strategies to help your child use and develop these strengths.

ADHD creativity and problem-solving skills

Children and teenagers with ADHD can be very creative. This helps them approach problems and manage unfamiliar situations in fresh and unexpected ways.

Here are ideas for helping your child enjoy and use their creative and problem-solving skills:

Provide art supplies, musical instruments or craft materials and make a space where your child can be creative without worrying about mess.
Give your child opportunities to take part in drama, art or creative writing activities and clubs.
Play strategy games like noughts and crosses or battleships. Do puzzles together.
Encourage your child to take part in family decision-making.
Encourage your child to think of strategies for challenging situations. For example, ‘Why don’t we brainstorm ideas to help with being fidgety when you’re sitting at your desk?’
Speak with your child’s school about getting your child involved in group projects, clubs or leadership programs.

ADHD hyperfocus

Children and teenagers with ADHD often hyperfocus on tasks or activities.

These ideas can help your child make the most of their ability to hyperfocus in learning:

Work out what subjects or activities capture your child’s interest and encourage them to explore these areas.
Set aside time for your child to engage in activities or tasks that they’re passionate about.
Let your child’s teachers know about your child’s interests and talk about how these can be used to spark your child’s enthusiasm for learning.
Try to avoid disruptions when your child is focused on a task. It can sometimes take time for your child to hyperfocus. If your child is interrupted, they might be less productive and feel frustrated.

What is ADHD hyperfocus? It’s a state of intense concentration on a task, topic or activity that your child finds enjoyable, interesting or meaningful. Hyperfocus often lasts for a long time. And when your child is in hyperfocus, they might be able to ignore everything else around them.

High ADHD energy levels

Children and teenagers with ADHD can have high levels of energy and enthusiasm. Other children can find this interesting and exciting and want to join in with their games. This can help with making friends.

These ideas can help:

Give your child opportunities to get involved in active, physical games and group sports with other children.
Speak with your child’s school about getting your child involved in sport, dance or drama.

Adaptability and ADHD

Children and teenagers with ADHD are often very adaptable thinkers. They can shift focus quickly, think flexibly, and adjust to changes. They often enjoy new and unfamiliar environments too.

Here are ideas to help your child enjoy and use their learning adaptability:

Take your child to new places, introduce them to new people and activities, and encourage them to try new things.
Encourage your child to be a role model for trying new things. For example, they might talk to a sibling about starting high school.
Encourage your child to use visual tools when they’re planning how to approach a task. For example, ‘How about you draw or write down your ideas?’
Encourage your child to consider different perspectives. For example, ‘What are other answers that could also be correct?’ or ‘Why might people have different opinions on this?’

Resilience and ADHD

Children and teenagers with ADHD are often very resilient. This is because they’ve navigated learning and social challenges and realised that they can cope and get better at things by practising.

These ideas can help:

Encourage your child to notice times when they’ve successfully faced challenges.
Notice when your child uses their strengths to approach challenges, and talk with them about the strengths they’ve used.
Model helpful self-talk and self-compassion. For example, ‘It’s OK that I can’t do this yet. I’m still learning’, or ‘Today was tough, but tomorrow is a chance to try again’.
Help your child to understand how they learn and approach challenges so they can apply these skills when they need to. For example, if it’s hard for your child to finish homework, they can make the most of their ‘rewards-based’ brain by planning a fun activity for when they finish.

Empathy, compassion and ADHD

Some children and teenagers with ADHD are very sensitive, which can make them empathetic and compassionate towards other people. Often their own experience of challenges can help them understand when other people are experiencing difficulties.

You could encourage your child to help a friend recognise and manage how they’re feeling. For example, if a friend is upset because they’ve lost a game, your child could say, ‘It’s OK. Everyone loses sometimes. Do you want to play something else?’