Son is bored

[Vickielee]

My 8 year old son has ADHD & ODD. He constantly says that he is bored, that he wants something fun to do. His siblings are a little bit older so they don't always want to play with him which makes him angry, he cries and says he doesn't know how to play by himself. He has every Nerf guns, legos, a dirt bike, all kinds of other toys and he says they are not fun. I have tried showing him other things to do that we did when we were younger like skateboards and building blocks, kick ball and building forts and he says that stuff is no fun. His iPad has been permanently taken away because he gets too angry when a game doesn't go his way or it doesn't charge fast enough. Does anyone else experience this and what do you do?

[MomofOne13]

My 9 year old is an only child, and doesn't like to be in any area of the house by himself, so he is almost never willing to just "go play" with toys by himself, in his room or playroom. Unfortunately, we have way more tech in this house than anyone really should so he mostly entertains himself with minecraft, fortnite, roblox, youtube... (my husband is a gamer). We've used the facebook messenger kids app to keep him in touch with friends since covid, and that has been a life saver because he's been able to video conference friends quite a lot. I'm guessing this doesn't help you much, but I feel ya!

[ADHD_DAD]

It is so hard; their ADHD brains work so fast and the things that are sufficient to occupy our "normal" brains are often boring for their super brains. This is part of the reason they gravitate to video games which have the ability to move as fast as their brains. I do find that exercise helps. My son ADORES our dog which means I can usually get him to walk a couple of miles a day with the dog and me. Hiking is really good, too. Something about the exertion and the trees and air that make him feel content. He NEVER calls hiking boring.

A quick note about the anger with the iPad. My son acted like that for short period of time when we changed from Concerta to Vivanse. For some reason, although the Vivanse helped with focus, it make him short tempered and somewhat aggressive (not with people; more like what yiu described). So maybe a medication change. I am sure you know that adjustments are necessary from time to time. Good luck. They are challenging kids, but the more I learn the more I admire their super brains and blame the world (occupied mainly but us "slow brain " "normal" folks) for being incapable of accommodating them.