Play as a reward may have helped two boys with ADHD stay calm.

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   Two 13-year-old boys with ADHD took part, both with moderate intellectual disability. They were in a special class of 13 pupils, and one took stimulant medicine for ADHD.

2. 02

   What they did

   Over four days, each boy practised sitting calm for longer and longer, up to 15 minutes. In class, every 15 minutes of calm earned five minutes of play in a recreation area, up to twice in each class.

3. 03

   What happened

   Before play was used as a reward, the boys were calm in only 5% and 10% of minutes. Once play followed calm work, both were calm for every minute of class. There was no comparison group, the paper gives its starting figures two ways, and recording stopped after four days.

What the study found

1. No comparison

   Two boys with ADHD were calm all class once play followed 15 minutes of calm, up from 5% and 10%.

   • Rule: Reward yourself right afterused
   • Rule: Work in short blocks with breaksused

   Very small study of one group of 2 two 13-year-old boys with ADHD · no comparison group · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ numbers unreliable; groups weren't properly compared

Source