(Courtesy of Kosher ADHD) Do you feel that your child is simply “out of control” and that you are a lousy parent? Are you feeling guilty or concerned that your child seems disconnected from Yiddishkeit?

Kosher ADHD is a novel and dynamic approach towards navigating the problems of ADHD within the traditional Jewish home and school. It has been tested with hundreds of families in Israel and is now being presented for the first time in the United States. The creators of Kosher ADHD, Drs. Stuart Chesner and Sara Markowitz, will be offering the first series of virtual parenting workshops after Pesach, and the Kosher ADHD book will be published by Kodesh Press this summer, 2023.

Kosher ADHD is based on the following three basic principles:

1. ADHD manifests when a certain kind of biological temperament is required to perform in a particular environment that is not friendly towards it (A very active child is made to sit still in a chair for one hour, the Shabbos table, school or shul, for example).

2. The extent of problematic behaviors (ADHD symptoms) are made worse by rigid and inflexible environments. (When parents or school repeat inflexible demands without offering alternative solutions, the ADHD problems are magnified.)

3. The traditional Jewish home and school can either be a heaven or hell for children with ADHD. This depends upon the willingness of parents and teachers to embrace the child’s temperament and modify reality so that the child may experience secure attachment, achievement, meaning and pleasure.

The Kosher ADHD Workshop will teach parents how to attune themselves, their home and their expectations to the realistic temperament of the child with ADHD. Each day, from waking up in the morning until going to sleep at night, is designed to complement the strengths and provide coping measures for the weaknesses of the child with ADHD. Parents are taught to be the child’s advocates and cheerleaders with teachers, neighbors and relatives. The child is embraced as an important member of the home and an important member of the Jewish world. For example, children can be taught that even though they can’t sit through davening, they can concentrate on saying Shema with kavana. In a similar vein, children who might not be able to learn the laws of sukkah will be taught that they can instead build a sukkah for someone in need of help. Teaching children alternative ways to embrace their Judaism will hopefully prove to be a productive and uplifting experience for them and their families.

When we learn to observe the child’s strengths with a sense of wonderment, we stop bending them into a pretzel in order to become who we imagine them to be. At the end of the eight week Kosher ADHD program, parents will learn effective techniques to foster their children’s ability to thrive in Torah environments.

For further information contact Tiferet Mondrow at 551-587-8613 or [email protected].