What can I do with my very active 15 year old with adhd?

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Ds3 (aged 15) is desperately seeking a dopamine hit. We have a trampoline and massive climbing frame but he wants to do more extreme stunts on it. We've tried taking him out to flip out and fun days etc but either there is an upper age limit that he is above or there are so many little ones around that we needed to stop him playing because it wasn't safe. Same with the park. He's not violent but he is obviously much bigger than your average toddler and faster etc. When we are at the park he wants to spin the roundabout really fast and then parents of little ones get annoyed that they have to wait their turn.

Is there a Parkour group in your area?

Or skateboarding ramp?

mountain biking, skateboarding, diving, gymnastics (bars and vault), get him to join a gym.

Climbing? Either clip and climb or a proper climbing centre.

Skateboarding.

Proper trampolining lessons. Or what about gymnastics?

I don’t quite understand why you are going to the park with a 15 year old? But maybe martial arts would be a good idea? Skateboarding? Even just joining a gym. He doesn’t need to be and shouldn’t be in a playground spinning a roundabout really fast - it’s meant for smaller kids.

I have a son with ADHD. It’s not all about chasing the adrenaline for dopamine (and potentially risky behaviours). You may do all this but it does help dopamine regulation (which is the issue and can cause dopamine seeking).

So he has a good routine - gets up same time every day and gets light in his eyes. Any form of exercise he enjoys is brilliant. Decent diet but also accepting when he needs rest. The goal is to protect the dopamine.

I have several boys/men with ADHD in the family and as well as professional sports training they all get a lot of enjoyment from time to deeply focus silently on whatever their current obsession is. The restless physical energy seems to be worse when they haven't had time to deeply hyper focus and it's unlimited and doesn't really decrease with exercise from what I've seen. The obsessions have changed over time but things related to building projects in Lego technic, tropical and marine fishkeeping and physics experiments, perfecting the camping/bug out bag equipment and are some of the recurring topics. Has he got anything he could really get into and hyper fixate on that uses mental energy too?

Does he have any other ND or learning disability?

I can't imagine a scenario where a 15 year old would go to the playground with his parents! That's obviously inappropriate.

You need to be looking at sports and activities for teenagers, not stuff aimed at little kids. Climbing, skateboarding, BMX, mountain bikes, martial arts, diving, gymnastics etc.

Boxing was brilliant for my Dd who has ADHD. A 1 hour, 1-1 session used to hide her a dopamine hit which lasted for hours. It also wore her out, boosted her self confidence and improved her fitness - so all great positives!

Have you got a Go Ape or a Zip World near you ? As long as he's Ok with heights !

I’d look to sign him up for parkour or even martial arts of some sort. My 13 year old (who probably has ADHD, she can’t sit still) does trampolining. It’s also something to consider though at 15, he’d be on the upper age range and it’s a lot of mostly young girls, so he might feel a bit weird. But mine went from no experience at all trampolining to competing at the national level in only 2 years because she just doesn’t stop. She trains 3-4 days a week and practices daily. It really suits her. It’s very much about channeling that energy to something productive.

My 15yr old is a pretty obsessed with the gym at the moment, he spends a couple of hours there everyday. My 11yr old also.goes to the gym, he has a routine to follow and it's been great for him. I know you say your boy had adhd but you haven't said what his abilities are, could he do something like the gym?

Tbf it sounds more like sensory seeking movement, not dopamine seeking.

How about mountain biking?

Mountain biking or skateboard/scooter park, in-line roller blading. Climbing walls or high rope courses/Go-Ape.

Definitely get him into a sport, mine doesn’t have ADHD but is really active with no off switch (primary school) so we make sure she does a few sports and does something most days. He would probably enjoy parkour.

Find out about local parent carer groups and look at the events and trips they organise. Ours does stuff like exclusive hire of local attractions with giant soft play and climbing frames etc, just for families with SN kids.

Skate park? Trampoline place where everyone has their own pad? Go Ape? Zip world or similar?

Parkrun? A friends son with ADHD used to go for a 5 or 10k run with his dad before school.

stand up paddle boarding. He can flip into the water. It’s exhausting getting back on too! Should provide dopamine hit and use up energy

Horse riding. Once he learns to gallop and jump all his dopamine needs will be met.

Gymnastics, climbing (bouldering), running or swimming. All good for my DS with ADHD.

Download couch to 5k and get him into running? Or he could join a gym?

Climbing is meant to be great for individuals with ADHD. If he’d struggle with a regular lesson look for indoor climbing walls which offer the Nicas Ascend programme.

kayaking - particularly freestyle kayaking

Gym definitely.

Do you have a snow / ski centre nearby?

Climbing wall? We have a great place called Rhino, no idea if it’s a chain but there must be similar