Judo Champion, Ashley McKenzie, Went From a Bad Boy to Olympian

Are you are a parent of one of those uncontrollable ADD kids, and you wonder what their futures look like? Well, here is a story for you.U.K Judo champion, AshleyMcKinsey was that child. As he describes in an interview for the mirror U.K (see here), McKenzie tells of how he went from being an uncontrollable ADHD kid to a judo champion simply by finding his passion and putting all of his energy into it - not to mention having a mother who supported and encouraged him.

To say he was uncontrollable is an understatement but his discovery of judo after he got into a fight with another kid over Pokemon cards, where the kid threw him with a judo move-changed everything. He ended up being so impressed with the kid’s fighting style that he joined a judo club and from there, his behaviour made an incredible improvement. His mother saw a golden opportunity to improve his behavior. She used his love of judo to motivate him by giving or taking judo away based on his behavior.

From there he went on to become a Judo Champion-medaling at the Judo World Championships and the British Judo Open. He competed at the London Olympics in 2012 and the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Question& Challenge: What activity do you or your child love that you can focusyourADHD energy on? Find a way to do that activity more often–or find a new one–ideally together.