Oct 2, 2008 11:00 am US/Eastern
Michael Phelps Struggled With ADHD As A Child
BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) ―
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Before he became an Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps struggled with a commonly diagnosed medical disorder.
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
It's hard to believe the superstar Olympian who stunned the world with his performance in Beijing was once a fidgety kid who had trouble paying attention in class.
Healthwatch reporter Kellye Lynn sat down with his mother at her home in Baltimore County where she shared Michael's struggle with a commonly diagnosed medical disorder.
Before heading off to Beijing to cheer on her swimming sensation son, Debbie Phelps revealed his difficult diagnosis and how she and Michael overcame it.
Before Beijing, before swimming to Olympic gold, Michael Phelps was an outgoing, athletic kid whose energy never seemed to run out.
"Never sat still, never closed his mouth, always asking questions, always jumping from one thing to another. But I just said, `He's a boy,'" she said.
But as Debbie Phelps would later find out, there was a more accurate explanation for her son's lack of focus and fidgety behavior. At age 9, his doctor diagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, which affects more than four million children in the U.S.
Like many kids with ADHD, Michael's treatment was medication and behavior modification.
"I controlled what he was doing on the weekends and holidays and summer because I made sure there was a rigid schedule in the household," she said.
Debbie quickly realized that tightly scheduling Michael's time proved effective in calming his behavior, as did one of his favorite sports: swimming.
"When you look at the sport of swimming, it's very regimented. There's time management built into that component, there's set things you do sequentially," Phelps said.
By 11, Michael was managing his ADHD without medication. Now, more than a decade after learning of her son's problem, Debbie is sharing her insight with other moms through a website called ADHD Moms.
"Parents want help and want a resource, but often they don't want to go face to face with someone, so to me, it's a safe haven," she said.
Even though the gold medalist is successfully managing his condition, every now and then, his mother sees the signs.
"He still jumps from thing to thing. He's talking to me and texting someone on his Blackberry and I'm like, `Stop it. It's either me or this.'" she said.
At the Beijing Olympics, Michael won eight gold medals, breaking the 1972 record set by fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz.
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