I know this topic has be discussed before, but I thought this might be a bit mor
ID: 642720 • Letter: I
Question
I know this topic has be discussed before, but I thought this might be a bit more of a detailed question... A family friend is a 12yr old boy with ADHD, and a very bright kid at that. He seems to have a solid instinct of computers, and I really think he would excel at programming.
For example, today he was kicking around our place and so I opened up Visual Studio Express C#, and showed him how to create a console application (he was the one typing it all out). In about 10 - 20 minutes he was writing his own code, ReadLine()s and Writeline()s etc, and even started working on a loop. Made me think that even something like C# would definitely be within his grasp.
Although Lego Mindstorms came to mind, his family isn't particularly well off and is likely not feasible. I thought about lending him one of my intro to C# books, but with the ADHD I don't know if he would have the patience to actually go through it. I also think something like Alice or Scratch would be too childish for him, and wouldn't catch his attention...
I'm trying to figure out what the best way to approach this would be, and what sort of material is out there that he could teach himself how to program. Any thoughts or suggestions??
One thought I had was this book, but it may be too advanced without a basic C# background at least... Amazon C# Game Book:
Thanks!
Explanation / Answer
My younger brother is ADD with HD. I can tell you from experience, that no matter how bright they are, and they are very very very bright, it's very difficult to get them to sit still and read something. So you might be better off starting with a simple language (don't curse him with proprietary tech) with lots of examples that work that he could pick apart.
You'll need to ask him what he's interested in making, and then suggest a language. If it's games, there are some good libs in Java. C++ might be a bit frustrating. Though modern libs help a lot. Otherwise maybe Ruby or Python is good. Of course Javascript is useful.
If you are his "guru", expect lots of spoon feeding type questions, as it will be difficult for him to make an effort to sort out the "in-obvious". Though, if you care about the dude, it's certainly worth it and rewarding.
Many years later, I'm proud to say that my little bro has completed his CS degree. I'm looking forward to coding something with him.