Kids with ADHD have many special needs.
Being the parent of such a child can be difficult, but there are quite a few things you can do to make your job easier. The bottom line is to love your child unconditionally. Regardless of what the road ahead of you will bring, you need to help your child try to overcome all obstacles. As you read on, you will find some great points to help parents cope when raising a child with ADHD.
There are various opinions about how effective medication is for treating ADHD. It often depends on how severe your child’s condition is. The ultimate decision about using medication could depend on what you think about using it for your child.
If you do opt to treat your child with drugs; you need to stay on top of the current improvements in this area of medicine. Even though you might think your child’s doctor should be staying on top of these developments; you need to be aware. If in your research you are made aware of a new treatment; run the idea past your pediatrician. You also need to be aware of new developments showing drugs that are turning out to have bad properties. These days, we’re overloaded by distractions and they can be particularly detrimental to children who have ADHD. Minimize the distractions in the area where your child is studying or doing his or her homework. Turn off the TV, computer, or phones because these will make it just about impossible for an ADHD child to focus on a task. You’re not punishing your child; you’re ensuring he or she is completely focused on the current task. Allowing him or her some TV or computer time when the task is completed can be a reward. ADHD children need to be in an area that is free from distraction and is quiet so they can completely focus.
It’s essential to communicate clearly to a child with ADHD, as such children often have a hard time following directions, even simple ones. Don’t take this to mean that ADHD children are not intelligent enough. This is attributable to the fact that their attention span is too short and hence, they aren’t really paying attention to you when you’re talking to them. So whenever you want to tell your child something, be sure you have his or her complete attention first and once you do, be clear with what you want him or her to do. Shouting or being upset won’t help if your child doesn’t respond. Be calm and clear when you talk to your child. If you need your child’s complete attention, start by saying his or her name. Moreover, get your child into the habit of stopping whatever he or she is doing until you’ve finished talking.
Today, parents with ADHD children have lots of resources readily available to them. You can get help and information from a variety of places, including online parenting forums, pediatricians, books, local organizations, local support groups, latest research, and so on. Every child is different, so the same approach won’t always work for everyone. There are children, for example, who don’t respond better to drugs, but the important thing here is that you spend time going through your options and finding the ones that will help you and your family deal with ADHD.