Being a parent is sometimes difficult, even if your child has no problem whatsoever. But what do you do, as a parent, when you find out your child has ADHD.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder main signs and symptoms involve not being able to pay attention, hyperactivity or impulsivity and not being able to finish a given chorus as children with this disorder get easily distracted.
The same thing happens to homework and the power to concentrate during class. But the disorder does not only affects school performance as it has influence over their social lives and family lives.
So what can a parent do, or not, in order to take better care and understand a child with these needs?
Here are some useful advices you can keep in mind, when you have to raise an ADHD child.
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| Parenting Children with ADD/ADHD |
1. You must remain calm.
Children suffering from ADHD already have a tendency to be impulsive and, in conditions of failure or stress, they are the children that dare to talk back and question your authority. In these conditions, it is not advised to turn on the fire even more, by reacting in the same way.
Try to stay calm and still find a reasonable way to assert your rules.
2. Set limits for your own behavior.
Your behavior is very important in a relationship with your child.
A child with ADHD knows what he has to do, but does not do it. So, if you are too carrying, too helpful and have an overprotective behavior, the child will end up expecting everything from you. Thus, he will do nothing for himself.
Offer him your support, but let him do his tasks. Stay around him when he does homework, but watch him by doing your work nearby. Thus, he can still have your support and manage the situation on his own.
3. Settle a set of rules.
It is healthy to have your rules in the house, regarding homework time, bedtime, and other aspects.
Establish these rules, but do not apply them by using deadlines, threats or violence, as they will lead to fear and anger feelings. Instead, make charts to remind your child what the rules are and apply them in a gentle way.
4. Your child should also make choices.
The best way to teach your child self-control is by making him choose and make the difference between right and wrong.
Try to create, from simple activities, opportunities for your child, where he has to face making a decision. For instance, make him choose with what subject he wants to start doing his homework. And the list may continue in the same manner.
5. keep in mind, Following rules is hard, for any child.
It is in the child’s nature to break the rules you set, so you’d better be prepared, as your own child will break them too.
But, when applying a correction to your child, do not take it personally. Treat the matter with calm and diplomacy. Yelling and screaming to your child will not do any good, as it may trigger their impulsive behavior. You need to be calm around children anyway, but in the case of an ADHD child, calm behavior is a must.
