Parent strategies for adhd
ADHD Parenting Tips - HelpGuide.org
adhd
Does your child have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder? Learn what you can do to manage their behavior and deal with common ADHD challenges.
How to help your child with ADHD
Life with a child or teen with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD) can be frustrating, even overwhelming. But as a parent you can help your child overcome daily challenges, channel their energy into positive arenas, and bring greater calm to your family. And the earlier and more consistently you address your child’s problems, the greater chance they have for success in life.
Children with ADHD generally have deficits in executive function: the ability to think and plan ahead, organize, control impulses, and complete tasks. That means you need to take over as the executive, providing extra guidance while your child gradually acquires executive skills of their own.
Although the symptoms of ADHD can be nothing short of exasperating, it’s important to remember that the child who is ignoring, annoying, or embarrassing you is not acting willfully. Kids with ADHD want to sit quietly; they want to make their rooms tidy and organized; they want to do everything their parent says to do—but they don’t know how to make these things happen.
If you keep in mind that having ADHD is just as frustrating for your child, it will be a lot easier to respond in positive, supportive ways. With patience, compassion, and plenty of support, you can manage childhood ADHD while enjoying a stable, happy home.
ADHD and your family
Before you can successfully parent a child with ADHD, it's essential to understand the impact of your child's symptoms on the family as a whole. Children with ADHD exhibit a slew of behaviors that can disrupt family life. They often don't “hear” parental instructions, so they don't obey them. They're disorganized and easily distracted, keeping other family members waiting. Or they start projects and forget to finish them—let alone clean up after them. Children with impulsivity issues often interrupt conversations, demand attention at inappropriate times, and speak before they think, saying tactless or embarrassing things.
It's often difficult to get them to bed and to sleep. Hyperactive children may tear around the house or even put themselves in physical danger.
Because of these behaviors, siblings of children with ADHD face a number of challenges. Their needs often get less attention than those of the child with ADHD. They may be rebuked more sharply when they err, and their successes may be less celebrated or taken for granted. They may be enlisted as assistant parents—and blamed if the sibling with ADHD misbehaves under their supervision. As a result, siblings may find their love for a brother or sister with ADHD mixed with jealousy and resentment.
The demands of monitoring a child with ADHD can be physically and mentally exhausting. Your child's inability to “listen” can lead to frustration and that frustration to anger—followed by guilt about being angry at your child. Your child's behavior can make you anxious and stressed. If there's a basic difference between your personality and that of your child with ADHD, their behavior can be especially difficult to accept.
In order to meet the challenges of raising a child with ADHD, you must to be able to master a combination of compassion and consistency. Living in a home that provides both love and structure is the best thing for a child or teenager who is learning to manage ADHD.
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ADHD parenting tip 1: Stay positive and healthy yourself
As a parent, you set the stage for your child's emotional and physical health. You have control over many of the factors that can positively influence the symptoms of your child's disorder.
Maintain a positive attitude. Your best assets for helping your child meet the challenges of ADHD are your positive attitude and common sense. When you are calm and focused, you are more likely to be able to connect with your child, helping him or her to be calm and focused as well.
Keep things in perspective. Remember that your child's behavior is related to a disorder. Most of the time it is not intentional. Hold on to your sense of humor. What's embarrassing today may be a funny family story ten years from now.
Don't sweat the small stuff and be willing to make some compromises. One chore left undone isn't a big deal when your child has completed two others plus the day's homework. If you are a perfectionist, you will not only be constantly dissatisfied but also create impossible expectations for your child with ADHD.
Believe in your child. Think about or make a written list of everything that is positive, valuable, and unique about your child. Trust that your child can learn, change, mature, and succeed. Reaffirm this trust on a daily basis as you brush your teeth or make your coffee.
Self-care
As your child's role model and most important source of strength, it is vital that you live a healthy life.
If you are overtired or have simply run out of patience, you risk losing sight of the structure and support you have so carefully set up for your child with ADHD.
Seek support. One of the most important things to remember in rearing a child with ADHD is that you don't have to do it alone. Talk to your child's doctors, therapists, and teachers. Join an organized support group for parents of children with ADHD. These groups offer a forum for giving and receiving advice, and provide a safe place to vent feelings and share experiences.
Take breaks. Friends and family can be wonderful about offering to babysit, but you may feel guilty about leaving your child, or leaving the volunteer with a child with ADHD. Next time, accept their offer and discuss honestly how best to handle your child.
Take care of yourself. Eat right, exercise, and find ways to reduce stress, whether it means taking a nightly bath or practicing morning meditation.
If you do get sick, acknowledge it and get help.
Tip 2: Establish structure and stick to it
Children with ADHD are more likely to succeed in completing tasks when the tasks occur in predictable patterns and in predictable places. Your job is to create and sustain structure in your home, so that your child knows what to expect and what they are expected to do.
Tips for helping your child with ADHD stay focused and organized:
Follow a routine. It is important to set a time and a place for everything to help the child with ADHD understand and meet expectations. Establish simple and predictable rituals for meals, homework, play, and bed. Have your child lay out clothes for the next morning before going to bed, and make sure whatever he or she needs to take to school is in a special place, ready to grab.
Use clocks and timers. Consider placing clocks throughout the house, with a big one in your child's bedroom. Allow enough time for what your child needs to do, such as homework or getting ready in the morning.
Use a timer for homework or transitional times, such as between finishing up play and getting ready for bed.
Simplify your child's schedule. It is good to avoid idle time, but a child with ADHD may become more distracted and “wound up” if there are many after-school activities. You may need to make adjustments to the child's after-school commitments based on the individual child's abilities and the demands of particular activities.
Create a quiet place. Make sure your child has a quiet, private space of their own. A porch or a bedroom work well, as long as it's not the same place as the child goes for a time-out.
Do your best to be neat and organized. Set up your home in an organized way. Make sure your child knows that everything has its place. Lead by example with neatness and organization as much as possible.
Avoid problems by keeping kids with ADHD busy!
For kids with ADHD, idle time may exacerbate their symptoms and create chaos in your home.
It is important to keep a child with ADHD busy without piling on so many things that the child becomes overwhelmed.
Sign your child up for a sport, art class, or music. At home, organize simple activities that fill up your child's time. These can be tasks like helping you cook, playing a board game with a sibling, or drawing a picture. Try not to over-rely on the television or computer/video games as time-fillers. Unfortunately, TV and video games are increasingly violent in nature and may only increase your child's symptoms of ADHD.
Tip 3: Encourage movement and sleep
Children with ADHD often have energy to burn. Organized sports and other physical activities can help them get their energy out in healthy ways and focus their attention on specific movements and skills. The benefits of physical activity are endless: it improves concentration, decreases depression and anxiety, and promotes brain growth. Most importantly for children with attention deficits, however, is the fact that exercise leads to better sleep, which in turn can also reduce the symptoms of ADHD.
Find a sport that your child will enjoy and that suits their strengths. For example, sports such as softball that involve a lot of “down time” are not the best fit for children with attention problems. Individual or team sports like basketball and hockey that require constant motion are better options. Children with ADHD may also benefit from training in martial arts (such as tae kwon do) or yoga, which enhance mental control as they work out the body.
The benefits of “green time” in kids with attention deficit disorder
Research shows that children with ADHD benefit from spending time in nature. Kids experience a greater reduction of symptoms of ADHD when they play in a park full of grass and trees than on a concrete playground. Take note of this promising and simple approach to managing ADHD. Even in cities, most families have access to parks and other natural settings. Join your children in this “green time”—you'll also get a much-deserved breath of fresh air for yourself.
ADHD and sleep
Insufficient sleep can make anyone less attentive, but it can be highly detrimental for children with ADHD. Kids with ADHD need at least as much sleep as their unaffected peers, but tend not to get what they need. Their attention problems can lead to overstimulation and trouble falling asleep. A consistent, early bedtime is the most helpful strategy to combat this problem, but it may not completely solve it.
Help your child get better rest by trying out one or more of the following strategies:
Decrease television time and increase your child's activities and exercise levels during the day.
Eliminate caffeine from your child's diet.
Create a buffer time to lower down the activity level for an hour or so before bedtime. Find quieter activities such as coloring, reading or playing quietly.
Spend ten minutes cuddling with your child. This will build a sense of love and security as well as provide a time to calm down.
Use lavender or other aromas in your child's room. The scent may help to calm your child.
Use relaxation tapes as background noise for your child when falling asleep. There are many varieties available including nature sounds and calming music. Children with ADHD often find “white noise” to be calming. You can create white noise by putting a radio on static or running an electric fan.
Tip 4: Set clear expectations and rules
Children with ADHD need consistent rules that they can understand and follow. Make the rules of behavior for the family simple and clear. Write down the rules and hang them up in a place where your child can easily read them.
Children with ADHD respond particularly well to organized systems of rewards and consequences. It's important to explain what will happen when the rules are obeyed and when they are broken. Finally, stick to your system: follow through each and every time with a reward or a consequence.
As you establish these consistent structures, keep in mind that children with ADHD often receive criticism. Be on the lookout for good behavior—and praise it. Praise is especially important for children who have ADHD because they typically get so little of it. These children receive correction, remediation, and complaints about their behavior—but little positive reinforcement.
A smile, positive comment, or other reward from you can improve the attention, concentration and impulse control of your child with ADHD. Do your best to focus on giving positive praise for appropriate behavior and task completion, while giving as few negative responses as possible to inappropriate behavior or poor task performance. Reward your child for small achievements that you might take for granted in another child.
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Tip 5: Help your child eat right
Diet is not a direct cause of attention deficit disorder, but food can and does affect your child's mental state, which in turn seems to affect behavior.
Monitoring and modifying what, when, and how much your child eats can help decrease the symptoms of ADHD.
All children benefit from fresh foods, regular meal times, and staying away from junk food. These tenets are especially true for children with ADHD, whose impulsiveness and distractedness can lead to missed meals, disordered eating, and overeating.
Children with ADHD are notorious for not eating regularly. Without parental guidance, these children might not eat for hours and then binge on whatever is around. The result of this pattern can be devastating to the child's physical and emotional health.
Prevent unhealthy eating habits by scheduling regular nutritious meals or snacks for your child no more than three hours apart. Physically, a child with ADHD needs a regular intake of healthy food; mentally, meal times are a necessary break and a scheduled rhythm to the day.
- Get rid of the junk foods in your home.
- Put fatty and sugary foods off-limits when eating out.
- Turn off television shows riddled with junk-food ads.
- Give your child a daily vitamin-and-mineral supplement.
Tip 6: Teach your child how to make friends
Children with ADHD often have difficulty with simple social interactions. They may struggle with reading social cues, talk too much, interrupt frequently, or come off as aggressive or “too intense.” Their relative emotional immaturity can make them stand out among children their own age, and make them targets for unfriendly teasing.
Don't forget, though, that many kids with ADHD are exceptionally intelligent and creative and will eventually figure out for themselves how to get along with others and spot people who aren't appropriate as friends. Moreover, personality traits that might exasperate parents and teachers may come across to peers as funny and charming.
Helping a child with ADHD improve social skills
It's hard for children with ADHD to learn social skills and social rules.
You can help your child with ADHD become a better listener, learn to read people's faces and body language, and interact more smoothly in groups.
- Speak gently but honestly with your child about their challenges and how to make changes.
- Role-play various social scenarios with your child. Trade roles often and try to make it fun.
- Be careful to select playmates for your child with similar language and physical skills.
- Invite only one or two friends at a time at first. Watch them closely while they play and have a zero-tolerance policy for hitting, pushing and yelling.
- Make time and space for your child to play, and reward good play behaviors often.
Authors: Melinda Smith, M.A. and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D.
- References
Neurodevelopmental Disorders. (2013). In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. American Psychiatric Association.
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787.x01_Neurodevelopmental_DisordersCiesielski, H. A., Loren, R. E. A., & Tamm, L. (2020). Behavioral Parent Training for ADHD Reduces Situational Severity of Child Noncompliance and Related Parental Stress. Journal of Attention Disorders, 24(5), 758–767. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054719843181
Harpin, V. A. (2005). The effect of ADHD on the life of an individual, their family, and community from preschool to adult life. Archives of Disease in Childhood, (suppl 1), i2–i7. https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.2004.059006
Parenting a Child with ADHD – Tips and strategies for parents. (KidsHealth)
Parenting a Teen with ADHD – Tips and strategies. (TeensHealth)
ADHD: Tips for Parents – Includes behavioral modification strategies. (Center for Parent Information & Resources)
Parenting a Child with ADHD (PDF) – Tips and resources. (National Resource Center on ADHD)
Last updated: December 5, 2022
Parenting Tips for ADHD: Do’s and Don’ts
Parenting tips for ADHD
Raising a child with ADHD isn’t like traditional childrearing.
Normal rule-making and household routines can become almost impossible, depending on the type and severity of your child’s symptoms, so you’ll need to adopt different approaches. It can become frustrating to cope with some of the behaviors which result from your child’s ADHD, but there are ways to make life easier.
Parents must accept the fact that children with ADHD have functionally different brains from those of other children. While children with ADHD can still learn what is acceptable and what isn’t, their disorder does make them more prone to impulsive behavior.
Fostering the development of a child with ADHD means that you will have to modify your behavior and learn to manage the behavior of your child. Medication may be the first step in your child’s treatment. Behavioral techniques for managing a child’s ADHD symptoms must always be in place. By following these guidelines, you can limit destructive behavior and help your child overcome self-doubt.
There are two basic principles of behavior management therapy.
The first is encouraging and rewarding good behavior (positive reinforcement). The second is removing rewards by following bad behavior with appropriate consequences, leading to the extinguishing of bad behavior (punishment, in behaviorist terms). You teach your child to understand that actions have consequences by establishing rules and clear outcomes for following or disobeying these rules. These principles must be followed in every area of a child’s life. That means at home, in the classroom, and in the social arena.
Decide ahead of time which behaviors are acceptable and which are not
The goal of behavioral modification is to help your child consider the consequences of an action and control the impulse to act on it. This requires empathy, patience, affection, energy, and strength on the part of the parent. Parents must first decide which behaviors they will and won’t tolerate. It’s crucial to stick to these guidelines. Punishing a behavior one day and allowing it the next is harmful to a child’s improvement.
Some behaviors should always be unacceptable, like physical outbursts, refusal to get up in the morning, or unwillingness to turn off the television when told to do so.
Your child may have a hard time internalizing and enacting your guidelines. Rules should be simple and clear, and children should be rewarded for following them. This can be accomplished using a points system. For example, allow your child to accrue points for good behavior that can be redeemed for spending money, time in front of the TV, or a new video game. If you have a list of house rules, write them down and put them where they’re easy to see. Repetition and positive reinforcement can help your child better understand your rules.
Define the rules, but allow some flexibility
It’s important to consistently reward good behaviors and discourage destructive ones, but you shouldn’t be too strict with your child. Remember that children with ADHD may not adapt to change as well as others. You must learn to allow your child to make mistakes as they learn.
Odd behaviors that aren’t detrimental to your child or anyone else should be accepted as part of your child’s individual personality. It’s ultimately harmful to discourage a child’s quirky behaviors just because you think they are unusual.
Manage aggression
Aggressive outbursts from children with ADHD can be a common problem. “Time-out” is an effective way to calm both you and your overactive child. If your child acts out in public, they should be immediately removed in a calm and decisive manner. “Time-out” should be explained to the child as a period to cool off and think about the negative behavior they have exhibited. Try to ignore mildly disruptive behaviors as a way for your child to release his or her pent-up energy. However, destructive, abusive, or intentionally disruptive behavior which goes against the rules you establish should always be punished.
Create structure
Make a routine for your child and stick to it every day. Establish rituals around meals, homework, playtime, and bedtime.
Simple daily tasks, such as having your child lay out his or her clothes for the next day, can provide essential structure.
Break tasks into manageable pieces
Try using a large wall calendar to help remind a child of their duties. Color coding chores and homework can keep your child from becoming overwhelmed with everyday tasks and school assignments. Even morning routines should be broken down into discrete tasks.
Simplify and organize your child’s life
Create a special, quiet space for your child to read, do homework, and take a break from the chaos of everyday life. Keep your home neat and organized so that your child knows where everything goes. This helps reduce unnecessary distractions.
Limit distractions
Children with ADHD welcome easily accessible distractions. Television, video games, and the computer encourage impulsive behavior and should be regulated. By decreasing time with electronics and increasing time doing engaging activities outside the home, your child will have an outlet for built-up energy.
Encourage exercise
Physical activity burns excess energy in healthy ways. It also helps a child focus their attention on specific movements. This may decrease impulsivity. Exercise may also help to improve concentration, decrease the risk for depression and anxiety, and stimulate the brain in healthy ways. Many professional athletes have ADHD. Experts believe that athletics can help a child with ADHD find a constructive way to focus their passion, attention, and energy.
Regulate sleep patterns
Bedtime may be an especially difficult for children suffering from ADHD. Lack of sleep exacerbates inattention, hyperactivity, and recklessness. Helping your child get better sleep is important. To help them get better rest, eliminate stimulants like sugar and caffeine, and decrease television time. Establish a healthy, calming bedtime ritual.
Encourage out-loud thinking
Children with ADHD can lack self-control. This causes them to speak and act before thinking.
Ask your child to verbalize their thoughts and reasoning when the urge to act out arises. It’s important to understand your child’s thought process in order to help him or her curb impulsive behaviors.
Promote wait time
Another way to control the impulse to speak before thinking is to teach your child how to pause a moment before talking or replying. Encourage more thoughtful responses by helping your child with homework assignments and asking interactive questions about a favorite television show or book.
Believe in your child
Your child likely doesn’t realize the stress that their condition can cause. It’s important to remain positive and encouraging. Praise your child’s good behavior so they know when something was done right. Your child may struggle with ADHD now, but have confidence in your child and be positive about their future.
Find individualized counseling
You can’t do it all. Your child needs your encouragement, but they also need professional help.
Find a therapist to work with your child and provide another outlet for them. Don’t be afraid to seek assistance if you need it. Many parents are so focused on their children that they neglect their own mental needs. A therapist can help manage your stress and anxiety as well as your child’s. Local support groups may also be a helpful outlet for parents.
Take breaks
You can’t be supportive 100 percent of the time. It’s normal to become overwhelmed or frustrated with yourself or your child. Just as your child will need to take breaks while studying, you’ll need your own breaks as well. Scheduling alone time is important for any parent. Consider hiring a babysitter. Good break options include:
- going for a walk
- going to the gym
- taking a relaxing bath
Calm yourself
You can’t help an impulsive child if you yourself are aggravated. Children mimic the behaviors they see around them, so if you remain composed and controlled during an outburst, it will help your child to do the same.
Take time to breathe, relax, and collect your thoughts before attempting to pacify your child. The calmer you are, the calmer your child will become.
Don’t sweat the small stuff
Be willing to make some compromises with your child. If your child has accomplished two of the three chores you assigned, consider being flexible with the third, uncompleted task. It’s a learning process and even small steps count.
Don’t get overwhelmed and lash out
Remember that your child’s behavior is caused by a disorder. ADHD may not be visible on the outside, but it’s a disability and should be treated as such. When you begin to feel angry or frustrated, remember that your child can’t “snap out of it” or “just be normal.”
Don’t be negative
It sounds simplistic, but take things one day at a time and remember to keep it all in perspective. What is stressful or embarrassing today will fade away tomorrow.
Don’t let your child or the disorder take control
Remember that you are the parent and, ultimately, you establish the rules for acceptable behavior in your home.
Be patient and nurturing, but don’t allow yourself to be bullied or intimidated by your child’s behaviors.
phrases that should not be said to children with ADHD
© Collage by Nastasya Zheleznyak
And what to say instead
Recently, psychophysiologist Viktoria Efimova spoke about the main problems in diagnosing and treating ADHD and how hyperactive children can be helped. It is often difficult for parents to find an approach to their children, and when dealing with children diagnosed with ADHD, the usual parenting strategies do not work at all.
It is important to know which phrases will definitely not help you build a relationship with your child. Child psychologist Ann Louise T. Lockhart and mother of a child with ADHD, Lacey Estelle, compiled lists of such phrases and suggested alternatives to them. We have translated their recommendations for you.
ADHD is accompanied by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Because of this, sitting still does not seem like such an easy task for children with ADHD. But movement helps children focus. So instead of saying this, tell your child, “Looks like you need to take a break and move around,” or “Let’s walk around the house together while you revise.”
Lacey Estelle also noted that her child can't tell a story without slipping, swaying, jumping, or shifting from one foot to the other.
Children with ADHD find it difficult to concentrate. When you ask to do this, you do not improve the situation at all. Help your child get back into a groove by offering calming exercises (here are some helpful techniques) and asking just a couple of questions: “What are you working on right now?” and “Help you continue with the task?”.
Children with ADHD do not always understand your words about rewards, punishments and the consequences of their actions, because they only think about the present, not about the future.
At the same time, they are ready to perform specific tasks within the established time frame. Emphasize that important things they need to do in a short time, and break them down into separate tasks: "Let's do our homework", "Let's solve five problems, and then take a break."
Children with ADHD can get irritated by seemingly minor events, so they can't "just calm down" for them. Yes, and you probably do not like this phrase. Instead, say, “I can see how upset you are. I can help you?" or “It was terrible. I know that you feel bad."
Lacey Estelle invites children to take one deep breath in difficult situations. Usually they start arguing, but after repeating the request, they agree. Breathing exercises really help them calm down. The main thing, according to Lacey, is not to yell at children.
Lacy notes that asking her to stop crying doesn't work either. When the baby is crying, talk about his feelings and ask if he wants to be alone.
Here are 11 more alternatives to the phrase "stop crying" that will be useful to you in communicating with all children.
Time management is another task that is more difficult to manage because of ADHD. But it's not just about the diagnosis: many children have a poorly developed sense of time. If you've ever asked your six-year-old to let you sleep for another 20 minutes, then this problem is familiar to you. Asking a child why it takes him so long to do something will only make him feel bad. Instead, tell him, “Looks like you need help. Lets do it together". In this way, you will let the child know that you are ready to help him.
If your child's behavior annoys you, try to control yourself, count to ten, and take a deep breath. Do not forget that the child does not behave this way on purpose. You should not ask a question that he still cannot answer. Ask the child if he would like to be alone to collect his thoughts and calm down.
You may want to say this phrase if you don't like the choice your child makes. But in fact, children do not always know how to act, they need your tips. Tell your child, “Your choice disappointed me. It wasn't the best decision, but I think you can do better." So the child will understand that you believe in him.
Categorical words ("never" and "all the time") make all people, including children, on the defensive. Your child probably doesn't behave like this all the time. Yes, sometimes it seems to you that he argues with you all day and throws tantrums. But try to remain calm and remember that things can get better the next day.
- adhd
- 6-10 years old
- 10+
Treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD, Lakhta Junior in St.
Petersburg Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) is a complex of psychological and behavioral disorders, which in recent years has been increasingly discussed by both parents and specialists.
This disorder of higher nervous activity, which usually manifests itself in childhood, has long ceased to be a rarity: according to various estimates, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in developed countries today affects from 2% to 15% of children and adolescents (in Russia, the frequency of occurrence is about 10%).
Note that any relatively new diagnosis, new medical concept, or even just a new term very quickly acquires a lot of myths and misinterpretations, which fully affected ADHD. But let's not waste time quoting all the nonsense that you can hear or read on the Internet about this syndrome lately, but let's try to briefly figure out what it is about.
ADHD is a real-life disorder, not a “medical” one.
It is included in the International Classification of Diseases and is associated with dysfunction of certain structures of the central nervous system responsible for the regulation of its work. In other words, the basis for the development of this syndrome is objective organic disorders that do not depend on the nature of the child or on the style of parenting. Here, however, there is a temptation for parents to attribute their own pedagogical helplessness to a fashionable diagnosis, relieving themselves of all responsibility and requiring specialists to treat hyperactivity syndrome where it does not exist.
How ADHD manifests itself
Real ADHD, as the full name implies, is manifested by the instability of voluntary concentration of attention: the child cannot concentrate and do one thing for a time sufficient, for example, to learn a new skill or achieve some result . Let us emphasize: it is that “can’t”, which is fundamentally different from “does not want” (“Borings, give me a smartphone, I don’t need it, I will be a blogger / model”, etc.
, etc.) - that is a completely different story, where you have to deal with the problems of motivation and values, with negativism, emancipatory reactions, ordinary laziness, oppositional behavior or something like that.
Most likely, this has nothing to do with true ADHD. In a child with ADHD, under the influence of the slightest interference, stimulus, stimulus (or spontaneously), attention switches from object to object, without dwelling on any of them. Punishing for this is as pointless as panicking.
Another key point in the name is the capacious word “ hyperactivity ”, which is manifested by restlessness, impulsiveness, fussiness, an uncontrollable need to do something, and the real productivity of this activity is very low or equal to zero. Actually, the same thing as with attention happens with kinetics (from the Greek. "movement"), and it is no coincidence that ADHD is classified under the heading of hyperkinesis.
To this should be added the instability of memorization, the tendency to lose or leave the necessary things somewhere, to answer inappropriately, to interrupt, to react too hastily and abruptly.
It is quite natural that such violations of self-regulation can not only irritate the environment, but also have a very negative impact on studies, in communication with peers, on relationships with parents, and ultimately on general adaptability and self-esteem.
It is very important to understand that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is not at all equivalent to intellectual disability. In the most powerful, beautiful, fast computer, the operating system can act up, but the processor does not get worse from this. Need fine tuning.
Symptoms of ADHD - what to pay attention to
If something in the child's behavior worries you in this context, try to take a closer look:
- how the child moves,
- how many and what movements he makes per unit of time,
- how appropriate and effective these movements,
- are they controlled or involuntary,
- what and how is it pronounced,
- how is the information coming from outside processed and how effectively used,
- whether all this is connected with the mood of the child, his well-being or the external situation (for example, general overexcitement at a noisy birthday party).
Perhaps your real concern is that you personally act in a completely different way, with a different pace and style, because you have a different temperament, different experience and, as they say in medicine, psychomotor. But if the so-called intuitive diagnosis (and this phenomenon really works among close people) tells you unambiguously that the child’s behavior is abnormal and it does not depend on him, or on you, or on the situation, then it’s time to think about showing child to a specialist (psychiatrist, psychologist, psychotherapist, psychoneurologist, just a neurologist - for the first visit it is not so important), so that this visit looks as natural as possible and is minimally traumatic.
Of course, at that moment you should already know well who exactly you are addressing and why to this specialist, and not to that one. But it is a must to apply.
Treatment of ADHD in children
Given that the etiopathogenesis of ADHD (i.e. the causes and mechanisms of development of this syndrome) has not been sufficiently studied to this day, it would be irresponsible on our part to recommend any specific ways to correct this condition.
