5 Things a Parent Can Do to Support Their Child with ADHD
By Dan Roth
This article is a continuation of first article on Practical Tips for Coping with ADHD.
A child with ADHD is going to have to deal with a wide variety of challenges throughout the course of their lives. As a parent it is important that you are able to support your child and provide them with the right environment for them to succeed. Here are some things you can do to help create a positive home experience.
Stay Positive: ADHD often incites negative input and reactions from a wide range of people in your child’s life. It has been shown that by age 6 or 7 this negative input can severely damage your child’s self-esteem. As a parent you need to appear positive and provide positive reinforcement whenever possible. As the biggest and most influential role model in your child’s life your attitude will carry more weight than any other.
Maintain an Open Line of Communication: Communication is a key for any family, but this is especially true when dealing with an ADHD child. ADHD teenagers are notorious for feeling alone and alienated from their families. As a parent you can help this. From the time they are young you may want to designate a time during the day or week that you sit down with your child in a non-judgmental space and just talk. You can start as early as five and by letting them just talk, they will feel comfortable speaking with you when they get to those teenage years.
Designate Time for Fun: School is going to be incredibly stressful for your child. It is important that you make sure they have time to do something they enjoy in order to maintain balance in their lives. This could be anything from playing outside with friends to board games with their siblings, involvement in sports or the arts to going to a movie. These activities provide a needed break and will allow your child to be more rested when it is time for schoolwork.
Develop a Routine: Distractibility and short attention spans are common for someone with ADHD. Developing routines early can help to solve some of these issues. Having a usual wake-up time, bed-time and typical meal times can provide structure for your child so that they are comfortable doing intermittent tasks. This also gives the child something to look forward to. If they are doing homework and know that at 5pm they are going to have dinner, it can help them retain focus until then.
Give Your Child Options: With so many things in their lives seemingly out of their control, children with ADHD often don’t feel like they make any choices on their own. As a parent you can help given them options in a structured way that will have a positive outcome. For example if they have math and science homework, let them choose what order to do them. The end result will be the same but it lets them feel that they were able to have some say in their schedule.
Daniel Roth was a mentor for ClubXcite, a San Diego Tutoring Company and youth mentoring program supporting and empowering kids and teens with academic, social, behavioral challenges, and other learning disabilities.
