ADHD (WikiHow resource information) As Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD) is more commonly diagnosed, we look for new ways to deal with our children. Symptoms of childhood ADHD include having a short attention span, acting impulsively, and having excessive amounts of energy. The symptoms affect both boys and girls of all ages, but the behaviors can vary from child to child.
1. Address critical needs within your family's schedule and organization.
Prevention is the best solution to dealing with children with ADHD-based behavioral problems. Some of the most significant misbehaviors can be headed off by establishing a strongly structured organizational system to your family's daily life. In other words, creating a routine can prevent the need for discipline in the first place because your child will be less likely to misbehave. Many of child's actions may be rooted in a lack of organization that leads to total chaos. For instance, some of the biggest struggles between a child with ADHD and her parents relates to completing simple household chores, cleaning his or her bedroom, and doing homework. Those wars can be prevented if the child is surrounded by strong structure and organization that build good habits which will be the foundation of the child's ability to achieve success.
2. Establish clear routines and rules.
Make sure you have a set of clear rules and expectations for your whole family and household. Children with ADHD won't pick up on the subtleties they need to know. Communicate exactly what you expect and what they need to do each day. Once you've designated the household routine for the work week, for example, put up a schedule in your child's room. You can use a white board and make it fun by using colors, stickers, and other decorative aspects. Explain and point out everything on the schedule so that your child can understand it in different ways. Establish routines for all kinds of daily tasks, including homework, which tends to be a big issue for most kids with ADHD. Make sure your child writes down her homework everyday in a planner and that there is a regular time and place for her to do her homework. Make sure to go over her homework before she begins and review it with her afterward.
3. Break large tasks down into small pieces.
Parents need to understand that the disorganization that often accompanies children with ADHD is often the result of being visually overwhelmed. As a result, the child with ADHD needs a big projects, such as cleaning her room or folding and putting away clean laundry, to be broken down into many smaller tasks, given one at a time. In the case of laundry, for example, ask your child to begin by finding all her socks and putting them away. You can make a bit of a game out of it by playing a CD and challenging your child to complete the task of finding all the socks and putting them in the appropriate drawer by the end of the first song. Once that is accomplished and you praise her for doing it correctly, you can then ask her to pick out and put away her underwear, pjs, and so on, until the task is competed. Breaking the project into smaller pieces spread out over time not only prevents behavior born of frustration but also gives parents multiple chances to provide positive feedback while allowing children many opportunities to experience success. The more success experienced—and rewarded—the more a child begins to identify himself as a success, giving a much needed self-esteem boost and helping him actually become more successful in the future. After all, success breeds success!
4. Get organized.
Establishing routines develops habits that will last a lifetime, but there also needs to be a good organizational system in place to support those routines. Help your child to organize her room. Remember that children with ADHD are overwhelmed because they notice everything at once, so the more they can categorize their belongings, the easier it is for them to deal with that plethora of stimuli. Children with ADHD do well with storage cubes, shelves, wall hooks and the like to help them separate out items into categories and minimize crowding. Use of color coding, pictures, and shelf labels also helps minimize visual stress. Remember that children with ADHD are overwhelmed because they notice everything at once, so the more they can categorize their belongings, the easier it is for them to deal with that plethora of stimuli.
5. Get your child's attention.
Make sure you have your child’s undivided attention before issuing instructions. Once she starts to do the task, don’t distract her attention from the job by giving additional commands or starting a discussion that diverts her attention. It's difficult for kids with ADHD to focus, so when they do exhibit focus, give them their best chance to keep it by not interrupting them or taking them away from the task at hand. 6.
6. Get your child involved in physical activities.
Children with ADHD function much better when they are using their bodies in different physical ways; activity helps them get that brain stimulation they crave. Children with ADHD should be doing some sort of physical activity at least 3-4 days a week. The best choices are martial arts, swimming, dance, gymnastics, and other sports that use a variety of body movements. You can even have them do a physical activity on their non-sports days, too, like going on a swing, riding a bike, playing at the park and so on.