|
 |
As parents, you are at your wit’s end trying to make your child sit down. The restlessness of your child is never-ending; the talkativeness and his/her demand for extra attention, irritating. You are tired of trying to keep the child in line and justifying his bad behaviour to everyone. From the books and the experts you have consulted, you have come to know of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
However, knowing the name of the condition is not an end to the problem. There are many questions that have been left unanswered. What is ADHD? How will it impact your child’s life? Where can I get help for my child and yourself? Is there anything I can do at home to help her? How can my child grow up to lead a normal life? This article answers these questions for you.
ADHD is usually described as being made up of three core behaviours:
-
 ADHD, Predominantly Inattentive Type: Inattention but not hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms
- ADHD, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type: Hyperactivity-impulsivity but not inattention symptoms.
- ADHD, Combined Type: Both inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms.
Most of the time people mistake Attention Deficit and Hyper Activity (ADHD) to be a behavioural problem but this is not the case. ADHD is a neurobehavioural developmental disorder. Simply put, it arises because of a chemical imbalance in the brain. ADHD is common, affecting 4% to 12% of school-age children. It's more common in boys than in girls. |
|
| “It’s like trying to watch the TV while someone else is constantly changing the channel - a bewildering stream of changing images, sounds and thoughts. It’s impossible to focus on any one thing because something new is always distracting you.” A young student with ADHD describes his condition. |
|
| What can I do at home to help my child? |
|
|
Being a parent or a guardian of a child with ADHD, one needs to realize the seriousness of the challenges associated with ADHD and the importance of “being there” for your child. One of the most important things you are responsible to do as a parent is to get your child regularly checked by a pediatrician as in some cases, children may need medications and a professional’s advice. |
|
| Manage Anger |
|
|
Children with ADHD are likely to undergo a lot of mood swings and are prone to get upset and angry quickly. They get provoked easily and their outbursts can be aggressive. Children who take medicines may display disruptive behaviour when the medication wears off. To manage their anger:
- Find positive outlets for anger like strenuous outdoor play and exercise.
- Limit television and video games - children with impulse control problems may be more easily influenced by the aggressive reactions they watch on television.
- Ban violent video games and images at home.
- Set up clear rules and enforce rules consistently.
- Control yourself – make a conscious decision to stay calm.
- Assume a calm posture – “Do I want a conversation or a confrontation?”
- Have self respect – don’t give in to self pity.
- Take care of yourself.
- Be the calm in the storm – Talk to the children about what they are feeling and give them different labels for what these feelings are.
- Get down to their eye level when you are talking to them.
- Be sympathetic about the fact that the child is going through behavioural difficulties
- Create awareness in the child about the impact of his or her behaviour.
|
|
| Adapt Home Environment & Its Furnishings |
|
|
Children with attention difficulties need their environment to be structured because they have trouble structuring it on their own. They do best in an uncluttered environment where everything is kept away. In a cluttered and messy environment, every object serves to distract them.
Some studies suggest that parents can calm children with ADHD by using soft neutral colors in rooms that have very few paintings and other decorations, and by using fabrics and wallpaper without patterns. If parents let the child keep toys lying all over the house, he or she will jump from one toy to another. Keep toys away and let the child play with only a few at one time. |
|
| Make a Routine |
|
|
- Make a schedule. Set specific times for waking up, eating, playing, doing homework, doing chores, watching TV or playing video games, and going to bed. Develop a calendar or checklist with words or pictures that cues the child about what to expect or anticipate, either in terms of a daily routine or a difficult activity. Hang the calendar or checklist at the child’s eye level.
- Make simple house rules. It's important to explain what will happen when the rules are obeyed and when they are broken. Write down the rules and the results of not following them.
- Make sure your directions are understood. Get your child's attention and look directly into his or her eyes. Then tell your child in a clear, calm voice specifically what you want. Keep directions simple and short. Ask your child to repeat the directions back to you.
- Reward good behaviour. Congratulate your child when he or she completes each step of a task.
- Make sure your child is supervised all the time. Because they are impulsive, children who have ADHD may need more adult supervision than other children their age.
|
|
| |
|
| |
Parents describe ADHD symptoms in their child: |
| |
“The baby is always on the go as if driven by a motor. He never sits peacefully and says inappropriate things at inappropriate times. She is constantly getting into things and talks excessively”
“Not paying attention to the baby at one moment means being at the emergency room at the next. This one time, I was talking on the phone and after finishing the call, I found that my son had crawled up to the draperies. He destroyed his nursery – pictures, rugs, drapes and everything else.”
“She wants constant attention and never sits down”
“If he doesn’t get his own way, he’ll throw a chair across the room or throw a tantrum. He waves his arms and legs in the air and yells his head off. He throws three to four tantrums a day.”
“He never stops moving and consistently fidgets!” |
|
|
| |
|
