Getting To Grips With ADHD Behavioral Issues-Parents' Must Know Guide
Getting To Grips With ADHD Behavioral Issues-Parents' Must Know Guide
Some people are convinced that ADHD behavioral issues are just part of normal childhood. But this is patently untrue. What on earth do you do with a child who is always on the go, cannot pay attention, is totally distracted and cannot cope at all with even the simplest task?
These problems happen in both the school and home settings so it seems that this is something much more serious than normal childhood behavior. It is also clear that these problems are holding back the child's development.
Some parents object strongly to the labelling their children and that could be one of the reasons why they do not get their children diagnosed. I know one parent who wished she had had the financial resources to have her ADHD child home schooled. She just did not want her child to suffer from being labelled for the rest of her life. She did however resist the temptation to have her child put on psychotropic drugs as the effects of ADHD meds can be devastating.
She was keenly aware too that there might be severe side effects such as hallucinations or suicidal thoughts if the doctors decided on an anti depressant. She also knew that the psychostimulants came with a whole list of other side effects which could only destroy a happy childhood.
Wise parents know that medication is like putting a band aid on a cut finger because the ADHD behavioral issues can only be solved by following effective parenting skills and behavior modification techniques.
We can implement some of these techniques very quickly and easily. As regards behavior, we can ensure that their good behavior has actually been noticed rather than being taken for granted. We need to notice it and praise it because far too often, we are just noticing the bad, disruptive and aggressive behavior.
When I teach English, I often get the students to repeat back the instructions for an activity or ask them to explain it to a latecomer. No, these students do not have ADHD but this is a useful technique to adopt because the ADHD child's brain is so easily distracted. Their brain transmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine are just not making the connections so that distraction is a constant problem for them.
So we tell them clearly and in plain simple language. We do it in series of steps and then we ask them to repeat it back. There is a very good reason for this because ADHD children a have a sensory overload and that makes paying attention so much harder.
These are just two of the techniques we can use when we are dealing with ADHD behavioral issues. There will be more serious ones to deal with like aggressive and disruptive behavior, hostility towards authority and there may be physical violence too.