ADHD Parenting

Words: 432
Pages: 2

Can you imagine your brain working on a weak signal, just like a mobile phone? That is what is happening in a way with ADHD children. This is one of the first things to understand about ADHD parenting.

Let us take another example using the mobile phone analogy. Basically the weak signal is due to an imbalance in the brain chemicals. Those brain chemicals are essential for the child to organize tasks, manage time and of course to concentrate. There is no element of wilfulness on the part of the ADHD child so it is useless to blame the child. But many parents become exasperated and understandably the child is the target of their irritation. Wiser parents understand that there are ways to help the child and life can become much easier when they
…show more content…
It is astonishing how TV, videos and computers have taken over so many homes, so even a conversation and communication among family members is extremely limited.

Experts now say that for ADHD kids this is very important, because these video games actually stimulate the brain and that leads to hyperactivity, lack of focus, inattention and distractability. It also interferes with sleep patterns. This is not surprising in that computer screens stimulate the brain and our biological rhythms are affected.

Medication with psychostimulants such Ritalin, Vyvanse and Concerta strangely enough stimulates the brain chemicals in a different way and actually they can calm a child down. But nobody knows how exactly these work and there are many question marks about their long term effects on neural development, let alone the side effects that can cause havoc in a child's life.

The answer to ADHD parenting is to adopt some form of child behaviour modification. That is a term used for basic parenting skills. But what does that mean? It means that the parents have a whole set of structures, routines and a rewards and consequences system in place. Experts now agree that this is the only way to help a child develop skills to cope with all the problems I have mentioned