Children with ADHD significantly need the love, understanding, and guidance from their family members, friends, teachers, especially their parents. This is for them to reach their full potential and to succeed in life despite of ADHD. After the diagnosis has been made to a child with ADHD, denial will always be the first reaction. There will also be depression, blame, and anger that would build up among family members. It’s not only the child that needs help. It’s both the child and the family particularly the parents that need the exceptional help and beat the negative effects this might cause.
There are parenting skills training that would aid and guide parents on how to deal with their children. This includes their behavioral characteristics management. In these trainings, the parents are taught to provide instantaneous and good reaction and feedback on the child’s behavior that they want to improve, continue, and those that they want to pay no attention to or redirect the behaviors that they want to stop. There are moments wherein the ADHD child’s behavior gets out of control and certain measure like giving them time-outs can be used preferably. Time out usually is when the child is being removed from the disturbing situation and allowing them to sit alone for a period of time and letting them to think of the wrong actions they’ve done and to calm them down at the same time.
Parents are also being taught to give good and relaxing activities together with the ADHD child. This is to have an opportunity to observe and see where the child is doing well and to give them praise on their skills and abilities as well as giving corresponding rewards to it. They will also have knowledge on how to figure out certain situations that may happen in a positive way. For example, if the child is having a difficult time completing a task, the parents can help them by dividing the large tasks into smaller ones that the ADHD child can manage.
We can’t deny the fact that it could be stressful to manage and deal with an ADHD child. So it’s good to be in such training because here, parents were given techniques and taught to manage stress. As they learn to manage it, they will have the ability to deal with their depression, tiredness, and anxiety. Through this, they can respond well on the behavior of the ADHD child.
The more help and support there is, the lighter the responsibility would be. Family members are affected with this situation and help can be needed for each member as well. A therapist can help them on how to deal with different difficult situations that might occur. Therapists find better and good ways to handle upsetting behaviors and to promote behavior changes on an ADHD child.
These are some ways parents can do to help to help their ADHD child.