See Below Tips, Ideas, and Suggestions for Raising Kids With ADHD
What is ADHD?
ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. ADHD is the most common mental health disorder in children.
There are many symptoms to identify children with ADHD, but the most common is a lack of focus and being overly active.
Most kids with ADHD experience similar symptoms, but most children do not have the exact same symptoms as others.
In the past, many children were treated for ADD, or Attention Deficit Disorder. However, ADD, or Attention Deficit Disorder, is an outdated term and is no longer used in medical environments. Presently, both disorders are now referred to as ADHD.
Strategies for Parents Raising Kids with ADHD
I’m a mother of five grown children. When my children were young, none of them were diagnosed with ADHD. Therefore, many of the symptoms and behaviors I see in my grandchild, I did not recognize in my children.
However, as adults, some of my children recognize and can identify with some of these ADHD traits. Although they do not experience all of the “typical” ADHD activities, they are familiar with several behaviors my grandchild has.
Since each child’s symptoms and behavior are unique, it is difficult to pinpoint how some traits manifest in childhood and/or transform into adulthood.
Regardless of your ADHD child’s characteristics, these strategies for parents raising kids with ADHD can provide support and peace of mind for both parents and kids with ADHD.
Here are a few ADHD behaviors that I have experienced with my ADHD grandchild, along with some strategy ideas that may be helpful for you.
Hopefully, these strategies will help you conquer the challenges (and often times frustrations) you face with your ADHD child.
1. Not Closing Drawers. Especially Dresser and Kitchen Drawers and Cabinets!
Honestly, this is one a trigger for me! After my granddaughter gets dressed EVERY drawer is left open. Why? How? Huh! I can’t figure out how this doesn’t bother her, but it definitely doesn’t!
She truly doesn’t notice when drawers or kitchen cabinets are left open until I mention it. I don’t know if this is a behavior for others with ADHD, but it’s absolutely a behavior we experience.
My Strategy: Constant reminders to close drawers when getting dressed. Then, reminding her again and again and again! This also applies to kitchen drawers & cabinets left open. We have ongoing reminders throughout the house. Needless to say, we are still working on this strategy. PLEASE TOUCH BASE WITH ME IF ANYONE HAS A SOLID SOLUTION!!!!l
2. Listening to Directions
Yes, listening to directions is hard for all tweens and teenagers, but spacing out and forgetting directions is common behavior for our ADHD grandchild.
Due to her extremely active ADHD brain, our grandchild is very forgetful and lacks focus. Therefore, verbal instructions and directions are usually useless because they are easily forgotten.
My Strategy: To achieve better results when giving directions, I make a written list to follow. I also find sending her a text message on her phone with information or instructions is a good way to stay on task.
3. Losing Things
Many items, such as clothes, jewelry, books, etc., often get lost or misplaced. Over the years, I’ve created various storage systems, but as she’s gotten older, there seem to be more and more things that go missing!
This can be an expensive and frustrating issue to deal with on a regular basis. Continual discussions need to take place for children to understand their responsibility or lack of responsibility when they lose things.
My Strategy: I set limits on how many specific items she can have. I also remove items from her room if I feel she has an excessive amount that she cannot manage. For example, jewelry. Many family members will buy her jewelry, but she tends to lose it. She will also leave jewelry in bags, bathrooms, friends’ houses, etc. Therefore, I rotate her jewelry so she doesn’t have it all in front of her at all times.
Of course, if she wants something she can ask to wear it. But usually, she doesn’t remember the pieces she has, so she wears what she has available. This strategy applies to other items as well. Clothes, make-up, etc. I feel having too many choices or too many options can be difficult for children with ADHD.
4. Never Ready: Time Blindness
My ADHD grandchild is famous for saying “Not now”!!! She says this for EVERYTHING! Because she is generally focused on other things, mainly her phone!! Frustratingly, she is NEVER ready when others are.
My Strategy: Always give your ADHD child a heads-up before an event. Any event or change in an activity needs a prior warning.
Try to prepare your child for something taking place, such as “dinner in 5 minutes”, “leaving for school in 10 minutes”, etc., etc. Every morning, I set a 5-minute alarm to give her prep time before she has to get moving. I tell her she can rest (uninterrupted) until the alarm goes off and it normally works great!
Setting definitive guidelines and boundaries can result in more successful outcomes. However, I think we will still always hear her words, “not now”! Don’t expect foolproof changes!
Finding the Humor While Raising Kids with ADHD
Having a child or grandchild with ADHD, can magnify the challenges of raising children and sometimes bring out the worst in parenting. On the flip side, it can also make life fun and much more interesting! With lots of laughs!
Anyone raising kids with ADHD will need to keep a sense of humor and a kind heart.
My grandchild was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 8 years old. At that time, we discussed medication options, but she did (& still does) not want to be medicated.
Therefore, over the years, we’ve learned how to cope with her symptoms and laugh (& sometimes bite my lip) at her behaviors.
Recognizing and understanding that raising kids with ADHD can be very stressful for all family members is the beginning of helping resolve the household chaos.
Showing love and support to your ADHD child will ease the challenges for everyone in the family. Including and especially your ADHD child!
A wonderful resource for all parents raising kids with ADHD is “What Your ADHD Child Wishes You Knew”. You can find that book on sale at http://www.amazon.com
Tips, Ideas & Suggestions for Raising Kids With ADHD
- Create “TO DO” Lists. Writing information down helps children with ADHD remember what tasks they need to complete.
- Give warnings BEFORE a scheduled event so kids with ADHD are aware in advance. This will help your child mentally prepare for the upcoming event. Setting alarms can be extremely helpful.
- Provide a stress-free environment. Of course, this can be challenging, but the less chaos surrounding kids with ADHD the better.
- Help your child with ADHD maintain good sleep habits, physical activities, a balanced diet, and limit screen time. These lifestyle habits can be very effective in controlling behaviors.
To See more details about Raising Kids with ADHD, ADHD symptoms, ADHD behaviors, and Finding Support in the Classroom for your ADHD child, go to: https://raisinggrandkids.com/kids-with-adhd/
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