What a parent should know about ADHD behavior problems
ADHD behavior problems can be stressful for everyone involved. Parents can be embarrassed, or feel that they’re being judged and ridiculed for “allowing” such deviance. Teachers can be frustrated because they end up spending so much time meeting the needs of one child. Or worse, you could end up with an insecure teacher who actually takes the child’s behavior personally and makes every day a battle of wills.
ADHD behavior problems can affect a marriage, sibling relations, but most of all, the child. It’s important to understand the nature of ADHD behavior problems, in order to work effectively with an ADHD child. Ultimately, it’s a parent’s job to see that their child is getting the care and ADHD treatment they deserve.
The Root of ADHD Behavior
Understanding the root of ADHD behavior is the best first step a parent can take toward making sure their children have the best start in life.
Many parents will initially fell angry with the child for what they perceive to be willful disobedience. Indeed, many old-school teachers and even grandparents will agree that the child is simply a trouble-maker.
A mother knows her child’s heart, though and if the child is not capable of controlling their behavior then they shouldn’t be punished and reprimanded as if they were. Children with ADHD don’t need to be treated like at risk teens or delinquent youth.
Making Special Accommodations for Children with ADHD
Hyperactivity can be managed and dealt with, again, without it affecting the child’s naturally positive self-image. ADD schools manage to nurture a child’s intelligence without subjecting them to unnaturally long periods spent confined to a chair and desk.
Find ways for the child’s educational needs to be met without forcing them go without motion. Some homeschooling parents have been able to do this by allowing the child to listen to music, or a book while they are doing school activities.
Likewise, by alternating active and busy times full of energetic play with more restful periods, where a child can have learning discussions is another popular method. Be wary of activities that try to combine fine motor skills with other learning because the simple act of focusing on writing can be difficult for these busy kids to master.
If he knows the answer to his math problem, the task of writing it on the line shouldn’t be part of the lesson. These are separate skills and while the answer may come easily, writing it down may not.
Speak to your child’s teacher and request your child be tested and special accommodations are made. ADHD is considered an disability, and your child can get an IEP or 504 plan or both which is a customized educational plan for academics and accommodations. These plans set clear expectations on the help your child needs to manage their ADHD.
Your IEP or 504 can:
- Include special instructions for testing and homework.
- Use of technology to help with certain tasks
- Flexibility to move around, or special seating, perhaps standing, as your child needs.
- Help with social skills or organization
- and more…
Preventing School Bullying for ADHD Kids
The emotional consequences of ADHD can create social issues for kids. If the teachers and adults in his life are constantly criticizing him in front of his peers and siblings, it can make him the butt of jokes, a social outcast.
Being ridiculed by his peers can cause children to lash out. Instead of placing the child in an environment where he’s doomed to fail, consider planning in advance for a group dynamic that allows his deviant behavior to go unnoticed so that he can make friends on his own terms.
Friends can be a great source of comfort and companionship and it isn’t fair of parents or educators to basically withhold that kind of human interaction from a child by creating undue stress in the child’s life, or by publicly ridiculing him.
Learning the symptoms of AHDH and getting a better understanding of the behavior problems surrounding each specific child is an important way for parents of ADHD kids to make sure that their needs are met in the classroom, on the playground and beyond.
Every child deserves the opportunity to grow and develop in a loving environment, and a majority of the stress in life can be released simply be accepting people and situations for what they are, and working with the tools available, whether that means making sure that your child attends an ADHD school, an alternative boarding school, homeschooling, or fighting the school district for the care that they need.
It’s a parent’s job to make sure that ADHD behavior problems don’t ruin the child’s life.
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