The Do's & Don'ts of Coping with Children Suffering from ADHD

The Do's & Don'ts of Dealing with
Children Suffering from ADHD!
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What is ADHD?
ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder may be considered as one of the
most commonly seen neurodevelopmental
disorders exhibited by children. The
symptoms start in childhood and may often
extend into adulthood. Children having ADHD
often find themselves unable to pay attention,
control impulsive behaviour, and are usually
overly active.
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What are the Symptoms?
It is true that for children, lack of focus or attention,
or hyperactivity is often common. But children who
have ADHD syndrome do not grow out of such
behaviour.
The problems keep growing severe, often causing
difficulty at home, at school, and even with their
friends.
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Here are a few of the most common symptoms that
are displayed by children with ADHD:

1. A lot of daydreaming
2.Often forgetting everyday things or losing
possessions often
3.Fidgeting and Squirming
4.Being too talkative or talking out of turn
5.The tendency to take unnecessary risks or make
careless errors
6.Finding it difficult to resist temptation
7.Following simple instructions
8.Having difficulty in coordination or getting along
with others.
Some or all of these signs may be found amongst
children diagnosed with this disorder.

Causes of ADHD
All over the world, scientists are still trying to find out
the causes and risk factors associated with ADHD so
that children suffering from this disorder may be
handled better and towards early recovery.
Although specific causes are still beyond the reach
of confirmation, genetics supposedly plays a major
role in causing ADHD among children.
In addition, scientists have also narrowed down and
researching the following possible causes of ADHD:

1. Getting exposed to environmental risk factors
like lead during pregnancy or at a very early age
2. An injury to the brain
3. Consumption of tobacco or alcohol during
pregnancy
4. Low weight at birth
The popular perception amongst a large number of
people is that ADHD may be a result of watching too
much television, having too much sugar, family
problems, bad parenting, etc.
However, research does not substantiate these
claims in any way. These may in fact aggravate the
condition for some people, but there is not enough
evidence to prove these as the exclusive reasons.

The DOs for Parents for Coping with
Children with ADHD
1. Introduce Structure
Make sure to chalk up a routine for your child's
day-to-day tasks and get him to stick to it.
You may also consider starting some fun practices
or rituals associated with playtime, meals, or
bedtime.
2. Make Tasks Simpler by Breaking
Them Up
Consider creating a large wall calendar for your
children where they can find their daily tasks
organised and simplified.

You can make them more fun by colour-coding the
chores or the study times so that your child doesn't
get overwhelmed.
3. Make Organizing Your Keyword
Create a comfort zone for your children where they
can do their daily work - be it eat, sleep or study in
peace and quiet.
Keep your home organized and keep everything in
place so that your kids learn what goes where.
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4. Reduce the Level of Distractions
Children with ADHD tend to get distracted very
easily.

Especially present-day distractions like video
games, televisions, mobile phones tend to be very
distracting even for other children.
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So try to reduce the on-screen time for them and
introduce more creative activities to help your
children channelize his/her energy in a more
productive manner.
5. Introduce Exercise in the Routine
Exercises are often known as a good way to burn
energy and it also helps in focusing on the specific
parts of the exercises. It also helps the children with
ADHD be less impulsive.

6. Monitor and Regulate the Sleeping
and Eating Patterns
Specifying the bedtime is extremely crucial for
children suffering from ADHD as they anyway find it
difficult to sleep due to their hyperactivity.
Child sleeping photo created by pvproductions - www.freepik.com
Lack of sleep can again cause a lack of focus and
attention and recklessness.
Also remember to provide the children with various
supplements like Omega 3, Zinc, Vitamin C, etc
which would help in their overall growth and
well-being.

7. Make them Think Out Loud
Children with ADHD tend to speak before thinking.
Therefore it is necessary to enforce a practice
where they will spell out the reasoning and their
thoughts before speaking whenever they feel the
need to act out.
Once you become aware of how their mind works,
you will be able to deal with them better.
8. Introduce Wait Time
Make your conversations with your children
interactive and interesting.

In course of that, teach them to pause a moment
before speaking out so that they can gauge their
response and its relevance in the situation.
9. Believe in Them
ADHD is difficult, but it is not here to stay. Moreover,
children don’t understand how difficult they are
becoming for their parents.
So try to stay positive and be understanding.
Appreciate them when they are doing good and
encourage them.
10. Stay Calm
This is the final and the most important thing to
remember. It is important to keep yourself calm if
you want to calm your child.

Children have the tendency to mimic others around
them and if you hold your composure around them,
they will also tend to calm down gradually. Let them
mirror your gentleness.
The Don'ts for Parents for Coping
with Children with ADHD
1. Let Some of the Things Go
Remember that the entire process is a learning
graph for your kids. So you need to be lenient
towards them at times.
If they have successfully done a couple of chores
and failed in one, just appreciate them for the ones

they have done successfully and let the failure go.
Let each little step count.
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2. Avoid Getting Overwhelmed
Always remind yourself that your child’s behaviour
is driven by a disorder and is not intentional. The
disorder may not be externally visible, but it exists
nevertheless.
No matter how exasperated you feel, he or she
cannot just switch off or on the behaviour. So the
least you can do is not lash out at him/her.

3. Don’t Let the Disorder Rule You
Having said all that, remember that you have the
final say about which behaviour from your child is
acceptable and which is not. Don’t let the situation
bully you and push you to the brink. Stay positive,
but also stay strong.
Just keep these basic things in mind and never
again let your child’s behaviour due to ADHD get the
better of you again.

The Do's & Don'ts of Coping with Children Suffering from ADHD

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