ADHD, frequently diagnosed in children, can significantly impede their ability to concentrate on schoolwork, tasks, and maintain stillness. Children with ADHD encounter challenges in self-control, affecting both school and home life. ADHD involves two distinct behaviours: inattentiveness, where a child struggles to pay attention, and hyperactivity/impulsiveness, characterised by excess energy, increased activity and difficulty controlling impulses.
The initial signs of ADHD, often emerging between three and six years old, involve hyperactive or impulsive behaviours such as restlessness, fidgeting, running around, constant talking, and impatience. Inattentive behaviours, appearing after starting school, include distraction, careless mistakes, difficulty following instructions, forgetfulness, organisational challenges, apparent inattention, avoidance of effortful tasks, and seeming unaware of surroundings. ADHD is diagnosed more frequently in boys than girls, with girls potentially exhibiting different symptoms.
Understanding ADHD-Linked Acting Out
Children with ADHD are naturally inclined to be drawn to activities outside prescribed norms. Driven by hyperactivity and impulsivity, they may unintentionally stress their parents by not staying seated or wanting to explore. Continuous negative feedback can result in internalised feelings of wrongdoing or aggressive reactions towards those correcting them.Tasks like homework, bedtime, getting dressed, and meals pose significant challenges for kids with ADHD, often met with resistance. Interrupting enjoyable activities, these tasks become battlegrounds, with children using strategies like tantrums, arguing, defiance, and power struggles, creating difficulties for parents.
Self-regulation involves managing emotions and behaviour based on situational demands, such as resisting emotional reactions, calming down when upset, adapting to changing expectations, and handling frustration without outbursts. In children with ADHD, poor self-regulation is prevalent and may be considered a core symptom of the disorder according to some experts.
Children with ADHD often struggle with what is known as “executive functioning,” encompassing self-regulating skills crucial for various tasks, such as planning, organising time and materials, decision-making, adapting to different situations, emotional control, and learning from past mistakes.
ADHD behaviour problems extend beyond affecting relationships with adults; they also influence friendships with peers. The impairment in friendships can be attributed to characteristics like distractibility and impulsivity commonly observed in individuals with ADHD.
Parents often hear claims about specific foods affecting ADHD symptoms, but the research remains inconclusive. While nutritious meals support brain function, there’s no definitive evidence linking particular foods, supplements, or diets to ADHD symptoms. A Western diet high in fat, calories, and sugar correlates with higher ADHD rates, but causation isn’t established. Limiting simple carbs and sugar is advised for overall health. Sugar doesn’t cause ADHD, but it may intensify symptoms. Supplements may help deficient children but can be harmful otherwise. ADHD medication’s appetite effects complicate healthy eating. While dietary changes may complement treatment, they don’t replace prescribed medical approaches like medication and behavior therapy, proven effective for ADHD.
Strategic Approaches for ADHD
Non-pharmacological ADHD interventions may be explored through two key methods. Firstly, delve into “parent training,” designed to equip parents with effective strategies in managing their child’s ADHD symptoms. Secondly, embrace therapies targeting executive functions, cultivating skills in organisation, planning, and time management.
Parent training
Parent training, a form of behaviour therapy for ADHD, aims to address behaviour problems in children with ADHD. Techniques like parent-child interaction therapy teach parents effective strategies to foster positive behaviours and mitigate impulsive or inattentive ones in their children.
For children grappling with impulsive behaviour causing turmoil at home and disrupting their school experiences, therapy offers valuable assistance in curbing these challenges and fostering positive relationships with adults. Parent training is not exclusive to ADHD cases, but its effectiveness is notably pronounced in addressing the tantrums, defiance, and selective hearing often associated with ADHD. The focus on altering parent-child interactions extends beyond the home, demonstrating benefits in reducing outbursts and problematic behaviours at school.
These strategies yield enhanced child behaviour, reduced conflicts and tantrums, improved parent-child interactions, and diminished parental stress. In cases where young children with ADHD receive more scolding than praise, parent training serves as a significant motivator, offering a clear path for earning positive attention and leading to transformative improvements, especially for those negatively impacted by behaviour-related challenges.
For kids with ADHD, calendars are vital. Provide a school calendar for assignments, a separate one for social activities, and use a digital calendar with reminders. Aiding academic success, it’s crucial to establish a structured homework routine within a quiet environment, incorporating scheduled breaks for optimal focus. To mitigate distractions during study sessions, utilising white noise generators or apps like Simply Noise proves beneficial. Additionally, integrating regular exercise into the schedule contributes to improved attention and concentration. Empowering your child for success, teaching them self-advocacy skills involves interacting with teachers and peers, while informing educators about your child’s learning differences ensures a supportive learning environment.
Collaboration between parents and teachers is essential in executing the Daily Report Cardwhich proves beneficial for young children with ADHD. This approach involves establishing specific behavioural goals, providing children with feedback on their progress, and rewarding them for successfully achieving these goals. Daily evaluations by the teacher, assessing the child’s performance on each goal, involve awarding stars or checks for positive behaviours. Accumulating enough positive behaviours throughout the day results in a reward upon returning home, ranging from coveted screen time to other small incentives.
To address attention-related challenges, another significant realm of behavioural assistance for children with ADHD involves skills-based interventions aimed at equipping them with techniques to effectively manage schoolwork and responsibilities at home. Thisform of training focuses on imparting skills that allow children to capitalise on their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses.
Another common area of difficulty for children with ADHD lies in “executive functioning,” encompassing self-regulating skills essential for tasks like completing homework or getting dressed. Executive functions involve planning, organising time and materials, decision-making, transitioning between situations, emotional control, and learning from past mistakes.
Parents can also create effective routines and tools for successful task completion with minimal conflict. Such as,
Checklists are handy for various tasks like morning routines, homework, and bedtime. Making steps clear in advance and displaying them prominently is especially helpful for kids with ADHD, making tasks less overwhelming and more manageable.
Time Limit
Setting a time limit for each step is crucial, especially for larger, long-term projects. Deadlines can catch anyone off guard, but kids with ADHD are especially prone to underestimating the time needed for tasks.
Using a planner
For children with ADHD dealing with poor working memory, utilising a planner becomes crucial. This difficulty in recalling information, such as homework assignments, makes a planner an essential tool for organisation and task management.
Reward chart
Implementing a rewards chart, both at home and in school, proves beneficial for motivating easily distracted kids who encounter challenges in acquiring new skills.
Identifying a child’s struggle with attention often leads to considerations of ADHD; however, it’s essential to explore alternative factors such as anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, stress, or learning disorders. These conditions may exhibit similar symptoms, necessitating unique intervention strategies. A thorough evaluation, incorporating perspectives from parents, teachers, and caregivers, is vital for accurate diagnosis and targeted intervention. Notably, a significant number of children with ADHD may face misdiagnosis linked to age-related maturity disparities. To enhance diagnostic accuracy, it’s crucial to account for developmental differences within the same age group during evaluations, emphasising comparisons with peers rather than the entire class. This multifaceted diagnostic approach, drawing insights from various sources, mitigates the risk of misinterpretation and ensures a holistic understanding of a child’s behaviour.
Parents of children with ADHD face unique challenges that require attention to both their physical and mental well-being. On a physical level, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is crucial. Adequate sleep, regular exercise, and a balanced diet not only contribute to the overall well-being of parents but also set a positive example for their children. Managing stress through relaxation techniques or seeking support from friends, family, or support groups can significantly impact mental health. Additionally, staying informed about ADHD, its management strategies, and seeking professional guidance when needed can alleviate the emotional burden. By prioritising their physical and mental health, parents can better navigate the complexities of raising a child with ADHD and provide the consistent support and understanding their child needs.
(The Author is Consultant Psychiatrist IMHANS- Kashmir. Feedback: [email protected])
