Anxiety And Tension
Dealing With ADHD- Not A Child's Play
Children with ADHD are often difficult to deal with
because their behavior can be impulsive and aggressive. Without warning,
these children can suddenly engage in unexpected and extreme behaviors.
Parents look to ADHD treatments to deal with the difficult behaviors.
Some find psychotherapy to be helpful in identifying and dealing with
feelings that can cause aggressive and impulsive reactions.
Many children with this disorder have great difficulty following
social rules because they have difficulty understanding many social
situations. ADHD treatments should involve some sort of social
interaction that requires the person with the disorder to learn the
rules of social interaction. The problem lies in the child’s inability
to focus long enough to acquire proper social skills.
Basic
skills like eye contact and waiting for someone else to finish before
speaking have to be deliberately taught to a child who has the disorder.
It is also important to communicate that there are consequences for
specific actions. If a child talks out of turn there should be
consistent ramifications for the behavior. Otherwise, the interruptions
will be repeated.
Many children who have ADHD are not fully
capable of fully understanding the concept of past, present and future.
These individuals tend to live in the here and now and they tend to
quickly forget the past. They also do not think about the future. Since
there is little regard for future events these children often act
without thinking about the consequences of their behavior. Cause and
effect have to be deliberately taught as well.
Behavior therapy
has proved to be one of the most successful interventions that a family
can use in collaboration with professionals. These ADHD treatments help
the child develop a structure and routine. Behavior interventions also
help the child develop social skills and learn cause and effect cycles
of their actions.
It is also important to make some adjustments
that will work with the child instead of against him. For example, I
worked with a girl who had difficulty sitting still while completing
assignments. Her ADHD treatments often revolved around getting her to
sit still. However, we found that even though she sat without fidgeting,
she was unable to concentrate. If she was allowed to move around she was
able to complete assignments with relative ease.
No matter which
of the ADHD treatments you choose it is still important to treat each
child as an individual who has unique needs. This is the first step in
any successful treatment plan.