Helping Children Struggling with ADHD

How can you provide help to children with ADHD? Providing the help they need is often difficult, but in reality, you can help these individuals in various ways.

One frequently overlooked area that needs to be addressed when helping an ADHD child is the area of anxiety. ADHD and anxiety are closely linked.

The ADHD child typically needs help in many areas of life, with education being one of the most critical.

In this article, I will provide some specific steps you can take when working with these children. If you are serious about wanting to help ADHD individuals, you will find that it becomes easy if one knows the problems and how to address with them. Here’s some things that will make it easier.

Behavior

Difficulty maintaining attention to tasks or other activities (easily distracted by extraneous stimuli), keeps on looking out through windows or doors.

Resolution

Provide extra attention. Use physical proximity and touch. Use earphones and/or study carrels, a quiet place, or preferential seating.

Poor handwriting, messiness and sloppiness.

This area is critical. In young children with ADHD consider alternative methods for student response e.g. tape recorder, oral reports, etc. and in senior grades allow for use of computer or typewriter.

Use pencil with rubber grip. Teach organizational skills. Be sure student has daily, weekly and/or monthly assignment sheets; list of materials needed daily; and consistent format for papers.

Have a consistent way for students to turn in and receive back papers; reduce distractions.

Assist student to keep materials in a specific place (e.g. pencils and pens in pouch)

Makes careless errors in spelling, arithmetic, reading and has low fluency or production of written material (takes hours on a 10 minute assignment)

Ask him to proof read his work 5 minutes after completing the work.

Consider alternative methods for student response e.g. tape recorder, oral reports, etc. and in senior grades allow for use of computer or typewriter.

Talks too much and disturbs the class.

Help ADHD students by using hand signals to tell the student when and when not to talk.

Make sure student is called on when it is appropriate and reinforce listening.

Is irresponsible and creates fuss.

Make him co monitor of the class. Giving him sense of responsibility will improve his self image and behavior.

Difficulty making transitions (from activity to activity or class to class); takes an excessive amount of time to find pencil, gives up, refuses to leave previous task; appears agitated during change.

Program child for transitions. Give advance warning of when a transition is going to take place (now we are completing the worksheet, next we will ...) and the expectation for the transition (and you will need...)

These are the types of things you will need to key into in order to address ADHD behavior. Consistency and creativity will go a long way to make life easier for both the parent and the child.

Helpful Steps You Can Take

You will also want to consider these ways to help ADHD children.

1. Begin a diet to reduce ADHD symptoms for your child.
2. Have your child take a multi-vitamin for ADHD. Certain nutrients that may be missing from your child's diet can lead to various types of behavioral problems.

3. Work on more effective parenting strategies that put the parent back in charge.

Children with ADHD often know how to manipulate and control their parents. They know which techniques work to get what they want.

We have come to realize that there are things that we as parents often do that reinforce the negative behavior that is so characteristic of ADHD. Usually, we don't even know that we are doing this.

Because of this, we have found it helpful to receive training in parenting skills that help produce respect and reduce the chaos and anger in the home. The best program that we are familiar with for this is the Total Transformation program.

Many families have found that the techniques taught in this program produce quick and lasting changes in the behavior of their children. The end result for those who put the skills to work that are learned through the Total Transformation is a much improved home atmosphere with healthier relationships and much less disrespect.

I recommend that you visit the Total Transformation website and see what they can do for your situation. The results with ADHD children are often surprisingly fast.

You may also be interested in:
Teaching ADHD Students
ADHD and Anxiety
Raising ADHD Children
How to Deal with ADHD Symptoms

If you are dealing with ADHD issues yourself, you will want to visit our page on coping with adhd in your life.

There are more helpful ideas on how parents can support ADHD children here.

Recommended sites:

Healthcentral.com Article about Martial Arts helping ADHD kids focus.
School For Champions on Teaching ADHD Children

Note: ADHD Child Parenting is an affiliate marketing partner of Legacy Publishing because we believe in their programs. We know they work and have had a profound impact on many families.