This can be a tough area for parents of children with ADHD. Traditional discipline isn’t often effective with ADHD kids because a lot of the troubling behaviors are beyond their control until they’re taught how to recognize onset and cope with the symptoms. This process can take a long time and a lot of patience from all involved. But with the right knowledge and the proper tool sets, ADHD can be a manageable condition.
There are plenty of resources that provide information on ADHD symptoms and the root causes behind them. Understanding that is your first step to coming up with creative ways to combat them. Once you have a good understanding of what’s going on with your child, you should research coping mechanisms that have proven effective with ADHD children. There have been a lot of studies done on this very subject. For example, peppermint candies are known to improve focus in children with ADHD. It’s not a fix by any means. But it is a coping mechanism that could get them through a test or an assignment.
Holding a piece of silk or cotton in their hand while working on an assignment may help them sustain their attention longer. It allows them to multi-task which actually improves their focus. Listening to music has also been known to help ADHD people focus on tasks. The hard part is often trying to distinguish between a bad behavior and an ADHD symptom. There may be a lot of trial and error in figuring out how to combat certain issues. The best advice I can give is to set priorities and pick your battles. If a messy room is lower on the priority list than completing a homework assignment, close their door so you don’t have to look at it. It’s not real important. Really.
Helpful Resources
The Difficult Child by Stanley Turecki, M.D. was the very first book I read after my son was diagnosed with ADHD. The Pediatrician wrote out a prescription for this book and told me it would give me a good place to start for learning what I was dealing with. Boy, was he ever right. This book helped me to understand that I needed to pick my battles and stop fighting and arguing with my two year old every day while still providing tips and techniques to help me learn constructive discipline while teaching my son to cope with his disability. This is a must read for any parent with a disabled kid.