Helping a Child With Attention Deficit Disorder

A child with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) can receive help to manage his symptoms and lead a fully functional life. Many times a child with this disorder is cast aside and labeled lazy or as having an attitude problem. There are ways to help him overcome both the symptoms of the disorder and the negative labels associated with the condition.

Diagnosis and Effects

• When a child is first diagnosed with ADD, he can feel that he is different or not capable of doing what other children can. Very often a diagnosis of ADD comes after years of teachers, parents and other well-meaning adults telling the child that he has an attitude, that he needs to try harder or he simply is lazy. Most often the child has gone through endless hours of time-outs, being grounded, scolded and told he cannot play with others until he conforms to the rules. Receiving a diagnosis should be viewed as a beginning--now the parents and the child have a place to start. Realizing that the problem has reasons is the best way to find solutions for it.

Sense of Self and Learning Responsibility

• The caregivers of a child with ADD are his best shot at overcoming and controlling his symptoms. Many parents think that once their child is given medicine he will suddenly become "normal." The medicine only allows the brain to slow down enough for the child to concentrate on things for longer periods of time. Now is the time to teach the brain all that it can be taught and teach the child a sense of responsibility as well as his limitations. Ask him to do things, small things and make him responsible for remembering them. A little at a time, help him find ways to remember his assigned tasks. Playing memory games, using songs to help or having him draw pictures of him completing his tasks are all good ways of reinforcing what is required. It is important to remember that a child with ADD is very often incredibly intelligent--it is just that his brain is moving at a much faster rate than those around him and they can have trouble keeping up with it.

Impulse Control for Children With ADD

• A child with ADD almost always act impulsively and learning to control this impulsive behavior is one of the most difficult steps in learning to manage ADD. It is essential, though that a child learns to control himself while he is young. If he can do this, his adult life will be much more productive and his chance of having successful relationships will improve. Organization, schedules and routines are essential for the child with ADD. Learning to do the same thing every day at certain times, establishes and reinforces what is required of the child. Without consistency, he does not know what to expect and cannot learn that actions have consequences. Be consistent in rewards as well as punishments. Eventually, a child will learn that good behavior produces rewards and poor behavior does not. With this kind of consistent reinforcement, patterns can be formed and it is possible for the child to start controlling impulsive behavior.

Organization for a Child With ADD

• Help to keep the child organized. As a caregiver, you will probably have to do a lot of the work for a long time, slowly giving some of the responsibility over to the child as he grows, but setting definite rules as to where things belong, what time things are done, what days certain things are done and how the household runs is an important step to teaching a child to be self-sufficient. If you can get him used to making and sticking to lists at this point, they will be a useful tool for him as he gets older and help him to be a productive adult.