Guiding parents and teachers to navigate the challenges of ADHD
ADHD is a medical condition marked by developmental delays in children and teens, and often leads to challenges in parenting. It tends to be greatly misunderstood by medical and therapeutic providers, who may develop treatment plans that rely on medication as a sole source of treatment to the exclusion of behavior management training in parenting. Parenting interventions are effective, recommended, and have been proven to improve symptoms for children and teens. Most experts agree that ADHD is much (cont'd below)
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Leading Articles about Managing ADHD
What is Going to Happen to my ADHD Child in the Future?
When does a parent’s concern about their child’s future become catastrophizing? It’s common when kids have complex challenges like ADHD,…
CONTINUEDIt All Starts with Sleep
Somehow it’s still amazing to me how often I wind up talking about the importance of sleep with my clients.…
CONTINUEDWhen Your Complex Teen Leaves Home: Letting Go is Hard to Do
Times of Transition Years ago, I helped my kid move to California to pursue a career in acting. Leaving them…
CONTINUEDA Step by Step Way to Advocate for your Child with ADHD
ADHD is one of the most prevalent mental health disorders[1], and we know that it runs in families. It is,…
CONTINUEDHow Can Systems Help Your Kid’s ADHD Brain?
Like Day and Night Imagine someone shows you a card with a picture of the sun and asks you to…
CONTINUEDIt’s Never Too Early to Foster Independence in ADHD Kids
I remember the day well. Parents were dropping off their kids for the first semester of their Freshman year at…
CONTINUEDBe A Conscious Parent
Happy Parents Lead to Happy Kids As parents, there are thousands of decisions to be made on a weekly, if…
CONTINUEDWhat Your ADHD Kids Are Really Thinking
Inside Our Child’s Mind Do you ever think about what your ADHD kids must be thinking? We all tend to…
CONTINUEDMeet Your Family’s Needs: Discover What You Need
It’s tucked away somewhere in the back of your mind-your plan for the way your life would unfold. You figured…
CONTINUED(continued) more than a ‘deficit of attention.’ Instead, ADHD can appear as a rather complicated collection of symptoms, manifesting somewhat differently for each individual. It may more easily be understood as a brain-based developmental delay in executive function. It can also be confused with or compounded by the many co-existing conditions that are common for people with ADHD, including anxiety, learning disabilities, depression, asthma, allergies, autism, Tourette syndrome, as well as newer (and less-well-known or researched) conditions, such as rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD).
Executive functions are responsible for how we think, feel, and act. They’re how we get ourselves to do (or not do) absolutely anything. Therefore, the symptoms that lead to an ADHD diagnosis are not just whether or not someone can pay attention, but whether they can self-regulate – whether they can decide what to pay attention to, stick with it, finish what they’re focusing on, minimize their impulses, and avoid getting distracted in the process. That’s what makes parenting so difficult.
The five areas most commonly reflected in ADHD symptoms rely heavily on executive function: attention (focus), impulsivity, organization, emotional intensity, and (sometimes) hyperactivity. Again, when kids, teens or young adults struggle with these issues, it can cause significant challenges in parenting.
Whether parents are trying to get life moving in the mornings or just help their kids and teens manage any or all of their responsibilities, ADHD is best treated by a combination of medication and ‘behavior therapy,’ otherwise known as parent management training, or behavior management training. With training, parenting can work with medication (when relevant) to teach children and teens skills in self-management, and ultimately improve outcomes for the whole family.