Guiding parents and teachers to manage challenges with Complex Kids
In 2011, we started with a simple mission: to support parents who wanted to help their medically complex kids – kids with ADHD, anxiety, depression, learning disabilities, autism, sensory issues, and more -- reach their full potential. We hadn’t created the term ‘complex’ back then, and ‘special needs’ never seemed to fit. So starting as ImpactADHD®, a condition our families shared, we created the first global online resource for parenting kids who didn’t ‘fit the mold’. Complex kids are quirky, or complicated, or (cont'd below)
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Leading Articles about Managing Complex Kids
How Do I Stop Nagging My Kids?
How Do I Stop Nagging My Kids? We hear this question – a lot! A lot of parents find ourselves…
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6 Tips for Positive Parenting with Complex Kids
What do you think Positive Parenting is? There are several misconceptions about it. Many people think it means weak, unstructured,…
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Teach (Positive) Self-Talk
Most of us are pretty good at negative self-talk. We can beat ourselves up like nobody else, and say things…
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No More Helicopter Parent
Become a Dive Bomber Parent This week we were talking about what most parents want for their ADHD kids. Independence…
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Just Say, “Poor Baby”
Sometimes, we parents talk too much. We want to teach our kids, or we want them to listen to us…
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Give Points For Trying
I know of a school that gives 2 grades for each class: one for academic achievement and one for effort.…
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My daughter wrote this manifesto for a Literature class her Senior year in High School, and I was so taken…
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Stop Interrupting Kids by Teaching Them to Question
This is a strategy to support kids who struggle with interrupting, specifically kids who interrupt in class because they are…
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How Do You Know if Your Child Has a Mental Illness?
It has been almost 10 years since my daughter, Linea, was diagnosed with a mental illness. Since those initial and…
CONTINUED(continued) sensitive, or emotional, or hyperactive, or impulsive, or sensory – and there’s usually a medically complex explanation for their behaviors. We believe passionately that no parent should ever have to go through the journey of raising complex kids on their own. Parenting these complicated, fascinating young people doesn’t have to be isolating.
Complex kids struggle with fundamental aspects of life or learning. For their parents, traditional parenting methods often don’t work as effectively as we think they should. They may be helpful, but they always seem to fall short of really meeting our needs, which leaves us feeling inadequate, like we’re failing our kids. When our kids are different, they need something different from us.
At ImpactParents, we pledge to partner with parents and teachers to take the frustration out of daily life and guide you to manage daily challenges effectively, with confidence and good humor. This blog will introduce you to a proven method that relies on a coach approach – and it will support you in parenting, regardless of what ‘flavor’ of complex kid you are trying to support more effectively.
We’ll guide you to shift your expectations and communicate with less judgment and more acceptance. As a result, you’ll be able to give directions and offer advice without triggering defensive reactions. Your kids will see you as a member of their team and seek you out for guidance and support.
Regardless of whether your kids have autism, sensory issues, ADHD, learning challenges, or any of the many other mental health and learning challenges facing families today, the coach approach will help you become the parent you really want to be – the parent your children, teens and young adults need you to be. It will guide you to create the kind of relationship with your kids that you’ve always wanted.
Do you want to create lasting behavioral change? With this blog, we’ll guide you to lead your complex kids to become independent and successful adults, which is really what parenting is all about.