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
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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Six Strategies for Creating Strong Families With ADHD, Part 2
Last week I wrote about three things you can do to strengthen your ADHD-impacted family. I talked about Focusing on…
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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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ADHD and Adoption: The Connections Between Them
After receiving my ADHD diagnosis at 47, I did all I could to learn about the traits, treatment, and how…
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Want A Happier Family? Tell Your Family History
I hit the breaking point as a parent a few years ago. It was the week of my extended family’s…
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How to Set Realistic Expectations: Expect the Unexpected
We are re-directing our complex children all day long, from sun-up to sundown. Little re-directions. Big lectures. Their behavior is…
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Working on Your Child’s Working Memory: Use Systems and Structures
Working memory is our internal Post-it note, the place where we hold information temporarily before we take action or move…
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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…
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.