Helpful Tips for Parents with Children with ADHD

I have a son, who has been diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Having a child with ADHD can be quite a challenge especially when it comes to school and learning. Over the years, I have found some tips to be helpful with my child and I am now sharing it with others.

For years my son had a hard time focusing in class and was very disruptive. I tried different ways to try to discipline him. I even broke down in tears feeling like a failure as a parent until my son's doctor diagnosed him with ADHD and showed me ways on how to get my son on track with his behavior and his grades.

Often times, parents are given three main options and that is to put their child on medicines, to try to manage with out medicine and come up with other alternatives, or to use the medicine and incorporate unique techniques to make it better for their child to focus. It is up to parents to see which option works best for their child and their particular situation.

The following are some things that I have found to be helpful with my son. The first tip is to limit the amount of candy and sweets and foods that has red 40 that you give to your child. There are some studies that have shown that that children that are diagnosed with ADHD tend to significantly improve in their behavior and ability to concentrate when artificial additives such as red food dye is removed from their diet.

The second tip is to put your child on a good daily routine. A good routine, such as doing home work at a certain time helps the child to stay focused and get used to doing homework. When they are not on a consistent schedule often times it can throw them off and you have to work harder to get your child back on track.

Another tip is to let your child go out side and to burn some of their access energy. A lot of times children hold in their energy through out the day at school. In this day and age, children have less and less time to go to go outside and play due to cut backs on physical education programs and time for recess. So at the end of the day, your child may need that little time, perhaps for 30 minutes to an hour to just go outside and play.

The fourth tip is to try to give your children more healthy foods and avoid fatty greasy foods. Oftentimes, kids with ADHD burn a lot of energy because of their hyperactivity. They sometimes lose interest in eating because they are ready to get up and play. Sometimes the medicines that children with ADHD take make them lose their appetites. That is why it is very important to make sure your child is eating healthy and has their weight monitored by their doctor.

The next tip is to give your child one instruction at a time. My son often times gets frustrated and confused when you give him more than one task at a time. So I give him one task at time. I let him complete his first task and only when he is done with his first will I give him a second task. For example when you give your child a chore, you should give him one instruction at a time.

A sixth tip is to try to have your child do their homework and studying time during the earlier part of the day before 6:00 P.M. Often time the child's attention span is even shorter when it is gets closer to bedtime. If you get them to do their homework earlier, then they might do better with focusing.

Another tip is to remove all distractions while doing homework. Some examples of distractions are the toys and the T.V. set. With my son, I have to remember that my child would much rather play and do other things rather than do homework. So I had to designate an area in the house where it is free from distractions. You should take you child to a place that is quiet and has few distractions that would take him/her away from focusing on homework.

The eighth step is to do breathing exercises when your child becomes overwhelmed. Sometimes when the homework is difficult for my son he becomes very frustrated. That is when I have him sit down and take in deep breathes (inhale and exhale). We would take a few minutes out to calm down and relax. Sometimes we would skip the difficult part of his homework and then come back to it later when he is more relaxed and calm. Sometimes he would understand the lesson better when he was calmer.

The last step is to try to get you child to bed early. My son did better in school when he had more rest. With more rest, my child tended to focus a lot better on his lesson and was less irritable.

These are some simple things that I have done with my son, along with managed care from his doctor. My son did a lot better in school. He made B's on his report card last year which was excellent for him; I am so proud of him. He had to work harder that most children who do not have any learning challenges.

Children with ADHD can do extremely well and become very successful in their academia. As parents we have to be patient and dedicated. You have to come up with practical ways to work with your child. It is important to work with the teachers and your child's doctor to ensure that your child get the best options for his learning challenges. Have faith and continued to believe in your child, they will continue to amaze you with greatness.