Helping them develop behavioral structures begins with modifying your reactions and learning to manage your child’s behavior, from therapeutic approaches to following a guideline to limiting abusive and destructive behaviors.
Let us break that down into ten practical suggestions on your way to narrowing down the behavioral patterns of ADHD:
Keep the body moving: With ADHD, you have excess energy to burn. Sports, either organized or other physical activities, help your child learn to focus their attention on their movements and skills. Resulting in improved concentration and decreased anxiety and depression. Find a sport your child is passionate about and suits their skills, such as martial arts or basketball and football for team sports. It will contribute to their well-being while lowering the effects of ADHD.
Sleeping habits: Maintaining an orderly bedtime routine is also recommended. These kids need a routine to combat their lack of focus. Putting them to sleep around the same time every evening, and ensuring they’ve had enough time to rest at night, proves helpful when dealing with ADHD. Sleep provides sharpness to the mind and gives them greater focus when dealing with their daily tasks. Maintain a sleeping routine from which you can ultimately benefit.
Set an example: Leaving a positive mark and being a good role model are very important when dealing with ADHD. The technique is one way to achieve that. By learning positive behaviors from an early age, repeating them, and being rewarded for them, your child will develop a positive attitude towards life; by setting a good example and being a good role model and having our kids mirror that will make your job as a parent far smoother in the later years.
Punishment isn’t helpful: Unlike we’re taught to believe, and more commonly with kids diagnosed with ADHD, discipline has the opposite effect on your child. Kids with an occupied and distracted mind like theirs will have real difficulties controlling their behavior when told by their parents to stop or else face the consequences. Punishing them for something they cannot control is, in a sense, setting them up for failure as, at first, they would try to please you, but then they would feel as if there’s no use bothering over this since they were punished for something they were not able to comprehend. The best approach for you as a parent is to try to give them the benefit of the doubt and, unless they’re explicitly defiant, try not going down the punishment route.
Time Management: Time management is undoubtedly of the utmost importance in today’s world. For a child with ADHD, it is even more significant. It is recommended to follow a routine and set a time and place for everything, from homework to meals and playtime to bed. Routinely breaking time down into manageable pieces has positively affected the child. Simplifying the schedule by adjusting his after-school activities to fit their natural abilities to help them avoid being distracted by creating a quiet space (which is not their ‘time out’) will help them learn how to manage their time sufficiently.
Establish a structure, and stay consistent: Kids with ADHD are more likely to accomplish their duties when they occur in predictable patterns and expect spaces. Therefore, our job is to create and sustain structure in our home environment so that your child understands what to expect and what they are required to do. Finding a quiet and neutral space for the child to do their homework is also recommended, helping them gain stability, which in turn will support their concentration and focus.
Encourage positive behavior: Many parents overlook their children’s positive behavior, especially when consistently handling misbehavior. Ignoring the positives usually results in your kids’ maintaining these unconstructive behaviors that might become destructive in the future. Make happiness and laughter a welcome theme, use positive affirmation, go biking together, and play sports or any stimulating activity. This will bring blissfulness to your life and make your kid happier and more balanced. Take note that our ‘Flipbook’ is a beautiful tool that contributes towards a more positive outlook on life and takes over negative emotions. With this flipbook, an ADHD-diagnosed child can differentiate between feelings and learn how to cope with them positively.
Careful with the NOs: Saying no to your child helps to create boundaries, which is a good reminder for them that not everything is allowed. Saying no without thinking clearly about the consequences, overusing no or declining your child’s request may lead to rebellious acts; the impulsive behavior linked with ADHD will make a child more prone to rebellious acts. Learn how to use the language to your benefit smartly by first taking a deep breath, adjusting your words, and making your child an integral part of figuring out a solution. Working out a mutual resolution is your way of ensuring that they abide by the rules of the house.
Negative chatter doesn’t say a thing about your child: The world is filled with people who see things differently – the same applies to teachers and tutors. When faced with school employees saying something about your child being slow or unmotivated, don’t be too quick to accept that as fact. Remind yourself that your kid may have ADHD. Still, they are capable of doing well in school, and, in the long run, keeping a positive outlook will only help them along their journey on all fronts, including during their time in the educational system. Tell yourself that if your kid had suffered from an illness like asthma, you would be the first to stand up and defend them. So be a rock for your child. Like all, they have their gifts.
Strengthen social skills: Kids with ADHD have difficulty accepting and understanding social and structural rules, as they find it hard to learn. As a parent, you can help your child become a more skilled listener, learn to read people’s faces and body language, and interact more smoothly with their friends. Converse tenderly yet genuinely with your child about their challenges and how to make corrections. Role-play different social scenarios, trade roles often, and seek to make it entertaining. Stay attentive and pick playmates with similar styles and physical skills. First, have one or two friends at a time. Observe them closely while they play and have a zero-tolerance policy for violent behavior. Ensure your kid finds time to play, and reward good play behavior frequently. Our game ‘Togetherland’ offers a lot to strengthen your child’s social skills while having friends for some playtime.
To conclude, let us state that ADHD doesn’t spell disaster. As for some of its given challenges, they all seem fixable when you start looking for visible and tangible solutions. Regularly remind yourself that you have a healthy, bright, and capable child, like most children diagnosed with ADHD. Some are even highly intelligent, more talented, and imaginative than they would appear on the surface.
Your kid may have ADHD, but with some of the tools we have presented, you, as the parent, have the wisdom and strength to handle this young, full of life and unique soul in many ways.
Our games are therapeutic and are helpful as a supporting tool for kids diagnosed with ADHD. We believe that when met with the challenges our games present to them, they become more self and socially aware, as the aspects of the game merely reflect the reality they live in.