Five Successful Tips to Improving Your Child's Behavior

As parents of an ADHD child, you have probably felt frustration with your child’s impulsivity, inattention and restlessness. Here are five tips that can help and teach your child to be more in control of their behavior and still maintain their natural curiosity and enthusiasm:
1. Be clear with the “rules” in advance. Take a little extra time to calmly remind your child what is expected of them. Many ADHD children are not auditory learners and literally will not hear you tell them something from across the room. Make sure you have your child’s attention by gently touching them on the shoulder and looking directly in their eyes with your request. Have them repeat the expectation to be sure they have “heard” you. Keep your request brief and succinct.
2. Answering the “Why?” Like most, children with ADHD want to know why they must follow the rules. They often comprehend things concretely and truly benefit from a simple statement as to “why” they must behave. For instance, if the rule is “not to jump on furniture”, follow this request by telling your child “because it is not safe. You could fall and get hurt.”
3. Consequences. It is important that a child understand what will happen if they do misbehave. By establishing this beforehand, disciplining becomes more matter of fact. If your child is around seven years old or older, they can become involved in this discussion. Remember, consequences for misbehavior should “make sense” or follow logically the specific misbehavior. For instance, if the rule is that they cannot hit another child because it hurts them, the consequence for this misbehavior may be to have them removed from the situation. In other words, by not being able to act appropriately in a social situation, they will need to be removed until they can.
4. Develop a “Signal”. Develop a signal between you and your child that will serve to remind them if they are starting to misbehave. By engaging your child in coming up with the “signal” they will be more likely to respond. Some examples may include winking at them, putting your finger to your lips or using a downward motion with your hand. The more involved your child is in coming up with the “signal”, the more they will respond when it is given.
5. Consistency. ADHD children are nothing if not inconsistent. As parents we need to model consistency for them so that they learn that rules make sense. To reinforce this, it is important that we enforce our rules consistently. Never engage or negotiate after the rules have been established. Simply remind the child what the rule is, “why” it is important and follow through with the discipline.

Here is to your parenting success!