How parents can help children with ADHD adapt to learning

In recent years, the proportion of children suffering from ADHD has been increasing. If there is a child with learning disabilities at home, parents must spend more time and effort to take care of him. So how can parents help children with ADHD adapt to learning?

ADHD symptoms in children

Unable to concentrate: The most obvious sign of ADHD in children is the inability to concentrate on one thing. Because he is too active, everything can attract his attention, so he cannot concentrate on just one thing.

Always moving around: Children usually have a lot of energy, but children with ADHD will move around constantly, rarely or never stopping. This is one way to determine ADHD.

Difficulty controlling actions: Children with ADHD have difficulty with behaviors such as queuing, following rules, sharing, staying seated, and resisting temptation, so they are more likely to have accidents than normal children.

Love to talk very much: Children with ADHD love to talk very much, so they like to interrupt others, blurt out the answer before the question is finished, and often speak excessively and extremely.

Difficulty in making eye contact: Many children have difficulty making eye contact, but this can also be considered as one of the signs of ADHD. Of course, it must be combined with other signs to make a judgment.

Difficulty in doing static activities: Because it is difficult for children with ADHD to sit still, they cannot participate in some relatively static activities, such as reading or guessing puzzles.

Very forgetful: Children sometimes forget things or lose things, but this is a long-term problem for children with ADHD because they cannot focus on one thing and will be immediately attracted by other things.

Difficulty following through: Children with ADHD are prone to procrastination and are unable to stick to completing homework, housework, or other tasks because they are too easily distracted from another task.

Very careless: Children with ADHD cannot pay attention to details, so they often make mistakes accidentally, especially in school homework or other activities, and it is easy to notice their carelessness.

Often fidgeting: Children with ADHD simply cannot sit still, so when they are forced to sit on a chair, they will appear restless, anxious, and keep twisting their hands and feet.

Parents Helping Kids with ADHD

Set reasonable goals: You cannot expect a child with ADHD to achieve the same goals as other children. You must understand his strengths and weaknesses, and then set challenging yet achievable goals, such as requiring him to complete his homework within a certain time.

Give praise and encouragement: Children like to be praised and encouraged, and so do children with learning disabilities. Children with ADHD will work hard to complete tasks in order to get praise from their parents or teachers. Praise will give them confidence and help them complete their work faster.

Establish rewards: Although this is a lot like bribery, children will want to see what rewards they can get in exchange for their positive efforts, which can encourage them to be more proactive in completing what their parents expect them to do.

Routine homework time: Children with ADHD have difficulty doing things in an organized and planned manner, so setting a routine homework time for them every day can help them concentrate and allow their minds to temporarily get away from the things at hand and get a rest.

Communicate more with teachers: Communicate and interact more with your child’s teacher so that both you and the teacher can better understand your child’s progress. Also, the homework of children with ADHD is definitely not the same as that of other people. Communicating more with teachers can help your child learn.

How to treat ADHD in children

Psychotherapy. There are two main methods: behavioral therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. The patient has poor peer relationships, aggressive language and behavior toward others, and poor self-control. Behavioral therapy uses the principle of operant conditioning to promptly give positive or negative reinforcement to the patient's behavior, so that the patient can learn appropriate social skills and replace inappropriate behavior patterns with new and effective behaviors.

Drug treatment. Drugs can improve attention deficit, reduce activity levels, improve academic performance to a certain extent, and improve the relationship between patients and family members in the short term. Central nervous system stimulants are generally used as the first-line treatment drugs. Currently, the main drugs in China are methylphenidate and its controlled-release tablets. Methylphenidate, at low doses, helps improve attention, and at high doses, can improve hyperactivity and impulsive symptoms and reduce behavioral problems.

Behavior management and education. Teachers and parents need to conduct effective behavior management and psychological education based on the characteristics of the patient, avoid discrimination, corporal punishment or other rough educational methods, and appropriately use praise and encouragement to improve the patient's self-confidence and self-consciousness. The child's seat can be arranged near the teacher to reduce the child's distraction during class, and the course arrangement should take into account giving the patient sufficient activity time.

Education and training for parents. Provide a good supportive environment for parents, so that they can learn the skills to solve family problems, learn to work with their children to develop clear reward and punishment agreements, effectively avoid contradictions and conflicts with their children, and master the correct use of positive reinforcement methods to encourage children's good behavior and use punishment methods to eliminate children's bad behavior.