Post by misty on Jan 7, 2007 14:53:24 GMT -5
We moved from a different location in January, 2007. This thread was transferred from there and has a different format than the ones which are created on this site.
Thread Started on Aug 9, 2006, 2:28pm ยป
This was in a newsletter I get. I think theres some great ideas here. I'd like to start an ongoing list of our own at the end. I'm sure we all have come across little things that help & it would be great if can all share them with each other.
Own Ten Tips to Surviving Your ADHD
Child:
1. Have Realistic Expectations. We all have
expectations for our child, just make sure that your
expectations are * Realistic * for your individual
child. If your expectations are too high (or
unrealistic) then you will be constantly be subject to
feelings of hurt or disappointment or anger. Be *
Realistic *.
2. Keep Your Home Organized. The more "scheduled"
you can keep your home, or the more "organized" you
can be at home, the better for your ADD/ADHD child.
Routines can help your child to accept order in his
life. Be consistent with routines.
3. Simplify Your Life. Please don't try to do all things,
be all things, lead all groups. Reduce the number of
your commitments to others. Your child needs
your time and attention more than others do (except
perhaps your spouse). Spend more time at home with
your child and family.
4. Accept Your Child's Situation. If your child is
hyperactive, then come to the place of acceptance
that your child is, has been, and will be, a person with
very high levels of energy, limited impulse control,
and difficulty sitting still. Don't feel guilty about. Did
you cause it? No. Is the child intentionally
hyperactive? No. Don't waste your time trying to
eliminate the hyperactivity, just learn how to redirect
it into positive channels. Be patient.
5. Be Fair, Firm, and Consistent with your Discipline.
Make sure your child knows the rules ahead of time.
Review them as you need to. Always be fair to the
child. Be firm, don't reward inappropriate behaviors
by ignoring them, but use your best wisdom on how
to discipline or punish.
6. Teach to Incompetent Behaviors and Punish
Rebellious Behaviors. Kids are weird. And, know the
difference between "incompetence"
and "rebelliousness." Kids will forget to put the lid
down on the toilet seat. They run through the
house. They do kid things. When your child acts
incompetently, then teach him how to do things the
right way, and have him practice doing it right.
Rebellious or defiant behaviors, however, need to be
disciplined through punishment. Yes, your child does
need to know who's in charge, and that person
needs to be you, not him.
7. Avoid Allowing Either You or Your Child to Become
Fatigued. We all get grouchy and irritable when
fatigued. Don't schedule so many activities in your
day that you get tired, or he does. If it happens,
either you'll be hard to live with, or he will. Cut back
on your activities, do less, not more. Save your
energy. Slow down.
8. Only Take Your Child to Places Where He Has a
Chance to Be Successful. If your child simply cannot
handle going to the store, or to church, or to birthday
parties where they are serving punch and cake, then
don't take him there. Or go but stay around and
provide the supervision that he'll need so that he
doesn't blow it with his behavior and have the event
turn into just another failure in his life.
9. Watch Less TV, Not More. When we are tired, the
tendency is to turn on the TV and just "veg out" in
front of it. The problem is that the average person
(yes, the average person) watches over 35 hours of
TV per week. Since I don't watch TV at all, someone
else out there is watching more than 35 hours to
make up for me! Watching TV simply steals our
precious time and the attention that we should be
giving our family. Read books, talk to each other,
play board games, go for walks --- but don't watch
TV.
10. Take Care of Yourself Too! Eat right, work out,
spend time with your spouse, your friends, and
yourself. Don't focus all of your energies on your ADD
child. There is more to life. Read good books, not just
ADD books. Pray. Enjoy sunsets. Go for walks. If your
life reflects a sense of balance, then in a crisis you
will respond with more wisdom and discernment.
Thread Started on Aug 9, 2006, 2:28pm ยป
This was in a newsletter I get. I think theres some great ideas here. I'd like to start an ongoing list of our own at the end. I'm sure we all have come across little things that help & it would be great if can all share them with each other.
Own Ten Tips to Surviving Your ADHD
Child:
1. Have Realistic Expectations. We all have
expectations for our child, just make sure that your
expectations are * Realistic * for your individual
child. If your expectations are too high (or
unrealistic) then you will be constantly be subject to
feelings of hurt or disappointment or anger. Be *
Realistic *.
2. Keep Your Home Organized. The more "scheduled"
you can keep your home, or the more "organized" you
can be at home, the better for your ADD/ADHD child.
Routines can help your child to accept order in his
life. Be consistent with routines.
3. Simplify Your Life. Please don't try to do all things,
be all things, lead all groups. Reduce the number of
your commitments to others. Your child needs
your time and attention more than others do (except
perhaps your spouse). Spend more time at home with
your child and family.
4. Accept Your Child's Situation. If your child is
hyperactive, then come to the place of acceptance
that your child is, has been, and will be, a person with
very high levels of energy, limited impulse control,
and difficulty sitting still. Don't feel guilty about. Did
you cause it? No. Is the child intentionally
hyperactive? No. Don't waste your time trying to
eliminate the hyperactivity, just learn how to redirect
it into positive channels. Be patient.
5. Be Fair, Firm, and Consistent with your Discipline.
Make sure your child knows the rules ahead of time.
Review them as you need to. Always be fair to the
child. Be firm, don't reward inappropriate behaviors
by ignoring them, but use your best wisdom on how
to discipline or punish.
6. Teach to Incompetent Behaviors and Punish
Rebellious Behaviors. Kids are weird. And, know the
difference between "incompetence"
and "rebelliousness." Kids will forget to put the lid
down on the toilet seat. They run through the
house. They do kid things. When your child acts
incompetently, then teach him how to do things the
right way, and have him practice doing it right.
Rebellious or defiant behaviors, however, need to be
disciplined through punishment. Yes, your child does
need to know who's in charge, and that person
needs to be you, not him.
7. Avoid Allowing Either You or Your Child to Become
Fatigued. We all get grouchy and irritable when
fatigued. Don't schedule so many activities in your
day that you get tired, or he does. If it happens,
either you'll be hard to live with, or he will. Cut back
on your activities, do less, not more. Save your
energy. Slow down.
8. Only Take Your Child to Places Where He Has a
Chance to Be Successful. If your child simply cannot
handle going to the store, or to church, or to birthday
parties where they are serving punch and cake, then
don't take him there. Or go but stay around and
provide the supervision that he'll need so that he
doesn't blow it with his behavior and have the event
turn into just another failure in his life.
9. Watch Less TV, Not More. When we are tired, the
tendency is to turn on the TV and just "veg out" in
front of it. The problem is that the average person
(yes, the average person) watches over 35 hours of
TV per week. Since I don't watch TV at all, someone
else out there is watching more than 35 hours to
make up for me! Watching TV simply steals our
precious time and the attention that we should be
giving our family. Read books, talk to each other,
play board games, go for walks --- but don't watch
TV.
10. Take Care of Yourself Too! Eat right, work out,
spend time with your spouse, your friends, and
yourself. Don't focus all of your energies on your ADD
child. There is more to life. Read good books, not just
ADD books. Pray. Enjoy sunsets. Go for walks. If your
life reflects a sense of balance, then in a crisis you
will respond with more wisdom and discernment.
