A child diagnosed with ADHD may have a short attention
span, show defiance to adults and be emotionally over-reactive. Possibly this
child can also be intensely curious and often ask questions about existential
matters. Parenting such kids is like riding a roller coaster of highs and lows.
What type of therapies could be considered to help?
It sounds like such a kid is a curious and inquisitive, and those are great
qualities, especially when they can be harnessed in a positive way. You
wouldn't want to minimize or discourage that.
Defiance and emotional outbursts. Why is
that?
It's not surprising to hear that along with ADHD a child has defiance and
emotional outbursts, as they are very common in kids with ADHD, though they are
not, themselves, symptoms of ADHD. More than 50 percent of kids with ADHD also
exhibit defiance and emotional outbursts.
Kids who have ADHD tend to become defiant in circumscribed situations—when
they are expected to do homework, go to bed, stop playing a game, sit down and
eat dinner. These situations are difficult for them to tolerate because of
inherit deficits in paying attention, tolerating a boring situation, reining in
impulses, transitioning from a fun activity, and controlling their activity
level. Since these situations are really hard for them—more aversive than they
are for typical kids—over time, they try to avoid them. Unfortunately for
parents, the avoidance strategies that these kids typically use are tantrums,
arguing, defiance, and power struggles. That's why, for parents, getting kids with
ADHD to do homework can be such a struggle.
What can you do?
You should first seek a comprehensive diagnostic assessment with a
pediatric psychologist or psychiatrist regarding your child to determine what, if any, disorders are
present in addition to ADHD. Medication treatment for ADHD will likely help
with the ADHD symptoms themselves, but you may also benefit from parent
training to help with your child's defiance and emotional outbursts.
There are a couple of types of parent training interventions that would be
a good fit for your child's difficulties, including
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
and Parent Management Training (PMT).
Both are similar in that they teach you how to pay attention to your child's
positive behavior, ignore minor misbehaviors, and provide consistent
consequences for non-compliant and aggressive behavior. These two interventions
differ in several manners, however, including the structure of treatment
sessions. Whereas PMT offers specific skills in a didactic, teaching way with
the parents (usually without the child), PCIT has parents interacting with
their child in session while receiving live coaching from the therapist
regarding which skills to use.
Both of these interventions have been shown through research to decrease
disruptiveness, aggression, and non-compliant behaviors as well as reduce
parental stress and improve the parent-child relationship. As such, these
parent training interventions would likely help make the roller coaster of
parenting a much more pleasant ride!
Published: January 3, 2014
SOURCE: Vasco
Lopes, PsyD, Clinical Psychologist, ADHD and Disruptive Behavior Disorders Center, CHILD MIND
INSTITUTE
Via:childmind.org
More about Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder:
- Does My Child Have ADHD?
- 8 Ways to Help Kids with ADHD Succeed in School
- October ADHD Awareness Month- Omega-3 Fatty Acids Help ADHD
- Thom Hartmann’s Hunter and Farmer Approach to ADD/ADHD
- Natural Alternatives to Treat ADHD in Children
- My Kids, ADHD and Frozen Food
- ADHD: What Parents Need to Know
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