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Medical Video: Behavioral Treatments for ADHD
As parents who have children with ADHD, you may already understand that there are certain days that are more difficult than other days. If the child has started taking stimulants or stimulants, you may see behavior that changes throughout the day when the effects of the drug begin to appear, and then fade.
With stimulant drugs, effects such as behavioral rebound (short-tempered and moody behavior when the drug starts to disappear around 4, 8, or 12 hours) can cause difficulties around dinner or before bedtime.
You can help your child adjust to observing how and when emotions and behavior begin to change every day and schedule as much as possible to accommodate the ups and downs of this behavior. When he gets home from school he will usually be a little nervous and irritable for half an hour, so schedule time to do his homework after that period has ended.
If the treatment makes your appetite go down at certain times, you should schedule a meal time specifically to avoid this period. Give special care so he prepares for the transition between activities because this is a difficult time for him.
Another problem to consider is that sometimes children with ADHD will feel the time is running very long. For children who have difficulty managing behavior or maintaining focus for more than a few minutes at a time, tedious or repetitive activities can feel very long and truly unbearable.
Forcing children to participate in activities like this (activities that require him to sit quietly for a long time while you chat with friends, introduce him to a group involving physical action, etc.) might only cause failure and possibly cause behavior the next rough one.
Even fun activities can be severe in ADHD children. Baseball games for example, more quiet time than moving. This sport may not be as good as soccer for ADHD children, which requires more speed and continuous movement. By avoiding many silent situations or by breaking activities into short duration activities, you can help your child succeed when he tries to maintain his behavior.
It will also help if you tell the child about how long an activity will take place, and even install timer to find out how much time has passed. If he knows he has finished his homework or practiced the piano for more than half the time given, he may be more eager to live it until the time runs out (with support and coaching).
