Individuals with ADHD may find it very difficult to stay organized. This includes forgetting deadlines and having trouble organizing their thoughts—all of which can pose various frustrations.
If your child has ADHD, they most likely also suffer from poor organizational skills. In turn, this can negatively affect their performance at school and other activities. So, how can you help your child in the best way possible? Below, we offer a few tips!
Does your child with ADHD have difficulty learning? Are they underperforming in school? It’s not uncommon for children with ADHD to struggle within the regular academic environment.
ADHD can negatively impact a child’s capacity to focus and comprehend, making it more difficult to keep up with their studies. But you can do something to help your child learn better despite having this condition. Keep reading to find out more!
Undeniably, ADHD can negatively affect your child’s home, social, and academic functioning. Yet, with the right care, it doesn’t have to!
In fact, learning the triggers for a child with ADHD can help you prevent and minimize functional difficulties, as well as help your child better cope with this condition. So, let’s take a closer look at some triggers and how you can recognize them.
If your teen has been diagnosed with ADHD, they may often feel misunderstood. It can further be frustrating for them to navigate school and friendships. Yet, there are various strategies that can help your child manage their ADHD and corresponding symptoms.
Unfortunately, there is no quick fix. It often takes a combination of approaches to find what works for each individual. While your teen may also find ADHD coaching beneficial, other strategies and tips for ADHD that you might want to explore include:
Coping with ADHD in your everyday life can sometimes feel like an uphill battle. You might feel distracted or find yourself becoming overwhelmed. Yet, developing proper coping strategies can help you manage your ADHD in an effective and efficient way, allowing you to achieve all your goals and more.
In this article, we outline five coping strategies to help you manage your ADHD. Keep reading to find out more.
As you might already know, ADHD might cause your child to experience difficulty with staying on task, following instructions, or meeting deadlines. If left untreated or unmanaged, ADHD can negatively impact your child’s life, leaving them struggling and lacking confidence.
Luckily, ADHD coaching with a trained professional, such as our team at Pathways Neuropsychology Associates, can help your child address and overcome their individual challenges. So, let’s dig a little deeper. What kind of benefits can ADHD coaching offer your child?
Early Behavior Therapy Found to Aid Children With ADHD – According to new research, children with attention-deficit problems improve faster when the first treatment they receive is behavioral. Experts said this approach could possibly change standard medical practice, which favors drugs like Adderall and Ritalin as first-line treatments.
The new research, published in two papers by the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, found that stimulants were most effective as a supplemental, second-line treatment for those who needed it — and often at doses that were lower than normally prescribed.
This story was recently covered in the New York Times and you can read the complete article here .
Contact Dr. Gordon for help with your ADHD. We have treatment and solutions available online, by phone, and in our offices.
Young people with ADHD experience repeated academic and social failures that may put them at risk for depression. Struggling with both academic issues and depression may cause a child to engage in negative self-talk, such as claiming that he or she is stupid. It is important to be familiar with the symptoms of depression in children with ADHD because depression carries the risk of self-harm. If 3-5 of the following symptoms persist for more than 2 weeks, or if your child’s mood ever becomes concerning, seek help from a professional.
Children with ADHD and depression may:
Contact Dr. Gordon for help with your ADHD. We have treatment and solutions available online, by phone, and in our offices.
written by: Brianna Malinowski, Jay Gordon, Ph.D
Bernstein, J. (2007). 10 days to a less distracted child. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.
Photo retrieved from: http://becuo.com/animated-rain-clouds
Traditionally, restless leg syndrome (RLS) is considered to be a problem among middle aged and older adults. However, children can also experience RLS. Children may report symptoms of RLS less commonly than adults due to their inability to describe the RLS sensations or due to a possible different set of symptoms associated with childhood RLS.
**A surprising 44% of people with ADHD have RLS symptoms, and 26% of people with RLS have symptoms of ADHD.
There may be a common comorbidity, or co-occurrence, of RLS and ADHD. It is possible that symptoms of RLS may mimic ADHD symptoms or vice versa; however, research does not support this claim as RLS does not have symptoms of inattentiveness as in ADHD and leg discomfort is not characteristic of ADHD.
One hypothesis to explain this co-occurrence of ADHD and RLS is due to the lack of sleep that RLS causes. Odd sensations in the legs understandably cause lack of sleep. In the hyperarousal theory of ADHD, children with ADHD are sleepier than other children and use hyperactivity as a strategy to stay awake during the day. In other words, RLS may cause daytime sleepiness, which may lead to hyperactivity.
Another hypothesis suggests that children with RLS cannot sit still in class due to their leg discomfort. This increases the likelihood of the children with RLS getting out of their seats and squirming, as commonly seen in ADHD.
Other researchers believe that both RLS and ADHD are associated with a deficit in dopamine, an important neurotransmitter, or an iron deficiency. More research is needed to fully understand the relationship between RLS and ADHD.
Contact Dr. Gordon for help with your ADHD. We have treatment and solutions available online, by phone, and in our offices.
written by: Brianna Malinowski, Jay Gordon, Ph.D
Cortese, S., Konofal, E., & Lecendreux, M. (2008). The relationship between attention-deficit- hyperactivity-disorder and restless legs syndrome. European Neurological Review, 3(1), 111-114. doi:10.17925/ENR.2008.03.01.111
Image retrieved from: http://www.md-health.com/Restless-Leg-Syndrome.html
When animals are involved in therapy, children may experience increased emotion and attention that allows them to participate more fully in the therapy process. Having the opportunity to interact with a fun dog can increase a child’s compliance to therapy, improve the child’s relationship to the therapist, and help to maintain motivation. Compliance, a therapeutic relationship, and motivation are often noted as key elements of successful therapy.
Dogs have been recognized in the therapeutic process for many other disorders in order to facilitate social learning and empathy. Since children with ADHD may struggle with social cues, including dogs in therapy may be beneficial. In fact, recent research discovered that one group of children with ADHD who used trained therapy dogs in their therapy experienced greater reduction in their ADHD symptoms than those children who did not have dogs in therapy. The dogs in this study were noted to serve as prompts for the children to pay attention and stay in the present moment. Remaining in the present moment improves performance on tasks and trains attention skills. It may just be that animals reduce stress for many people, allowing children to be more relaxed and, therefore, mentally prepared for therapy.
Contact Dr. Gordon for help with your ADHD. We have treatment and solutions available online, by phone, and in our offices.
written by: Brianna Malinowski, Jay Gordon, Ph.D
Schuck, S., Emmerson, N., Fine, A., & Lakes, K. (2013). Canine-assisted therapy for children with ADHD: Preliminary findings from the positive assertive cooperative kids study. Journal of Attention Disorders, 20(10), 1-13. doi: 10.1177/1087054713502080
Picture retrieved from: http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2014/07/31/pet-therapy-for-kids/
