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- Focus on the Positive
- List at least 3 good things about your child.
- Post them on your refrigerator.
- Celebrate them!
- Try to re-direct (not stop) troublesome behaviors.
- AD/HD children are hyperactive (energetic), impulsive (spontaneous), and have a short attention span (there's so much to do!).
- Provide a safe place for free play.
- Do not expect more than your child can manage.
- Avoid too much stimulation.
- Choose child-care that has a low child/adult ratio.
- Avoid formal gatherings, shopping trips, or eating out if these are more than he or she can handle.
- Routine, Routine, Routine!
- Meals, toileting, chores, and bedtime should be as regular as you can make them.
- Catch'em being good!
- Positive comments should outnumber negative comments by at least 2:1 - work toward 4:1.
- Tell your child what you like.
- Let your child know what you want him or her to do.
- Say "walk, please" instead of "don't run".
- Have a formal program of positive reinforcement in place at both home and school - use tokens, stickers, even skittles!
- Discipline:
- Less is more - make a few clear rules and consistently enforce them.
- Act quickly - talk (and threaten) less.
- Use non-physical punishment - time-outs (young children) or loss of privileges (older children)
- Stretch his or her attention span
- reward nonhyperactive behavior with praise, thumbs up or a hug
- limit play materials available at one time but change them often
- Communicate daily with your child's teacher.
- work together to make rules and consequences consistent
- speak up for your child
- teach teachers, family, and friends about AD/HD
- Refuel - parenting a hyperactive child is hard work.
- Arrange some time to be good to yourself.
- Take a break!
Courtesy of: Sandra Hellerman, R.N., P.N.P. University of Virginia and Susan Coniglio, M.D. Emory University
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