JP Ricks

PSY 1100

ADHD

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a complex disorder that

profoundly affects the lives of the children who have it, as well as their families. The

general feel when many people talk about ADHD is that the person with it is out of

control, almost as if it is a character flaw rather than something out of that persons

control. Although ADHD has drawbacks it also some advantages.

If my friend or family member were to have a child with ADHD, I think the first

thing I would tell them is that ADHD, with its real negatives and disadvantages, has the

potential to be a positive influence in their childs life as well as in their family. An

example is that children with ADHD have a broad focus that can cause them to be less

focused on the task at hand but they can notice much more in their environment.

Approaching this disorder with that positive mindset would, hopefully, would help

parents to be more open to getting their child the resources and help necessary to flourish

in their environment.

I would also emphasize that their child probably didnt get ADHD from a lack of

good parenting, too much TV or eating too much sugar. ADHD is complex and energy

will be better focused on how to support a child with this disorder than on what caused

them to have it in the first place.

In Dr. Goldsteins article, What Do We Want From Children with ADHD:

Keeping a Moving Target in Mind, he discusses some of the hopes educators have for
children with ADHD but also some of the things parents and educators can do to help

these children be more successful. He first examined what educators expected out of

these children and found that the early objective was to help these children start, stop and

finish. He then furthered his goals to helping children with ADHD become more

consistent, predictable and independent. In order to achieve these goals Goldstein has a

long list of suggestions on how to accomplish them.

The first suggestion is for the parent to educate himself or herself about ADHD. A

good question to ask is if their (the parents) behavior or response to different situations

will facilitate that goal of increasing consistent, predictable and independent behavior in

their child. Creating a consistent set of discipline and behavior patterns is important for

any parent, but especially for a parent of a child with ADHD.

Overall, a parent needs to create a stable and consistent environment to support

those three goals mentioned earlier. Certain things such as, increasing parental unity,

establishing stability, and having positive parent-child interactions often are key in

dealing with the challenges of ADHD. Providing as much social support may be

challenging and require some engineering on the part of the parent. Good friends and

school success may require intervention from the parent to let the school know what their

childs needs are.

Although many people have opinions about medication, medication is an

important tool for most children with ADHD and is most effective at reducing symptom

reduction. Parents need to be even more aware of their childrens mood irregularities and

learning disabilities, as children with ADHD are more likely to develop psychiatric
impairments. Overall, ADHD can be a challenge that requires parents to have a balanced

view, that is more likely found with the right education, support and stability to both the

parent and child.