ADD Student

Archive for the ‘Life Skills’ Category

In a recent experiment, a group of 50 children with ADHD were put into a room with 50 sleep deprived children. Then a group of experts – some behavioral experts and some sleep experts – were put into the room and asked to identify which children had ADHD and which simply needed some sleep.

Overall, the experts did very poorly. According to sleep specialist Dr. Chris Seton, “A tired five year old and a five year old with ADHD can both act in the same way”.

If you are the parent of a child with ADHD, you know how important sleep can be. A lack of sleep can make ADHD symptoms worse, and as the study suggests, perhaps even mirror ADHD behavior.

ADDers can have trouble getting to sleep because it’s difficult to “turn off” your brain long enough to relax and get to sleep. And once they’ve gotten to sleep, it can be hard for them to transition back to a waking state.

In addition, Dr. Seton says that modern technology has greatly impacted the sleep patterns of teens. A recent study showed that 45% of American teens were using their cell phones as late as 3:00 am in order to send and receive text messages.

According to Dr. Seton, the best indication of whether or not you have had enough sleep is that you awaken spontaneously without the use of an alarm clock. He also says that teens need about 9 or 10 hours of sleep per night, while younger aged kids can need as much as 9 – 11 hours each night.

Based on my own observations, it seems that way too many of us are sleep deprived by Dr. Seton’s standards. It’s something you may want to consider in the overall picture of ADHD.

One piece of advice that you often hear experienced moms giving new mothers is to rotate the toys.

Take a certain percentage of your child’s toys – say a third – and put them away for a while. When they seem to be tiring of the ones that they have, you put a third of them away and bring out the ones that have been out of circulation. The children have renewed interest in toys that they haven’t played with in a few months or so.

The idea is a good one, and can be applied to lots of places. Here are a few suggestions:

Homework has to be done most nights, and it gets old quickly. Think about rotating the homework when boredom starts to set in. Getting tired of math? Let’s do some science instead for a while, or read a book. When that gets tiring, go back to math. (Yes, I am aware that you can’t compare playing with toys to doing homework, but adding variety might help them with something that they have to do.)

Got a teen (or a mom) with too many clothes and nothing to wear? Rotating some out might be just be the answer.

Changing seat assignments in class every month or so might make things a little more interesting in class.

New pj’s or a different room arrangement might make bedtimes easier.

Something new and delicious for breakfast might get sleepy heads out of bed sooner.

Some new bins for their room may encourage putting things away. (It could happen).

Think about the ways that you can switch things up and rotate the toys at your house. ADDers really respond positively to new and different; it might be just what you need.

Much of the world is celebrating some sort of holiday this month, and with that comes social occasions with family and friends.

Behavior is often a problem with kids who have Attention Deficit Disorder and during the holidays, things can often get worse.

Their schedule has been changed, their routine disrupted, and there is less structure in place. Holiday sweets and rich foods are everywhere and there is just so much to do and see! Your child might be awaiting the holidays with excitement and anticipation – and it’s hard to wait when you have ADHD.

So much about the holidays – the excitement, the socializing, the changes all around – can really aggravate ADHD symptoms.

Naturally you want to child to make a good impression on family and friends and good behavior makes it easier on you, too. Here are a few ideas to help your child through this stressful time:

Try to keep as much structure and routine in the day as you can.

Make sure your child is getting enough sleep.

Parents often use school breaks as medication breaks too. If you’ve got a big party or event to go to with your child, you may want to consider giving them their medication then.

Balance holiday diets with good nutrition and lots of water when you can. A little protein and a bottle of water before an event can do wonders.

Give your child a chance to get outside and play whenever you can. It’s good for them in so many ways.

Take some time – maybe after things have calmed down and before they go back to school – to do something creative with them.

If you’re attending a large gathering, you might want to arrange some quiet time or a quiet space for your child to escape to when things become too overwhelming. Make sure your child understands that this is a place to help them calm down and relax a little, not a punishment for bad behavior.

Be sure to talk over company manners and what they mean before any outing. Let them know what to expect and how to behave as well.

Finally, remember that with all of the excitement and activity going on, safety needs to be a concern. Kids with ADHD are risk takers and thrill seekers who act before they think. Keep an extra eye on them when the excitement level gets high to make sure they aren’t doing anything dangerous.