Child ADHD - Challenges For Parents
Other children do well on medication, but there is also the question of long-term effects, and nobody is quite sure how exactly these meds work and what exactly they do to the brain. There is a risk of drug abuse, partly because the medicines themselves may lead to abuse but also because they are readily available for sale right in the child’s own home! You may want to consider other alternatives and opt for a natural ADHD cure for your child. These basically use herbal/homeopathic remedies which are just as effective as the ADHD meds and are so safe that no side effects or any abuse have ever been reported.
The second challenge is to decide that your parenting from now on is going to be a decisive influence on your child. Many doctors recommend that parents undergo behavior therapy, and the reaction is often negative as they feel they are being blamed. Behavior therapy is just a fancy name for learning some tactics or skills which will make you a much more effective parent for a child with ADHD.
The next challenge is to decide what sort of medication will be suitable for your ADHD child. Dr. Amen, the renowned ADD and ADHD expert, believes that we should be studying brain images and doing scans of every ADHD child in the country! Every child is different, and the standard ADHD psychostimulant medication can sometimes exacerbate symptoms, cause other side effects, and generally make the situation worse.
Not just medication! That would be such an easy way out of a difficult situation. According to a study at the University of New York at Buffalo, ADHD behavior therapy combined with some form of medication is the best solution available. This has been shown again and again to be the most effective way to improve child ADHD behavior and help them come to terms with the ADHD challenge.
Child ADHD - Challenges For Parents
The first challenge is that parents often feel to blame, yet parenting or the lack of it is NOT the cause of ADHD. But if good parenting is not used in combination with medication and other lifestyle changes, child ADHD may develop into adult ADHD. If child ADHD is left untreated or ignored, the figures are startling. 35% will never finish high school, about 50% will abuse drugs, and 40% will be charged with a felony in their teenage years. In adulthood, the damage caused at work and in social relationships is profound and long-lasting, often ruining people’s lives and careers.
Parents often do not realize just how crucial their influence on their children is, whether they have ADHD or not. What goes on in the home is going to influence the child’s development in no uncertain terms. The child will learn how to manage tasks, homework, time management, social relationships, and self-control. That is why good parenting is so important.
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