I am sure that all parents want the best for their child. However, sometimes both parents do not agree on whether their child should take medicine, how much medicine to take, what type of therapist to see, how much computer time to give to their child, the time that their child should go to bed, when their child should do his homework, as well as whether or not exercise will diminish their child’s hyperactivity.
If both parents do not agree on how to manage their child with ADHD’s life, the child becomes very confused. Children with ADHD look for standards and structure. They need to have their schedule as predictable and planned as possible. Why? If they see how you schedule the time that they will do their homework, when they will exercise, the time that they will have their dinner, when they will go to sleep, etc., they will begin to realize how controlled they feel when they can depend on the fact that that the important things in their lives are predictable. This perception that everything is planned ahead of time and will not change, (barring emergencies, of course) will diminish their level of anxiety.
How would you set up your child’s schedule so that he will pay attention to it? You can either use a calendar from Outlook or use an Excel chart. But remember that children with ADHD look for stimulation, so always use colored markers to designate each activity or homework assignment as well as the time of the activity. For example, you could use the same color for all of your child’s homework assignments, a different color for bedtime and a different color for exercise. In that way, your child begins to learn how to categorize. An alternate way is to have a separate chart for homework and to use a different color marker for each subject with a different color for when the assignment is due.
Give it a try and let me know if you need any more suggestions.
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