The Corona Virus: Help for Parents who have Children with ADHD

All of us are unfortunately in the same situation of living in close quarters for a long period of time due to the spread of the Corona Virus. It is almost untenable for adults, nonetheless for children who have ADHD. Why can’t I see my grandparents? Why can’t I see my friends? Why can’t I go to school? Why do I have to stand far away from another person? My heart goes out to you, these children’s parents because you are dealing with children who are vulnerable and may have a comorbid anxiety in addition to their ADHD. You are also dealing with your own anxiety about how to remain virus free.

You have a new responsibility for which you may not be trained; you are now homeschooling your children. Please be aware that during the homeschooling process which may not be easy, how you respond to your child’s behavior is paramount. You are also accountable and responsible in terms of making sure that your child completes all of his assignments and hands them in to the teacher on time.

What can you do to manage your child’s behavior in this uncertain time when none of us especially our children with ADHD understand what is happening in our society right now?

Here a few hints that I hope will help you.

You must always respond intentionally to any possible changes that have occurred as a result of the spread of the Corona Virus. In that way, you are able to reply to the ramifications of the virus in a calm and thoughtful way, instead of immediately reacting, which may result in undesirable and negative behavior by you. Your responses to this change in your life will serve as a barometer for your preschool child with ADHD’s responses to the changes in his own life.

The following are some questions that you might ask yourself about this terrible occurrence of Corona Virus:

The most important thing that you can do when a drastic change occurs in your family’s life such as the onslaught of this horrible virus is to try to immediately have a conversation with your child with ADHD about the virus.  I am going to list some possible questions here. However, here is a caveat: If your child does not want to talk, do not try to force him to talk about the virus. Instead, see if he will draw some pictures to represent how he feels, or if he will tell you what to draw that will represent how he is feeling. If he will not draw, just wait it out in the hope he will be ready to talk very soon.

     Does he realize that the virus has occurred?

     What does he think about the changes that have occurred in his life due to the spread of the virus?

     What are his feelings related to the spread of the virus and the changes in his life?

     Has he spoken to anyone about the virus?

     If he did so, about what did they talk?

     What changes has he noticed in his own behavior since he has been sheltered in his house?

     What changes has he noticed in his sibling’s behavior since they have sheltered in their house?

     What changes has he noticed in his parent’s behavior since they have been sheltered in their house?

As you are reading my list of questions, please realize that the answers to these questions will be dependent upon the level of maturity and/or developmental level of each and every child with ADHD. One child may be able to answer only one question while another child might be able to answer all of these questions. Just have patience while you are waiting for the answers to these questions because children with ADHD will need approximately eight to ten seconds to form their thoughts and respond to each question.

Please feel free to write me here or email me at estamrapoport@gmail.com or on Twitter at @adhdanswers and I will help you as much as I can.