Devising a discipline system for children with ADHD is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks a parent of an ADHD child can have. In fact, almost all parents find it difficult to come up with an effective discipline system, so you can just imagine what kind of challenge this is for parents with children who have special needs.
A typical child has such great desire to prove their independence and self-reliance, thus they can exhibit some form of rebelliousness at times. This is even more pronounced for children with ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
ADHD actually impairs the patient's ability for self-restraint. It also negatively impacts his reasoning faculties and memory retention. This result to the ADHD child's difficulty in processing and understanding instructions, thus they are likely to fail in following through. Also, because of their impaired memory function, they always forget what is expected of them.
Thus, in devising a discipline system for children with ADHD, it is important to take into consideration the ADHD induced behavioral tendencies of an ADHD child.
First, it is important than when a child's attention is called for corrective purposes, the parent must be consistent with his tone and words. You must come up with a single formula to use when correcting your child's behavior. This can be done by employing the same preliminary phrases such as "Danny, do not..." or "Danny you need..." Make it sure that you use either of these or similar preliminary phrases when calling your child's attention. This is important because once the pattern is established, once your child hear these preliminary words, he is signaled to follow because that means business and he will get to trouble if he doesn't comply.
It is not a good idea to use different phrases at different times in calling your child's attention because his reasoning faculties is a little slow in processing the underlying meaning of these words. However, with established patterns your child can easily distinguish the meaning that you want him to do something and that he needs to follow.
Second, it does not help to use conventional methods of discipline such as yelling and shouting as a discipline system for children with ADHD. In fact, it cannot be considered as a system at all. Yelling and shouting is a typical reaction of frustration. This is not a good example to show your child. He is most likely to follow suit because seeing you behave in such a way makes him feel that it is acceptable to yell and shout. This usually results to a shouting bout between you two. Moreover, shouting and yelling will not make your child understand that he has done something wrong. This will instead make him grow more confused.
It is important to incorporate the child's special needs in developing a discipline system for children with ADHD. This will help you respond effectively to situations and will also help your child in understanding why is being disciplined and what he needs to do to avoid it.
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