How to Help ADHD Children?

BY LI LIU MD. NC.

Issaquah School District Parent

What is ADHD?

What is ADHD?ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It is a mental health disorder. The common symptoms of ADHD include difficulty paying attention, hyperactivity, restlessness, impulsiveness, low frustration tolerance, etc. Children identified as having ADHD need to show the signs in at least two different environments; for example, both at school and home. These symptoms need to last for more than six months. ADHD has to be diagnosed by medical specialists. ADHD can be inherited, develop due to exposure to environmental toxins, or caused by the immune system.

How can parents help ADHD children?

Parents can try different strategies to help their children with ADHD:

1. Improve the diet:

The occurrence and severity of ADHD symptoms may relate to the body's excessive heavy metals, sugar intake, and consumption of artificial colors or food additives. If there is an ADHD child at home, paying more attention to the daily diet can be the first step. Studies show that just limiting sugar intake can help reduce the ADHD symptoms for children 6 and under. This is the same with limiting artificial colors and food additives. Taking high-quality Omega3 also can be an effective way to help manage ADHD.

2. Behavior therapy and parent coaching:

For ADHD children who are six years old and younger, behavior therapy or parent coaching is an essential and effective way to help them. However, because adults might not know the early-stage symptoms of ADHD, they often miss the best timing for intervention.

Parents need to understand that kids with ADHD might have unintentional and uncontrollable behaviors, such as lacking attention, hyperactivity, or impulsiveness. Kids are too young to control what they say and how they do things. If there is no adult intervention, kids cannot self-adjust. Parents need to patiently coach their child with the proper words to say and behaviors to show during daily life and inside the school.

When children with ADHD have behavior issues, it does not mean they are bad kids. It is unrealistic to use the same measurements for these kids. Children with ADHD might not be able to stay in the same sitting position for long periods of time, focus on one thing without distraction, or complete the same amount of work as others. Parents should discuss these things with their child’s teacher and school counselor to make a unique progress plan for their child. (Note: Issaquah School District offers IEP meeting every year to discuss a school-year plan with parents.)

Another typical symptom for ADHD children is lacking executive functioning skills. They usually cannot finish tasks on time. According to the individual kid’s situation, parents and teachers can help them by dividing a big task into several small targets; and making daily or weekly plans. Parents can help their kids complete daily tasks. Make sure to plan for the child to finish the most important thing first. During the task completion process, parents need to remember to keep encouraging kids and rewarding them when there is progress to build their confidence. Try different strategies if one way does not work out. Find the way that works best for your child and keep doing it.

3. Medical treatment:

ADHD medicines target two brain chemicals: dopamine and norepinephrine. These chemicals affect attention and concentration. There are two different types of medicines. One is a stimulant, which can directly increase dopamine synthesis and work as soon as someone takes them. Another medicine is a non-stimulant, which mainly works to decrease the destruction of dopamine to maintain dopamine levels.

Currently, it seems that there are more and more children with ADHD around us. The reality is the percentage of people who have ADHD has not increased; our recognition of ADHD has increased over the past decade. Hopefully, this information can help more people understand ADHD. With understanding, we hope people show more tolerance, acceptance, kindness, and love to these children and their families!

ADHD children are considered special needs students. For these students in our district, an Individual Education Program (IEP) team works together to create Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) and goals. The IEP is reviewed every year to measure the student's progress and must be completed by the anniversary date. An IEP amendment can be done anytime a change in the program is needed. IEP Progress Reports are completed at the same time as grading periods, such as the end of the trimester for elementary students.

A reevaluation is completed by the three-year anniversary date of the initial evaluation and every three years following. Off-cycle evaluations can be proposed by a parent or the school in one or all areas of service at any time before the scheduled threeyear evaluation.

An IEP team consists of:

• Student at age 16 when transition services are addressed

• Parent(s)/guardian(s)

• Special education teacher(s)

• General education teacher(s)—if the student participates in regular education environment

• Representative of local educational agency (often school administrator)

• Individual who can interpret instructional implications of evaluation results

• The team may also include a counselor, therapist, behavior specialist, and the student, prior to age 16, as appropriate.