Tips for Parenting a Child with ADHD

1. ADHD Symptoms in Children Slideshow Pictures
2. Take the ADHD Quiz
3. Parenting a Child with ADHD Slideshow

Medical Author:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Medical Editor:

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.

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ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a behavioral condition characterized by inattention or difficulty focusing one's attention, impulsiveness, and/or hyperactivity. It has been estimated that approximately 5% of U.S. children have ADHD, according to established diagnostic criteria.

Symptoms of a child with ADHD can include the following:

• difficulty sustaining and paying attention to tasks at home, school and/or in the community;
  
  
• making careless errors, not following through with tasks or completing instructions;
  
  
• being easily distracted;
  
  
• look like they aren't listening;
  
  
• being easily bored;
  
  
• being forgetful, losing things;
  
  
• having difficulty organizing tasks, activities, or belongings;
  
  
• being fidgety, difficulty remaining seated;
  
  
• talking excessively;
  
  
• running or climbing about excessively when it is inappropriate to do so;
  
  
• having difficulty awaiting his/her turn in a game or activity;
  
  
• interrupting or intruding on others;
  
  
• avoiding or disliking doing things that take a lot of effort for a long time.

Many children with ADHD will have symptoms that persist into adulthood. Effective treatments for ADHD include both medications and behavioral therapies.

Not surprisingly, parenting a child with ADHD can pose special challenges.