Behaviour management, also called behaviour modification, can make parenting a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) a little easier. This approach to ADHD treatment involves rewarding and praising your child's good behaviour and discouraging unwanted or impulsive behaviour with appropriate consequences.
The concept of behaviour management is easy to understand, but it can be difficult for parents to implement, says Betsy Davenport, PhD, a clinical psychologist who specialises in ADHD."Often parents don't follow through."Ten tips to establish and carry out a successful behaviour management plan to help your child:
• Define the house rules. Children with ADHD need simple rules for behaviour. Define your house rules and write them down.If your child can read, post them where he or she will see them, such as on the refrigerator or over the bathroom sink. If your child is too young to read, use pictures or drawings to illustrate the house rules. Explain clearly what will happen when the rules are obeyed and when they are not.You might need to go over the rules again prior to an activity or event.
• Give immediate rewards and consequences. Children with ADHD need more immediate feedback for their good behaviour, as well as their unwanted behaviour, than other children.Children without ADHD may learn from praise for their good behaviour long after it occurs. "When your child has ADHD, the moment the good behaviour you're looking for occurs, you have to acknowledge it and do what you said you would when it does," Davenport said. "Don't expect your child with ADHD to be able to delay gratification. "The same is true for negative consequences, which can include time out, removal of privileges, and removing your child from the situation.
• Provide frequent feedback. Children with ADHD require feedback for their behaviour more often than other children do, Davenport said. A good way for you to remember is to set an alarm to go off every 20 to 30 minutes. Then when it goes off, check on your child. If he is behaving well, praise or reward him exactly as promised.
If not, apply the consequences you previously discussed with your child.
• Be consistent. Consistency is key to getting an ADHD child to change negative behaviours to more positive or productive ones, Davenport said.You need to react the same way every time your child behaves in a way that you like or dislike.Also, be persistent. You may want immediate results, but that's not likely. It can take months to see significant progress.
• Establish routines. "Kids with ADHD are terribly bored by routines, but they need them desperately," Davenport said. Establish everyday routines for getting ready for school, doing homework, and going to bed.A routine doesn't mean that everything has to happen at exactly the same time every day. For example, your child may sleep later during the summer.But things still need to be scheduled in the same order. For instance, your child should brush her teeth before coming down for breakfast.
n Create checklists. One way of getting your child to follow a routine is to create a checklist and mark off the steps as they are completed."For children who are even mildly literate, I have them make their own lists," Davenport said.For younger children, you might use pictures, such as someone brushing her teeth. "Kids like that a lot," she added. Checklists are helpful, because parents can ask: "What's next on your list?"
• Set clocks and timers. If your child has ADHD, placing clocks with alarms throughout the house may help.Then, establish times for key activities-when your child will have dinner, start homework, stop watching TV, and get ready for bed-and set an alarm to signal each one. That way you don't have to stand over your child and nag. Also, you're clear and consistent about your child's schedule, rather than saying, "We'll do this in a few minutes."
• Create a reward system. Many times you can manage the behaviour of children with ADHD with tokens, stickers, or gold stars, which the child can trade for a special reward. "Reward systems can work if the child is on board with earning them for certain behaviours," Davenport said, adding that she preferred praise and acknowledgement to prizes.
