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8. WHAT PARENTS CAN DO? (Cont'd)
8.12. A-Z List of Things to Do:
- Adequate Sleep: Ensure that the ADHD/ADD has adequate sleep; Otherwise his behavioral problems are likely to get worse (same applies for the normal human)
- Better Communication: Listen to understand your child's feelings and you will be able to better communicate with him
- Coffee: Coffee is a weaker stimulant than Ritalin, no harm trying to see if it work for your ADHD/ADD child (not more than 2 cups of coffee per day; e.g. one cup after breakfast, one cup before doing his homework)
- Computer: Teach your ADHD/ADD child to use a computer
- Drama Classes: Enrol your child for speech & drama courses or other courses that gives your child a hand-on experience (e.g. abacus training using fingers, etc.)
- Effalex: Try Effalex (available at pharmacies), especially if your ADHD/ADD child is clumsy and has motor co-ordination problems; Try Medic drug store at Tanjong Pagar Plaza for up to 15% discount, Tel:2244-842
- Exercises: Encouraging daily physical exercises for your ADHD/ADD child (e.g. jogging, swimming, cycling, badminton, table-tennis, stretching exercises, etc.)
- Family Therapy: Go for Family Therapy (e.g. at Institute of Health, Child Guidance Clinc) ifyou and your spouse have strong differences in the style/way of bringing up the ADHD/ADD child
- Health Supplements: Provide multi-vitamin supplements and appetisers (e.g Lysine) if your ADHD/ADD child is under-weight and prone to illness
- Interests: Always watch out what interests your child; Your child's attention and focus will be much better if he/she is interested in the subject/topic
- Kinesthetic: The average ADHD/ADD is a kinesthetic learner as contrast to a visual or auditory learner; Be sure to use the right set of teaching strategy for these type of children (i.e. provide more hand-on experience with concrete / real-life examples/models rather than theoratical or abstract models)
- Listening Skill: Allow you ADHD/ADD child to place phone calls to relative and pick up phone calls; This is build up his listening skill which is usually weak for the ADHD/ADD child
- Music: Purchase Baroque music (60 beats per minutes, close to a relaxed heart-beat rate) such as Bach, Handel, Pachebel, Vivaldi) for your ADHD/ADD child to help him relax and improve his concentration
- Montessori Classes: Consider enrolling your child into a Montessori class where he can learn things using 5 senses (seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting)
- Nutrition: It is important for the ADHD/ADD child to have a balanced diet with proper nutrition; Some ADHD/ADD problems could be nutritional problems (e.g. lack of iron, etc.) or toxic metal poisoning
- Organised: Teach your child to be organised / how to be organised
- Physical Activities: Encourage your ADHD/ADD child to pick up activities such as swimming, badminton, table-tennis, dancing, cycling, martial art, camping, etc.
- Quiet Time: Teach your ADHD/ADD child how to relax (e.g. progessive relaxation techniue, mediation, Tai Chi, walk at the beach, watch sunset, fishing, etc.)
- Ritalin: Try Ritalin if your child cannot control his loss of concentration; Watch out for possible side-effects such as weight-loss and temper-outbursts/explosive behavior
- Social Class: Get your ADHD/ADD child to attend social classes (e.g. conducted at KK hospital or Institute of Health) to learn what are acceptable social behavior
- TV & Video Games: Limit TV and video games to at most 1 hour per day
- Take Good Care of Yourself: Take good care of yourself so that you can better guide and teach your ADHD/ADD child
- University: Have realistic expectation on whether your child can get into a university; A lot of what we learn are not learnt at the university; What is important is whether your ADHD/ADD is constantly learning new things or not.
- Current academic system is not designed to suit the ADHD/ADD child
- The ADHD/ADD child learns better through hand-on experience (e.g. apprenticeship, etc.)
- Visual Therapy: This is for children with problems co-ordinating their eye movements and this leads to reading problems
- Also trains a child to scan an area systematically (e.g. from left to right and top to bottom)
- ADD children tends to scan an image randomly in all directions
- Websites: Useful web-sites include:
- Zoo: A trip to the zoo should be an enjoyable activity for your ADHD/ADD child.
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