Parents With ADHD Raising Children With ADHD

Parents With ADHD Raising Children With ADHD ADHD Parenting Print Parents and Children Who Both Have ADHD By Keath Low Keath Low, MA, is a therapist and clinical scientist with the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at the University of North Carolina. She specializes in treatment of ADD/ADHD. Learn about our editorial policy Keath Low Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Carly Snyder, MD on November 12, 2019 facebook twitter linkedin Carly Snyder, MD is a reproductive and perinatal psychiatrist who combines traditional psychiatry with integrative medicine-based treatments.   Learn about our Medical Review Board Carly Snyder, MD Updated on January 02, 2020 ADHD Overview Symptoms Causes Diagnosis Treatment Living With In Children Hero Images / Getty Images ADHD runs in families. That means that a child with ADHD is likely to have a mom or dad with the same disorder. Its critically important that the parentâ€"as well as the childâ€"be diagnosed and treated. Why Parenting Is so Tough When You and Your Child Have ADHD Parenting a child, any child, is a difficult task, to begin with. When you have a child with ADHD you are parenting a child who has greater demands, needs more involvement, and requires greater patience and understanding by the parent.? Add to the mix additional  siblings of the ADHD child  and conflicts, attention pulled in different directions, feelings of resentment by the child who requires less attentionâ€"all these factors combine to create a parenting role that can quickly become overwhelming. When a parent has undiagnosed ADHD, the difficulty level is ratcheted up even higher. If an ADHD parents child also has ADHD, there can often be significant dysfunction within the family. A parent with untreated ADHD will certainly have a hard time following through with treatment recommendations for the childâ€"keeping track of a child’s prescription, filling the prescription, administering the child’s medication on a regular schedule, keeping track of when the prescription needs refilling, creating routines and structure at home, implementing and following through with behavioral or reward programs at home, etc. If a parent has ADHD, that parent may also have a very difficult time being consistent with their child. Parenting skills will be affected by the parents own ADHD. Studies show that parents with ADHD tend to provide less supervision, have more difficulty keeping tabs on their children and knowing where they are and are less adept at creative problem-solving. If an issue or problem comes up, parents with ADHD tend to address it the same way again and again rather than thinking of other ways to handle the situation more effectively. It is often difficult for those with ADHD to be flexible in their approaches to parenting. Identifying and Treating Adult ADHD Is Key In the past, ADHD was mainly considered an academic or school issue for children. ADHD, however, is a 24 hour a day condition. It not only impairs school or work functioning it also can have a significant impact on families and social relationships. There is even a high incidence of divorce in families in which a member has ADHD. When a child is first diagnosed with ADHD, it is important to also screen the rest of the family to determine whether additional family members have ADHD. Once family members with ADHD are diagnosed, treatment can beginâ€"and other family members can begin to make sense of the challenges theyve been encountering. By properly identifying ADHD in individuals, treatment can be so much more effective and family life much more joyful.