Parenting with ADHD
Tags: ADHD, mental health, parenting styles
Last week on The Parenting Show we had adult clinical psychologist Dr. David Teplin as our guest. Dr. Teplin discussed the challenges of parenting when the adult has ADHD. The stigma of having ADHD is diminishing as people learn that many great people manage well with ADHD; people such as Albert Einstein and John F. Kennedy or more recently, TV’s Tye Pennington and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.
Dr. Teplin reminds us that because of the genetic component, it’s often the case that ADHD parents are raising ADHD children and problems of the “fit” between parent and child can lead to some tough interpersonal challenges and parenting problems. Alas – change begins with awareness. Dr. Teplin wrote me:
“The most recent research on Adult ADHD lists these 8 criteria as being the most significant in differentiating ADHD adults from Non-ADHD adults. Note, however, that having these does not infer a diagnosis, and many other clinical disorders, medical conditions, or mild head injuries can also present this way/mimic such symptoms. This can only be made by a mental health professional, and in conjunction with numerous other data points, and informants…”
Here are the 8:
1=Often become easily distracted by irrelevant things that arouse their interest
2=Often make decisions impulsively
3=Often have difficulty stopping activities/behavior when they should do so
4=Often start a project or task without reading or listening to directions carefully
5=Often show poor follow through on promises or commitments they make to others
6=Often have trouble doing things in their proper order
7=Often drive with excessive speed
8=Often have difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or leisure activities
9=Often have difficulty organizing tasks and activities
*Such behaviors also have to interfere significantly with their educational activities, job or occupation, and their social lives.
Besides getting a proper diagnosis (ahh – and not from your doctor by the way – you need to see a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist) and working out a plan of action, why not check out one of these book that Dr. Teplin recommends to his clients:
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