Intro to Being an ADHD Parent

In my fifteen years of private practice working with children with ADHD, one of the common concerns that I observed by parents was the fear that they had done something, or failed to do something, that caused their child's ADHD. I guess it is normal to blame yourself when your child is having problems.

However, it is important for parents to know that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is not the result of "bad parenting" or obnoxious, willful defiance on the part of the child. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a medical condition, caused by genetic factors that result in certain neurological differences.

Yes, a child may be willfully defiant whether he has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or not. But defiance, rebelliousness, and selfishness are usually "moral" issues, not neurological issues. Make no excuses for "immoral," "selfish," or "destructive" behaviors, whether from individuals with ADD ADHD or not. Parents need to step up and correct these behavior problems whether a child has ADHD or not.

It may also be true that the parents may need further training. We are constantly amazed at how many young parents today grew up in homes where their parents were gone all day. We now see "grown up latch key kids" trying to parent as best as they can, but without having had the benefit of growing up with good parental role models. This is a problem in any family, but especially when there is a child in the home who is inattentive, impulsive, and possibly hyperactive.

Parents should consider becoming a part of a parenting class offered by a local therapist, or a local church. These classes can be a good investment of your time. More information about Attention Deficit Disorder is available at the ADHD Information Library.

Douglas Cowan, Psy.D., is a family therapist who has been working with ADHD children and their families since 1986. He is the clinical director of the ADHD Information Library's family of seven web sites, including http://www.newideas.net, helping over 350,000 parents and teachers learn more about ADHD each year. Dr. Cowan also serves on the Medical Advisory Board of VAXA International of Tampa, FL., is President of the Board of Directors for KAXL 88.3 FM in central California, and is President of NewIdeas.net Incorporated.

MORE RESOURCES:

Florida State University celebrates psychology building grand opening - Tallahassee.com

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-0fd=Rurl=http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20081011/FSU01/810110320/1008/FSUcid=1256311154ei=5MzwSPisDJqO9QSOybC9Bwusg=AFQjCNGgDBWdu_17dKJQYYoKY_EcpqaoNAFlorida State University celebrates bpsychology/b building grand opening/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fTallahassee.com,nbsp;FLnbsp;-/font nobr9 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Florida State University celebrated the grand opening Friday of its new, $56 million bpsychology/b building on West Call Street. The bpsychology/b department was b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-1fd=Rurl=http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/30826194.htmlcid=1256311154ei=5MzwSPisDJqO9QSOybC9Bwusg=AFQjCNE7xXoG683g-EUsUrO2S1T9PYPLFgNew FSU bPsychology/b Building/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWCTV/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-2fd=Rurl=http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/30803344.htmlcid=1256311154ei=5MzwSPisDJqO9QSOybC9Bwusg=AFQjCNG3W1oJwcqHi3okFfk74FiUHZiT-ANew bPsychology/b Building Opens at Florida State University/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWCTV/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-3fd=Rurl=http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20081010/BREAKINGNEWS/81010001cid=1256311154ei=5MzwSPisDJqO9QSOybC9Bwusg=AFQjCNHHjSck2n7l17I_rkKrJwlevbZCxAFSU to hold grand opening for bpsychology/b building/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTallahassee.com/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1256311154hl=ennobrall 4 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Our psychology helps politicians bend the truth - New Scientist (subscription)

A new cognitive psychology article nearly every day - ScienceBlogs

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/2-0fd=Rurl=http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2008/10/casual_fridays_tk421_why_cant.php%3Futm_source%3Dsbhomepage%26utm_medium%3Dlink%26utm_content%3Dchannellinkcid=1256204826ei=5MzwSPisDJqO9QSOybC9Bwusg=AFQjCNGP9zqhSztqagwnn4isAQo_HBPWFgA new cognitive bpsychology/b article nearly every day/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fScienceBlogsnbsp;-/font nobr19 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Greta Munger is Professor of bPsychology/b at Davidson College whose works include The History of bPsychology/b: Fundamental Questions. Dave Munger is co-founder b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/2-1fd=Rurl=http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2008/10/casual_fridays_tk421_why_cant.phpcid=1256204826ei=5MzwSPisDJqO9QSOybC9Bwusg=AFQjCNEF-iTsOnLGSCwoRtlzrUxU2xOzzQCasual Fridays: TK-421, why can#39;t you spin that woman in reverse?/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrScienceBlogs/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1256204826hl=ennobrall 2 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Paralanguage communication; indigenous psychology-based action ... - MyNews.in

Psychology student wins swimsuit award - Visayan Daily Star

Bipolar disorder also afflicts children, study finds - Los Angeles Times

Future of Web Apps: The psychology of compelling web apps (and email) - Corante

Psychology for Living: Being true to self is tough for pleasers - The Evening Sun

Sugar #39;makes you sweeter#39; - Telegraph.co.uk

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/3176128/Sugar-makes-you-sweeter.htmlcid=1256207394ei=5MzwSPisDJqO9QSOybC9Bwusg=AFQjCNEqIBzKtiD6UwA6UtTLbB2kbN78Rgimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=nTACNDXJ904Jimgurl=www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01007/Sugar_1007722c.jpg width=80 height=50 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Telegraph.co.uk/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-0fd=Rurl=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/3176128/Sugar-makes-you-sweeter.htmlcid=1256207394ei=5MzwSPisDJqO9QSOybC9Bwusg=AFQjCNEqIBzKtiD6UwA6UtTLbB2kbN78RgSugar #39;makes you sweeter#39;/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fTelegraph.co.uk,nbsp;United Kingdomnbsp;-/font nobr14 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1b.../b who have lower levels of blood glucose may be more likely to express prejudice.quot; The report is published in the Journal of Experimental Social bPsychology/b./fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-1fd=Rurl=http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24480044-23272,00.htmlcid=1256207394ei=5MzwSPisDJqO9QSOybC9Bwusg=AFQjCNE1j-SMncQ3Ncnk35o2iUzuJf8ZUASugar may sweeten attitudes/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCourier Mail/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-2fd=Rurl=http://www.ptinews.com/pti%255Cptisite.nsf/0/C20D1341A61DA848652574DF0030F27F%3FOpenDocumentcid=1256207394ei=5MzwSPisDJqO9QSOybC9Bwusg=AFQjCNGCujBTjcVG66cQ6p1SnIamdDSWdQSugar #39;makes you sweeter#39;/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrPress Trust of India/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1256207394hl=ennobrall 18 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Upcoming #39;Energy Psychology#39; Event in Chapel Hill Will Provide ... - MarketWatch

Psychology - Google News

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