Tonight's episode of Supernanny was especially interesting to me. It focused on a mom and dad who have three children (and another on the way). The oldest child, age 6, has ADHD. He has been "on and off" of medication and, at the time the show was filmed, was "off" of it. It showed the difficulties the mom has in controlling her ADHD child. Everything from homework to snack time was a battle. Jo, a.k.a. Supernanny, showed the mom what every day life is like for her ADHD son by having her wear headphones and listen to music while trying to read a newspaper article. She also had the three children go into the room and try to distract her as well. The mom soon realized how chaotic her six year old son's life is all the time. What a good analogy I thought. I had never thought of it like that. Jo also realized that it was difficult for the mom to separate her feelings for her son from his actions. She took his misbehavior (yelling, kicking, hitting, screaming) personally and had a hard time letting it go in order to be close to her son. To get past this, Jo had her write down all of the son's positive traits on a piece of poster paper with his picture in the center. This was to reinforce the positive side of her son. She was told to refer to it any time she felt overwhelmed by her son's actions so she could remember the good things instead of focusing on the negative. All in all, I thought it was a good episode. I hope that it enlightens those who do not deal with ADHD on a daily basis. It is a lot of work to raise a child with this disorder. And, without the proper help and support can be overwhelming at times. My only thought was....why isn't the child on medication? The mother clearly stated that since taking him off of it he has gotten worse. ?? For more information about Supernanny and Helping Your ADHD Child Behave, you can visit the show's website here. You may also want to read this post I wrote last year about the positive traits of ADHD. Supernanny also emphasized the importance of positive feedback to get positive results from an ADHD child. To read more about this topic, go to this post.Also, lest I forget, here are my ADHD son's positive traits:
- caring
- funny
- loving
- inquisitive
- compassionate
- thoughtful
- creative
- persistent
- resourceful
- genuine
- handsome
I can not remember how I came across your site but I want to thank you for the light you bring to this subjuct.
ReplyDeleteMy son is soon to be 13 and we have battled with his ADHD and LD problems and sometimes it feels like I am climbing a mountain that has a slippery slope.
He is a loving, caring and compastionate kid. I thanks the lord for him everyday.....and zanax....JOKING!
I look forward to reading more from you.oushs
I loved this post, it was so informative and as soon as I am done with this comment I am going to click on those links in your post. This is awesome, thanks.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to let you know that we follow the themes on the show with some good, solid advice from experts on supernanny.us.com - our articles on families with ADHD kids were really well read.
ReplyDeleteAlso, there's a new season of Supernanny starting on ABC on January 2 which I really wanted to flag, as I think a lot of the messages on the show are really take-home for any family.
OK, thanks, Shane, and happy parenting!
Rhianon (supernanny.com editor)
He might not have been on his medication because she might not be able to afford it. My daughter's medication is $115.00 a month and that is only because i have group insurance with no pre-existing conditions limitations. I also have ADHD, so add my 110.00 prescription to that mix. I have gone without so my daughter could have and that makes life difficult also. I wish there were more state offerednassistance programs, or even federal. The federal government has made it so difficult to get this medication..(you have to physically go to the DR every month to hand pick up your script, you can't have it called in etc. remember, X two people in my family) My youngest son will be diagnosed next year i am quite sure, so the potential for 350.00 a month in medications scares me. That is just to be able to function as normal people.
ReplyDeleteMaybe she's not medicating because she doesn't believe in giving such a young child such a powerful drug. Not everyone believes that popping a pill is the solution.
ReplyDeleteI can see your point from a nurse and mother of ADD child. I see children go without meds often due to cost.People also need to realize it is a something that is heritary. So often families are dealing with high medical cost due to multiple medications needed with addition co-pays from doctors just to get a refill.
ReplyDeleteThanks.