It is a Team Effort

After your child is diagnosed with ADHD, you will begin to develop the treatment plan. This can be overwhelming with all of the options available, but relax, your doctor or medical professional will assist you with understanding all of your options. Together, sometimes with a group of professionals, a plan will be developed to help your child. It’s important for you, as a parent, to educate yourself throughout the entire process to understand what treatments are available, possible side effects (if any), length of treatment, and cost of treatments.

Identify Key Symptoms to Treat

Prior to meeting with your medical professional to develop a plan, it will help if you make a list of symptoms and/or behaviors that you would like to see improved. This will assist you and your doctor to have a goal in mind as you develop your treatment plan. It will also be helpful to rank the list from most important to least important. A sample list may look like this:

  1. Be able to sit still for longer periods of time
  2. Improve frustration level
  3. Get a good night’s sleep
  4. Finish homework by oneself
  5. Get up in the morning

Keep your list handy as the treatment begins. Score the items on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) each week. This is a great resource to show which areas have improved and which ones still need work. Bring your checklists with you to any follow-up appointments to discuss the plan and any necessary changes.

Start Slow and Grow

It’s often best to start with one treatment and see how that one works before adding additional options. This will help you determine the effectiveness as well as any key components that may or may not be working for you and your child. Your lists from above can help along with a log that documents any behavior changes, outbreaks, etc. that you will want to discuss at your next meeting. It’s important to remember that ADHD treatment is not a one time fix, it’s an ongoing process and your plan will likely change several times as your needs change.

Beware of New Alternative Treatments

With ADHD getting so much attention these days, there are more efforts than ever to help children succeed. There are many programs that have been developed that promise to solve all of your ADHD troubles. If the programs are not proven to work, they may be too new or not worth the time and money. For a treatment to be proven, it undergoes a long scientific study to show that it really is effective. New programs are sometimes offered without enough research to show that they are effective.

Before you decide to purchase or participate in new programs, ask yourself the following:

  • Are they offering exaggerated claims? This is a huge red flag. If the product claims to be an amazing breakthrough or a miracle worker, beware as it may offer nothing more than false hope.
  • Do they claim to treat it all? If the treatment claims to treat all of the symptoms, look the other way. We all know that ADHD is far too complex to be treated with one type of treatment.
  • Do they claim doctors are hiding this information from you? Claims such as this are another sign of invalid treatments. Legitimate doctors want their patients to be informed and have no reason to oppose quality, legitimate new approaches.

When you have found a doctor or professional that you trust, have educated yourself on the options available, and have decided which symptoms you want to treat, then you are ready to develop a safe and effective treatment plan for your child. With consistent monitoring and feedback, you can help ensure the success for both you and your child.