Where Did All the Candy Go? ADHD & Impulse Control



I have a beautiful daughter.  She's my little engineer, she's my creative think outside the box girl,  she is exuberant, but she has sticky fingers.  She has ADHD and impulse control issues.   Even though she knows better, she's been sneaking food.  The special occasion candy bowl on top of the refrigerator is now wrapper filled,  the tub of Milano cookies - gone, the entire value pack of gum - chewed within two days.   This third grade year, her class has weekly homework.  When the students are done, they check their answers online. Yesterday (even though she knew it was wrong), my daughter chose to forgo the legwork and copied the answers from the answer sheet on the computer - her mind was on watching Minecraft Youtube videos.  The impulse for a quick result was just too tempting.

As a speech language pathologist, I think I should know how to parent a child with executive function issues, but even I need help.  Parenting a kid with impulse issues can be exhausting, stressful, and anxiety ridden  (My eyebrow is twitching as I type).   Will the constant talking and noise making stop, will she ever remember to wash the right side of her head, put her dirty clothes away,  be attentive and stop stepping on my feet or the clean pile of clothes I am folding, notice that my husband is no longer driving a Mustang, or not ask where her sister is when we just walked her into dance five minutes before?

Recently, my husband and I have been thinking what are we doing wrong/what can we do?  We don't want her to grow up continuing to cheat, steal, and lie about it.  As I looked online, I realized I am not alone.  There are many parents going through similar struggles.    Here are some online links that spoke to me.  What speaks to you?

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/childhood-illnesses/add/24-behavior-management-strategies-add-children   (Good reminders and some new tips for me).

http://www.additudemag.com/slideshow/111/slide-1.html (Great for teachers & more links within)

http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/2996.html  (This will help you understand the ADHD brain).

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/10/18/9-surefire-strategies-that-dont-work-for-kids-with-adhd/  ("No" & "Go" strategies).








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