Sending your child to an ADHD summer camp is a great way to build social skills and develop independence. But children with more severe ADHD symptoms might be better off spending the summer at a treatment program. Like camps, treatment programs offer recreational group activities, but they also provide structured sessions to treat behavioral, emotional, and learning problems. This makes the program a great option for families seeking treatment options beyond medication.

If this sounds like something your child might benefit from, try looking into these summer treatment programs. (Disclaimer: the UnRitalin Solution is not affiliated with any of them.)

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Impulsivity manifests itself in many ways. Kids can start fights without provocation, or run into the street. They can also throw tantrums and have meltdowns without warning. When your child has an ADHD tantrum in public, it can be tough to know how to handle the situation. Do you get angry and punish your child, or do you placate your child by giving into his or her demands? It’s a little tricky, but parents can navigate the road of ADHD-induced meltdowns unscathed. Here are five ways to do it.

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Now that the sun is out and the weather is warmer, helping your child manage his or her ADHD symptoms can be as simple as going outside. We’ve talked about the benefits of exercise and outdoor activities for children with attention deficiencies or hyperactivity before. These benefits are backed up by research; a study published in the journal Applied Psychology: Health and Wellbeing discovered that even the briefest exposure to green outdoor settings resulted in milder symptoms among kids with ADHD.

Here are four great outdoor activities for your child to try this spring.

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It’s not easy parenting an ADHD child, especially when he or she child acts out, makes disrespectful comments, or disrupts activities. Many parents get easily frustrated when this happens, and wonder if their child will ever be well-behaved enough to go through a family dinner or a day at school without incident. The fact of the matter is that better behavior isn’t something that will magically happen, even if your child’s ADHD symptoms get treated.  Rather, better behavior is a skill that is learned and practiced, much like riding a bike or carpentry.

The foundation for good behavior lies in learning three important life skills: reading social situations, managing emotions, and problem-solving abilities. Children with ADHD tend to be deficit in these skills but they can be learned and reinforced with a little help from you and a therapist.

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Family vacations are a great opportunity to bond with the children, and with winter break fast approaching you’re probably deciding where to go. But some vacation destinations might not be suitable for kids with ADHD. Long lines at theme park rides and restaurants, rainy days spent in a hotel room, hours in an airplane seat, noise, crowds – these are difficult for anyone, but especially if you’re traveling with someone who has ADHD. Kids with ADHD are very distractible, restless, impatient, and sensitive to bright lights and loud sounds. Although you might have gotten used to helping your child manage these symptoms at home, handling them in a strange new place is a different story. Vacations mean change and if you already had a routine set up for your child, the lack of structure during the trip might make the symptoms return full force.

While there’s no guarantee of a smooth-sailing vacation, planning ahead is one of two keys to having a great time. The other key is to know what your children want – are they more comfortable with quiet surroundings or the bustle of a big city? Do they prefer the ocean or do they flourish in the fresh mountain air?

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Does your ADHD child have a habit of cutting you off in mid-sentence? Do you find it difficult to carry a conversation on the phone or with your spouse because of constant interruptions? Interrupting is a common behavior among kids with ADHD because they have a hard time keeping their impulses in check and censoring what they say. But just because this behavior occurs naturally, it doesn’t mean that it’s right, nor does it become any less annoying! Here are some ADHD parenting tips on dealing with kids who interrupt.

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Well-meaning relatives, friends, and magazine articles have probably given you lots of advice on how to parent your ADHD child.  However, the so-called “rules” of good parenting don’t always work, especially when many of these techniques are only fads. Here are the five most ineffective ADHD parenting approaches and how you can make them work for your child.

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Taking care of a child with ADHD is a 24-hour challenge. From getting your child out of bed in the morning to making sure he sleeps at night, it feels like you’re engaged in a tug-of-war all day long. While there are certainly many resources that can help parents cope with ADHD behavioral problems, it seems that the more they read, the more confused they become as to how to discipline their child. The key to ADHD parenting is to realize that your child’s brain is wired differently from his peers. One-size-fit-all parenting approaches won’t always work with your child, but here are five secrets that do.

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When counseling parents of children with ADHD, one of the most common questions I receive is whether or not their child is ready for a sleepover.  Parents are only happy to help their kids build friendships, especially when their child has had difficulties doing so in the past. At the same time, they worry that their child’s ADHD symptoms might be too much for the host to handle, that they might cause trouble, or that their child might feel homesick.  While these instances are certainly plausible, your child can enjoy a fun sleepover at a friend’s or relative’s house with a few preparations. Before saying yes to the slumber party, consider these issues first.

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If there is one ADHD symptom that creates awkward social situations and hurt feelings, it has to be the lack of tact. It’s normal for children of all ages to say what’s on their mind, but those with ADHD are even more likely to have no sense of control over their speech. Regardless of whether or not your child was speaking the truth (and chances are, he or she is probably right), every parent needs to deflect these inappropriate statements. Once the words have been said, someone is bound to get offended and you, the parent, might feel helpless or embarrassed.
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