Treating ADHD with medication can bring fast effects and can help kids produce more work at home as well as in school. However, many parents don’t want their kids rely on medication for the rest of their lives. This is quite understandable because while medication can bring positive effects in a short time, it’s not a cure for ADHD. As long as the child stops using drugs, the problem will return again. Even doctors say that using drugs alone is not recommended. Luckily, it is possible to treat ADHD without the need of medication. How can you do that? The answer will be presented to you in the next paragraphs.
Know what kind of ADHD subtype your child suffers
There are two main treatments for ADHD, they are medication (the one you don’t want to use) and behavioral therapy. Behavioral therapy involve in modify the behaviors of the child, help him behave better through effective system (such as reward-punishment) as well as change the way the see himself (improving self-esteem, social skills…). However, before applying the behavioral therapy, the most important thing is to determine what subtype of ADHD your child is having.
It Is Possible To Treat ADHD Without Medication
If your child suffers from hyperactive, impulsive subtype of ADHD
In this case, it is important to apply the behavioral modification therapy to help your child behave better. Using a reward-punishment system is the most effective method to achieve the goal. In this method, parents will let the kids know what are the behaviors that earn rewards and what are the one will bring them punishments. It is vital to make the reward and punishment tangible (such as one hour playing game or one week without TV). Another important thing when applying behavioral modification is to reward of punish right after the child behave. While it is necessary to do both reward and punish, therapists recommend that you should focus more on the reward side and less emphasize on the punishments.
If your child suffer from the inattentive ADHD
In this case, the children don’t appear to be “naughty” or “bad” but they have difficulty in concentration on the work they are supposed to do. It is vital for parents to stay calm and sympathetic when getting the bad learning report from school. Blame the children for being lazy, “not trying hard enough” is the most common mistake and make thing worse. Let the kids attend social skills group therapy can be a good thing to do. In this therapy, the kids will learn many skills such as organizing, concentrating… and other vital social skills such as making friends and maintain relationships. Your child will learn these skills with kids just like them, have the same problem. In such condition, parents can expect great improvement from their kids.
Final words
Treating ADHD without medication is totally possible and this approach can bring very positive effects if done in the right way. Parents should always keep exchanging information about the kids with the teachers to adjust the current applying methods. Remember that behavioral therapy cannot bring results fast as medication so consistency is the key to achieve success. It is recommended for parents to bring the kids to pediatrician. The professional will give you the best instructions.
Thanks for informative article. very difficult to control to the ADHD child. My child is suffering ADHD and you show me path to cure my child.
This didn’t help me with my ADHD.
The main problem with my daughter is, she is understanding what she is not suppose to do but she does the same mistake. She cannot concentrate on her studies. She is intelligent to understand her studies but she do not have the urge to learn or practice. Sitting for long and doing studies is impossible for her. She thinks that if there would have a system where she should learn by hearing, that would be best for her.She does not do her home work and keep it pending. In spit of this problem rest of her behavior and attitude is okay. She is 12 years old and studying in the 5th standard. Will you kindly show me path to cure my child.