Parenting When Diagnosed With ADHD

Parents who themselves have been diagnosed with ADHD face unique challenges and finding solutions or systems to help you manage those challenges can be difficult. Navigating difficulties with emotion regulation, organization, and management of your focus between work, home, and children can be hard for some parents with ADHD.

At Through the Woods Mental Health Services we assist parents in finding solutions that work for them. Some of the systems and skills that we teach the most often include:

Creating structure and routine.

Often, people diagnosed with ADHD have a difficult time following a schedule but have an equally hard time not having a schedule. We find it most helpful to create a flexible schedule for the family outside of the nonnegotiables. This often looks like having set things in your schedule that cannot change and being fluid with the rest. Setting expectations for certain activities or chores to be done throughout your day and following through with that but allowing yourself and your children to complete these as it fits into your day.

Delegation and teamwork.

One tool that has been really effective for families with ADHD is to create a cooperative environment within the home. When the children and parents are both relying on each other to get the chores and activities completed there is more time for everybody to relax. Delegate age appropriate tasks to your children to teach them independence and give yourself more space to breathe. As parents we are used to managing the house but over the years it takes a toll on us. Once you are able to identify the tasks that must be completed by you and the tasks you are willing to give to others you can start to find more time to recharge and remove pressure.

Using tools and technology.

We often encourage families to create shared calendars that each member can see and update. This along side other individualized tools can help families to communicate better and remain connected. Often someone with ADHD will “just remember'“ but after a while the running list in their head gets exhausting and they forget something that needed to be done last week. With a place to brain dump and plan together the family can help to keep each other up to date.

With these skills along side many others that you will learn in therapy parents who are diagnosed with ADHD are able to breathe easier and manage their household with less stress. Always remember to show yourself grace, things will always get done. We hope to hear from you soon!