The Parent with AD/HD: Managing the Condition

By Janet Strassman Perlmutter

Trained professionals recommend a three-part approach to managing AD/HD:

1. Education About the Condition

While distractability and impulsivity seem to be the best-known features of this condition, there are many other traits associated with AD/HD, not all of them negative, that few recognize as linked.

Hallowell and others describe people with AD/HD as often very creative, visionary and unconventional. They can be very sensitive as well, not just to distracting sounds, but to visual cues, tactile stimuli (soft vs. scratchy materials, for example) and the emotional tone of others around them.

It’s common for people with AD/HD to have a tough time with transitions, to be vulnerable to overdoing things – even to the point of addictions or compulsive behaviors – and to have a stronger-than-average need for “downtime” to regain energy.

2. Strategies for Success

Once a person with AD/HD begins to see his or her strengths, preferences and vulnerabilities more clearly, the next challenge is to figure out approaches that improve opportunities for success.

Joan was diagnosed with AD/HD when her daughter, who also has AD/HD, was 7. “When I’m interrupted by other people’s demands, I get very frustrated,” she explains. “But there are things I can do to help that, like making sure I get up a bit earlier than the kids and setting aside some time late at night for myself.”

Some adults with AD/HD benefit from working with a time management consultant or a professional organizer to find systems that work. Dahlia figured out on her own that she not only needed an appointment calendar with her at all times, but that she also had to color code each child’s schedule to keep her kids’ appointments straight.