Starting at a young age, children can be “naughty”, impulsive and defiant from time to time. That’s usually normal. But whenever a child displays an extremely challenging and difficult behavior, parents tend to wonder whether there’s more to their teens than just being naughty.
To be able to assess if teens are behaving normally or not, parents should already take note of their teens negative behaviors and find time to educate themselves on the symptoms of disruptive behavior disorders like ADHD, ADD or ODD. There are usually different kinds of ADHD signs from early to complex conditions, these are:
Inattention
- has a hard time concentrating
- forgetting instructions
- moving from one task to another without completing anything
- loses or forgets things
- appears not to listen
- seems disorganized
- is easily distracted
- doesn’t pay attention to details
- has difficulty with tasks which requires planning ahead
Impulsiveness
- interrupts people
- can’t stay put and is always on the go
- talks too much
- accident-prone
- blurts out answers
- fidgety
- seems impatient and has trouble waiting for their turn
Hyperactivity
- constant fidgeting
- restlessness
These ADHD signs can often lead to misdiagnosis considering that the classic symptoms are mostly shown at some point of your kid’s development. Usually the sad part is that teens with ADHD often times are labeled as “naughty”, “rebellious” or “bad” and the labeling often results to a denial for an appropriate medical treatment.
It’s important to remember that a teen can not be identified as an ADHD sufferer until they show continuous signs for at least six months. Teens with ADHD appears to be slow learners while at the same time acting in such a way that will make them look inappropriate or annoying to others.
For instance, teens who show lack of attention or interest in school, display bad behavior and many other signs of ADHD are rarely recognized as abnormal, due to a lack of knowledge about these behavior disorders. New symptoms may be reported from time to time which makes it even more important for parents to find out what behavior disorders their kids may have.
If ever parents have any doubts about their teen’s behavior, the best thing to do is to have their child diagnosed by a professional since it is difficult to diagnose ADHD alone. Untreated or undiagnosed teens with behavioral disorders may grow up to be dysfunctional adults. The earlier the parents would intervene, the better the results are likely to be.
A study was conducted for the National Institute of Mental Health and the Office of School Education Programs in the U.S. It generally says that to improve an ADHD sufferer’s behavior at home and in school, a carefully designed treatment for both managing medication and behavior should be established. Treatments usually vary depending on the disorder and its contributing factors. Some of these treatments may include the following:
Functional Family Therapy and Parental Education - teaching parents including all members of the family to learn and improve their communication and problem solving skills. In the end, parents may learn how to properly manage their children.
Anger Management and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - these helps to control the child’s behavior and thoughts. A child will be able to learn and recognize signs of frustration and are taught some skills to cope in defusing aggressive behavior and anger. These kids may even learn stress management skills and relaxation techniques to further help them.
Social Training - this is where a child learns essential social skills to help them on how to properly converse with others or play cooperatively with them.
Encouragement - Helps the child build their self esteem by encouraging them to excel in their particular strengths and individual skills.
Medication and Support for Associated Problems - where a child needs an aid to help them control their impulsive behaviors and to have further professional support in managing the learning difficulties associated with their behavior disorder.
Children and teens may misbehave from time to time, but also consider other possibilities if ever you see some signs of continuous disruptive behavior in your kids to give immediate help when necessary. It’s ultimately the parent’s job to be nurturing, patient and loving towards their children and by fully understanding their behavior, it’s easier to be giving them the help that they need.
