Supporting Mark: Family, Teachers, and ADHD Management Strategies

This report examines the critical role of family involvement in managing a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), focusing on a case study. It highlights the importance of family support in improving the child's behavior and social functioning, emphasizing the need for a positive and understanding environment. The report identifies potential challenges that parents may face, such as increased stress, financial burdens, and difficulties in managing the child's behavior alongside typically developing siblings. It suggests ways teachers can support parents through education, communication, and fostering positive relationships in the classroom. The report also provides a list of local non-profit organizations in Singapore that can assist families of children with ADHD, offering additional resources and support. The document emphasizes the collaborative effort required between family, teachers, and community organizations to effectively manage ADHD and improve the child's overall well-being. Desklib provides similar solved assignments for students.

Running head: CHILD WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTVITY DISORDER 1
CHILD WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER
Name
Institution

CHILD WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER 2
Child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Importance of Family Involvement
The behavior of children with ADHD has detrimental impacts on relationships with
family members as well as their social functioning. Consequently, medical practitioners and
professional educators have introduced clinical approaches in the treatment of the condition. In
the recent past, however, they have advocated for implementation of new strategies that focus on
family involvement and behavior. Parents highly influence a child’s physical and emotional
health since they have control over factors that can either positively or negatively affect the
symptoms of a child’s disorder. For instance, by maintaining a positive attitude both parents and
siblings can easily connect with the affected child, thus, helping him to be focused and to feel
loved (Power, Mautone, Soffer, Clarke, Marshall, Sharman, Jawad, 2012). This positively
impacts on the child with ADHD enabling him to better assimilate in the environment and to
interact with others. One of major deficit of a child with ADHD is executive function, which
refers to the ability to plan ahead, think, organize, complete tasks, and control impulses. In this
regard, affected parents and siblings can provide the necessary guidance until the time when the
child acquires the requisite executive skills.
Possible Challenges Parents Might Face in Managing the Behaviors of a Child with ADHD
Parents with children suffering ADHD are faced with greater educational and behavioral
developmental disturbances. This leads to an increased demand in energy, time, and logistics,
which often lead to heightened marital stress and financial burden when treating ADHD. When
this occurs, there are several consequences including poor parent-child relationship, increased
inconsistent discipline in the child with ADHD, decreased parental monitoring of potentially
perilous behaviors in the child, and increased aggression in the child (Kendall, Taylor, E., Perez,

CHILD WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER 3
& Taylor, C. 2008). The child with ADHD will often suffer from temper control and emotional
over reactivity causing him to be emotionally explosive, which will in turn result in fights with
peers, teachers, or parents. As such, the child encounters several limitations in their activities in
the neighborhood or at school. In some cases, the child will end up with no friends as he
experiences rejection from peers (Rogers, Wiener, Marton, & Tannock, 2009). For a parent, this
is emotionally distressing and it might have detrimental impacts on the child’s treatment.
Raising a child with ADHD together with other able functioning siblings is equally
daunting for parents. This is especially true in the case where siblings view the behavior of the
child as disruptive, hence, leading to resentment, and anger towards the child. Studies also note
that siblings are likely to experience the disruptive behavior in three ways namely caretaking,
victimization, and feeling of loss or sorrow. This can have detrimental impacts on the siblings
peer relationships, academic performance, and general outlook on life. It is, therefore, the duty of
the parent to explain the condition to siblings, ensure that they do not entirely delegate the
caretaking duties to siblings, and conduct a regular follow ups on siblings to ensure they are
coping effectively.
Ways that Teachers can Help Parents to Manage the Child’s Behavior and Learning
Teachers just like parents are key to the management and treatment of ADHD, therefore,
they are required to educate themselves on the condition. This can be achieved through the study
of the DSM-IV-TR criteria that was adopted by American Psychiatric Association in 2000
(DuPaul, & Stoner, 2014). The criteria is likewise recommended for psychiatric and medical
professionals to aid in the diagnosis of ADHD in children. Aside from the criteria, teachers can
access a wide of literature on ADHD. With this information, educators can have a better
understanding of the causes, control, and treatment of the condition. An educated teacher can

CHILD WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER 4
similarly educate the parent and develop a program that will aid the parent in monitoring the
child’s progress. One effective way of managing the condition is the incorporation of the parent-
teacher communication by the teacher. The family-school success system, is an example of a
program that involves parent teacher communication whereby the teacher will integrate
behavioral therapy, homework interventions, and daily accountability through the use of report
cards (Diamond, & Lee, 2011). The main objective of such a system is to increase awareness of
disruptive behavioral development and academic performance of a child with ADHD. Teachers
are essential in fostering positive relationships among students. Therefore, when a teacher
maintains a positive attitude towards a child with ADHD other children in school are able to
emulate the same, thus, creating a calm environment for the development of the child with
ADHD (Pfiffner, Barkley, & DuPaul, 2006). This will in turn hasten the assimilation of the child
into a social environment and improve the adoptation of mannerisms that are socially acceptable.
List of Local Non-profit organizations that can assist the Family of Mark
 Children’s Charities Association
 Singapore Children’s Society
 Kids Inclusive Sports Club
 Movement for the Mentally Disabled of Singapore
 Student Care Service
 National Council of Social Services
 SG Enable

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References
Diamond, A., & Lee, K. (2011). Interventions shown to aid executive function development in
children 4 to 12 years old. Science, 333(6045), 959-964.
DuPaul, G. J., & Stoner, G. (2014). ADHD in the schools: Assessment and intervention
strategies. Guilford Publications.
Kendall, T., Taylor, E., Perez, A., & Taylor, C. (2008). Guidelines: diagnosis and management
of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children, young people, and adults: summary
of NICE guidance. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 337(7672), 751-753.
Pfiffner, L. J., Barkley, R. A., & DuPaul, G. J. (2006). Treatment of ADHD in school settings.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A handbook for diagnosis and treatment, 3, 547-
589.
Power, T. J., Mautone, J. A., Soffer, S. L., Clarke, A. T., Marshall, S. A., Sharman, J., ... &
Jawad, A. F. (2012). A family–school intervention for children with ADHD: Results of a
randomized clinical trial. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 80(4), 611.
Rogers, M. A., Wiener, J., Marton, I., & Tannock, R. (2009). Parental involvement in children's
learning: Comparing parents of children with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD). Journal of school psychology, 47(3), 167-185.