If your teen has a neurodevelopmental disorder like ADHD, helping them to grow into healthy functioning, happy adults can feel like an uphill battle.

However, if you come prepared and follow the right strategies, you can help your teen to thrive through their adolescence.

Continue reading for some tried and tested strategies for helping teens with ADHD to control their impulsive behavior, remove negative behaviors, and attain a better quality of life.

1. Set Realistic Goals

The first strategy to employ when helping your teen with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is to set realistic goals. You need to account for the fact that your teen’s mind can work a little differently, so you may need to introduce some additional structure into goals and plans.

For example, if your teen wants to study to improve their grades as a goal, you can set them the task of doing 3 x 25-minute study sessions per day. This can help your teen to stay focused, even if the topic is uninteresting.

Making accommodations for your teen’s ADHD when setting out goals and objectives will give your teen a better chance of achieving said goals and objectives.

2. Minimize Guilt and Fear

Sometimes guilt and fear can play a big role in how your teen interacts with the world around them. Many teens struggle with these emotions, and teens living with ADHD often experience them at higher rates, due to things like getting in trouble at school, or losing focus and not achieving the grades they should.

You can help your teen to overcome these fears and sense of guilt, by accepting them as they are and giving them the help they need to grow into strong, healthy adults.

3. Let Your Child Make Some Mistakes

Making mistakes is an important part of growing up. Through making mistakes, teens learn about the impacts that their actions can have on the people around them, and that there are always consequences to pay.

While it is a natural parental instinct to stop teens from making mistakes, doing so can hold your teen back and exclude them from key life lessons.

This does not mean that you give your teen a license to drink or drive recklessly, it just means that sometimes you should give your teen some space and allow them to figure things out for themselves.

4. Respect Your Child’s Need for Privacy

The teenage years are an awkward phase of life. Teens are stuck in a world built for children and adults, and they often feel like they don’t fit in as a result. This leads many teenagers to seek refuge and unwind alone in their bedrooms.

When this happens, you should give your teen some space and respect their privacy. Knock on the door before entering their room, and don’t invade their space without good reason, or your teen being present.

If you do not respect your teen’s privacy, they can start to see you like a prison warden, who is there to restrict and punish them, not to nurture and offer guidance as a loving parent.

5. Foster a Positive Attitude

Oftentimes, neurodivergent children and teens can have a challenging experience of school and social interactions. This can be due to several reasons, such as;

• Trouble sitting still

• Impatience

• Losing interest

• Struggling to keep up

This happens as most activities, schools, and everything else teens like to attend are set up for people who have a neurotypical mind. As a result, there are some inherent features unsuitable to some people, such as a teen living with ADHD.

6. Encourage your teen to exercise

Physical activities are an excellent strategy for helping your teen to cope with ADHD. Exercise can release endorphins which boost your mood as well as physical and social energy levels.

On top of this, exercise is difficult and requires both commitment and consistency to get the most out of it. So encouraging your teen to do it can teach them discipline and self-control, which will benefit them greatly later in life.

7. Establish and Enforce Rules

While allowing your teen with ADHD freedom to make mistakes and offering them a nurturing environment when they do is a crucial aspect of helping them grow up, your teen also needs to learn about rules.

Establish a clear set of ground rules with your teen. You can put them in writing or discuss them together at length. You can clearly state what rules you expect your teen to follow and what the potential punishment is for breaking each rule.

The rules you set can include things like alcohol, tobacco, and drug use, relationships, expectations, and also responsibilities like chores.

Here are some example rules to set for your teen with ADHD:

• No drugs or alcohol

• No staying out past 10 pm

• No sex

• Keep your room clean

• Mow the lawn twice per month

• Study for two hours after school

• Be respectful and kind to others

It’s also important to recognize when your teen is following the rules. You can do this by incentivizing them with things they enjoy.

For example, if they are behaving well you can offer gifts, or cook them their favorite meal. Positive reinforcement of good behavior is an important aspect of helping your teen understand how rules work.

Final Thoughts

Helping teens with ADHD can be a challenging task, but with the right strategies and support, it is possible to make a positive difference in their lives.

Remember that each teen is unique, and what works for one may not work for another. It may take some trial and error to find the strategies that resonate with your teen.

Learn more: How an ADHD diet can improve your teen’s behavior.