Help for Parents of Children Diagnosed with ADHD:

If your child has recently been diagnosed with ADHD, you may still be sorting out the meaning of the diagnosis, as well as trying to understand all the treatment options. If the doctor has recommended medication to help control your child’s ADHD symptoms, you may be feeling even more uncertainty.

As a parent, you have a vital role in your child’s treatment process. If your child is on medication, you must monitor him or her very closely. Communication with your child’s doctor is very important for the safety of your child and for optimal treatment. Spend time educating yourself about ADHD.

The web provides a wonderful abundance of information. Type in “ADHD” and you will find lots and lots of informative articles and websites. One article that may be especially helpful if you are new to ADHD and medication issues can be found online at Responsible Rx. The article is called the Parent Starter Kit. It is basically a 14-page guide for parents.

You can download the guide and print it out to read. There is no cost. It is a free resource that helps parents work with their child’s doctor to navigate the treatment process once a child has been diagnosed and a medication has been prescribed. It is written in an easy-to-understand, straightforward manner that enables parents to feel better informed and more confident about the best ways to ensure their child’s health and to maintain good communication with their child’s treatment providers.

The Parent Starter Kit Contains Four Sections:

1. Guidelines to Effectively Communicate With Your Child’s Doctor

This section provides discussion topics and questions to bring to your child’s doctor related to choosing the right medicine, taking the medicine properly, determining the right dose, making sure the medicine works, and understanding side effects and safety issues.

2. Reporting Your Child’s Medical History

It is important for your child’s doctor to have a detailed medical history. Certain physical and mental conditions may increase the risk of unwanted side effects from ADHD medications. Additionally, the medication may impact co-coexisting conditions that are already present in your child. This section provides parents with a guide for sharing your child’s medical history, including a checklist of the most common medical and behavioral conditions that may impact your child’s treatment with ADHD medication.

3. Understanding the Medication Guides

When you fill your child’s ADHD medication prescription at the pharmacy, you will also be given a medication guide and perhaps the prescribing information. Sometimes these materials contain confusing medical terminology. This section of the Kit will help to better explain those terms.

4. Monitoring Your Child’s Progress on Medication: A Weekly Diary

It is very important for you to monitor your child’s response to the medication. Minor or major changes in your child’s behavior may signal a need for the medication dosage to be adjusted or stopped all together. This section provides an outline/checklist of the physical, emotional and behavioral changes that may be seen in children taking ADHD medication. Once your child starts taking the medication, the diary may be completed on a daily or weekly basis.

Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of the NCL, Shares the Following:

“The National Consumers League has a longstanding interest in helping consumers have the most open, useful communications with their doctors. Over the years, we’ve worked on a variety of health issues, and one of our central goals has consistently been to increase discussion between the two groups, and help establish a relationship of true partnership. For many consumers, access to physicians has decreased over the years. Some feel pressure to squeeze a lot of questions into shrinking office visits, and it’s difficult to get the information you need unless you come in fully prepared.

“We identified a need among parents of children with ADHD for straightforward information about the condition and treatment options. We wanted to help parents who may be struggling: to understand the condition, with the stigma surrounding ADHD, or with the emotions surrounding confusing treatment decisions. Parenting children when they’re experiencing any sort of health challenge has the potential to be highly emotional. As a parent of a pre-teen, I know that first-hand,” says Ms. Greenburg.

Many of the articles you’ll find on ADHD focus on recognizing symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis. The Responsible Rx Parent Starter Kit provides information to parents whose children are about to start taking medication. "The Kit provides tools and tips to help you safeguard your child's health and ensure the most benefit from medical treatment. Most importantly, it helps facilitate discussion between parents and their physicians, making them partners in their child’s health. Our Kit helps parents to really understand the treatment evaluation and management process, so they can advocate for what’s best for their child,” notes Ms. Greenburg.

To read the Parent Starter Kit, click on Responsible Rx Parent Starter Kit.

_Source:

Greenburg, Sally. "New Parent Starter Kit for Parents of Children with ADHD." Email Responses to Keath Low through Debbie Harvey. 16, Jan. 2008.

Harvey, Debbie. “New Parent Starter Kit for Parents of Children with ADHD.” Emails to Keath Low. 26, Dec. 2007 and 16, Jan. 2008.

Parent Starter Kit. National Consumers League. 2006.