Boys with ADHD : A Navigation Guide by Erica Haupert

This excerpt is from a book called "Boys with ADHD, A Navigation Guide, Parenting Complex Children, Book 2." It explains that a child with ADHD is not intentionally overreacting, but that their behavior is a result of their brain's unique response to emotional stimuli. The book provides practical strategies for parents to help their child navigate their emotions. These strategies include encouraging expression of feelings, teaching emotional vocabulary, and using techniques like deep breathing and mindfulness to regulate emotions. It is important to help the child understand their emotions and know that they are not alone in experiencing them. Developing a rich emotional vocabulary can help the child express their complex feelings more accurately. By teaching these strategies, parents can help their child navigate their emotions and avoid harmful or violent actions. Boys with ADHD, A Navigation Guide, Parenting Complex Children, Book 2. Navigating Emotional Explosions, Practical Tips and Strategies for Parents. By now you will understand that your son is not consciously choosing to overreact. His behavior is a natural result of his brain's unique response to all of the emotional stimuli he's been bombarded with, so it is vital that you handle your son's emotional volatility and empathy and understanding. Below, you can find some practical strategies to help navigate these at-times murky emotional waters. Encourage Expression. It's important to encourage your son to express his feelings when he is feeling them and validate his emotions even if they seem disproportionate at the time. Let him know it's okay to feel angry, disappointed, or frustrated, and that these emotions don't make him bad or wrong. Help him also to try and understand why he is feeling these emotions and that he isn't alone in experiencing them. But if he doesn't pick up where you're coming from, that's okay too. There will be other opportunities for you to connect on this level. Teach Emotional Vocabulary. If your son develops a rich emotional vocabulary, then he will be less likely to resort to anger or frustration, the go-to emotion for many boys, as he will not be lacking the words he needs to express his complex feelings. Teaching him words like disappointed, frustrated, worried can help him express his feelings more accurately than just happy or sad. Emotional Regulation Techniques. Useful techniques that can help your son to regulate his emotions may include deep breathing exercises, mindfulness techniques, or physical activities to help him burn off excess energy when emotions run high. Think of a young boy experiencing the groundswells of a massive complex emotion such as frustration, but he doesn't know the word frustration. The only word he knows is anger. If he doesn't pick up the precise language, and due to the feeling of not being able to properly express himself, he is more likely to choose language or actions that are harmful or violent to himself and to others. So, the next challenge is teaching your son ways he can successfully navigate this emotional landscape within himself, in spite of how overwhelming this can feel at times due to his heightened sensory abilities. Learn English for free www.engvid.com