Although not obvious, numerous children and adults are finding themselves diagnosed with ADHD. For the children, early discovery of ADHD can help them develop coping mechanisms. Not so for adults who spend decades having trouble comprehending what’s being said to them. For years, they just cannot respond appropriately to conversations due to their forgetfulness. What a relief when they finally get diagnosed with ADHD? Having to deal with problematic and confusing communication all their lives can be stressful.  Many adults with ADHD have trouble hearing, listening, concentrating, and caring about what’s being said.

ADHD has devastating effects on children’s educational achievements. Apart from having trouble reading, the children cannot comprehend and concentrate on a homework task until they complete it.  This can cause frustration among the parents and kids as well. Not knowing what the issue is, children get defensive, shut down, and leave their parents with little or no option on what to do to help.

Adults with ADHD find it hard to stick to a single project to completion. They keep moving from one incomplete project to another.  Not that they do mean to forget older projects and go for new ones. They actually do forget.  Communicating with them can be a real problem.

In relationships involving adults, there could develop mistrust to the extent of having agreements in writing. This form of hyper-vigilance could be counterproductive, given its likelihood of creating unbridled mistrust. Perhaps the best strategy is to learn different methods of communication that really work.

What if it is a boss or employee who is challenged with ADHD? Excuses from employees who are not able to meet impending deadlines could be a real problem. Bosses with ADHD may try to avoid making a policy that requires elaborate details, simply because they didn’t pay enough attention.

So what should you do when dealing with someone with ADHD? With children, use short directives, and have them repeat it. Statements such as ”Get your coat, shoes, and book bag” can help reduce the communication misses between the two of you. While doing so, you should be as calm as possible. You don’t want to come out as someone who is emotional and overly frustrated about the lack of communication.

Keep in mind that the lack of communication isn’t necessarily a show of defiance on the part of the child. So why should you punish them? Instead of solving the communication issues between the two of you, doing so will only drive the child into lying and defensiveness.

Apart from encouraging the use of written agreements, people with ADHD need to be positively reinforced not to be afraid to ask for the clarification of things they didn’t understand. Realize that the individual could be having ADHD but with competencies in other key areas. With this in mind, try to find better means to connect.

After all, the individual never chose to have ADHD and the communication challenges that come with it. Strive to be tolerant. With time, you will discover you can actually communicate well with a child or adult with ADHD. If you need help with ADHD for yourself or someone you love, call Serenity Hope Consulting Services today.

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