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The ADHD.org.nz child of the week
On this page we will show you examples of the ways in which you can apply behavioural principles in order to control ADHD children's behaviour.
First step: Define Rewards and Punishments
When looking to control the behaviour of a child, we begin by clarifying what the child likes (rewards) and dislikes (punishments).
For most children rewards will involve:
- Television
- Play time/time with friends
- Computer games
- Sweets & Lollies!!!
- And lots more...
Like wise, for most children punishments will involve:
- Chores (e.g. Cleaning up one's bedroom)
- Homework
- Timeout
- And lots more...
Please appreciate that rewards and punishments will vary from child to child. Thus it is important that you take care in selecting rewards and punishments.
Second step: Using Rewards and Punishments
By defining, rewards and punishers, one can control the behaviour of a child with great success by simply applying or removing punishments and rewards.
For example:
If a child has behaved well for a certain length of time, we can encourage that behaviour to
continue by applying a reward (and/or removing a punishment).
Likewise, if a child has been behaving badly, we can reduce the likelihood of that behaviour
occuring again by removing a reward (and/or applying a punishment).
More effective applications can conducted by using behavioural principles.
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This page was last modified 030708.