I have two young adult children. Kate, age 24, does not have ADHD. Mackenzie, my 21-year-old, does, along with mild cognitive impairments, speech and language difficulties, mood regulation, and oh...who’s counting? Her difficulties arose from a rare vaccine reaction she had as a baby. Mackenzie lives at home, and will likely be with us for five to 10 years more.
I wondered whether I had the parenting skills to raise her well because of my adult ADHD. With Mackenzie and me, it was the blind leading the blind. If I couldn’t keep my own workspace organized, how could I expect her to keep her bedroom and playroom in order? If I had problems with distractibility, how could I expect her to stay on task? Worse, given my own attention deficit disorder, it was difficult for me to help Mackenzie manage her ADHD symptoms.
I’m not alone. Women with attention deficit disorder contact me all the time, upset and anxious over their less-than-perfect parenting skills. I don’t have a magic bullet that will make any of this go away. I do, however, have eight helpful suggestions that turned my ADHD motherhood into a wonderful, manageable experience:
Next: Have a Plan
This article comes from the Winter 2009 issue of ADDitude.
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