An ADHD treatment plan is typically written soon after an evaluation and diagnosis of ADHD is made. It will then be often reassessed and evaluated to monitor what treatments have been effective and what areas still need worked on for improvement. There are three basic components of a treatment plan: setting realistic goals to be met in a certain period of time, the steps necessary to achieve those goals, and the ability to rate and measure the effectiveness of the treatment and it’s effect on the outcome of the goal. Below we’ll take a closer look at these three components:
Setting Realistic Goals
In order to determine the best course for treating ADHD, it’s important for parents to assess what problems need to be addressed the most importantly and set realistic goals for their child to meet. There should be several “long term goals” that will be an overall objective, as well as immediate goals that can be reached. For example, having B average grades could be a realistic long term goal for a student who is struggling greatly in school. A short term goal would be to complete homework assignments on time. It is best to choose more specific goals in order to decide the best course of action. It is much easier to break down and work on small parts of a larger problem than to just lump together one general statement of “do better in school”.
Courses of Action for Treatment:
Once the goals are decided upon, the next step is to decide how those goals will be achieved. It will vary largely on the degree of your child’s ADHD, their age, and what activities have been done before, if any, to determine what things should be done to reach the goals. For example, if the goal is to get homework completed on time, setting routines and teaching organizational methods should be part of the treatment plan.
Courses of action can include any of the following things:
- Family and Individual Counseling sessions
- Educating Family Members/Caregivers about ADHD
- Behavior Therapy
- Social Interaction/Building Activities
- Changing Environmental Influences
- Parenting Skills and Support
- Medications or Other Alternative Therapies
Rating and Measuring Component
In order to determine if treatment is being successful or ineffective, there must be a measurable component. For example, a goal may be “Jenny will do her homework without verbal prompting at least three times a week.” By attaching a number to the goal, parents and caregivers will be able to tell if she is meeting the goal or not based on how many times they need to ask or remind the child about homework per week. Another method of assessing an improvement or change in behavior is through assigning a rating scale. For example, hyperactivity may be related on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being calm and 1 being very hyper. The goal could be “Jenny will reduce her hyperactivity from a level 10 to a level 3″. When the treatment plan is reassessed, parents could then say that they feel the hyperactivity level is at a 7 or an 8 for example compared to the 10 when they first started the program.
Creating an ADHD treatment plan should be highly individualized for you and your child’s needs. No two children are alike, and therefore there is no “standardized” method of treating problems. However, it is likely that nearly all plans will include and involve the above three items. By determining goals that can be realistically met as well as long term goals, deciding on the best course of action to meet those goals, and assessing periodically the effectiveness of the actions to their relationship to the goal, you will likely begin seeing progress within just a few months for the smaller goals and feel that the long term goals are no longer so high out of reach.
