How do you take things like electronics and junk food away from your children without it causing them to be depressed? My son struggles severely with executive functioning (ADD), so before going the route of medication, I thought we could try restricting screen time and junk food with dyes. He’s bullied at school and doesn’t have any true friends, so it feels like taking these things is also going to make him feel depressed. Or has anyone else tried anything to help with their child’s executive dysfunction? Also, the whole family will be participating in this, so it won’t feel unfair to him.
Amber Thayer what was the natural stuff you used that helped Abi?
My daughter has ADD and she also loses her IPad, Switch and other TV time. It is important to teach kids consequences when they are young and how to work through disappointment and frustration when this happens. The world won’t care about their depression when their 20 and have to face consequences for their actions, so it is important to learn coping skills and how to manage their emotions now.
I don’t think restricting screen time will do anything but cause severe distress. Mine has SPD too so the junk food is essential to get calories in them. Often a great number of their friends are online or its how they communicate. Unless you’re planning it as a punishment (also a terrible idea), I really wouldn’t do this. To help ADD, you can try things like timers, written instructions clear and numbered (like in a cookbook), reward charts, small rewards for small tasks - when small we used to give out single sweets or low value coins for small amounts of time/work so a full task would earn how much you’d pay or a full bag of candy. Learning about what your body really wants/needs is also really good.