How to Help Your ADD/ADHD Child with Reading

Even with the tremendous growth of electronic media, we still get most of our information and much of our entertainment from reading. We read e-mail and instant messages, we read web pages, and we continue to read books and magazines.

That’s why it’s essential that your ADD/ADHD child become a confident and delighted reader. If he has a learning disability, get him immediate help. If she has trouble focusing on the page, get her eyes checked. Do whatever it takes to remove any impediments between your ADD/ADHD child and the printed word.

Then help your child develop a passion for reading. Make a weekly date to go to your neighborhood library so he can freely explore and take out whatever books he wants. Give her a generous book allowance and take her book shopping to spend it. Teach your child that these books are for fun, so if he starts a book and doesn’t like it, he can just put it aside and start another.

Spend time reading with your ADD/ADHD child. Instead of watching TV in the evening, read together. You can read to her, she can read to you, or you can each read quietly to yourselves.

Go book hunting together. Most libraries have used book sales, so mark the dates on your calendar and make them family outings. And don’t limit yourself to your own library - you don’t need a library card to shop, so check out all the libraries within a decent driving distance.

Then there are used and outlet bookstores, secondhand shops, and garage sales. Whenever you go to a mall or on a vacation, make book hunting a top priority.

And when birthdays and other holidays come around, give gifts of books and magazine subscriptions. Fill your home with reading material until reading becomes second nature for everyone in your family.

Reading is one of the great gifts of being human, so help your child learn to enjoy his birthright.