Achieving independence is every adolescent’s primary
developmental goal. Your teenager will experience this urge as
strongly as his peers without ADHD, but his impulsivity,
inattention, and aspects of delayed maturation mean that he may
need to move more slowly toward full self-supervision.
Specifically, you may need to - Remove limits and loss of
privileges at as rapid a pace as possible, as your adolescent
shows that he can take responsibility. Long-standing loss of
privileges harbors resentment and has little teaching value. -
Work harder at consciously modeling responsible behavior. -
Break down tasks and responsibilities into smaller steps and
reward him systematically for accomplishing them. - Develop a
plan for systematically transferring responsibilities over to
your teenager as he works on his own independence. In short,
sensitive monitoring and limit setting will be critical as your
teenager works his way toward mature self-management and
autonomy. Of course, any adolescent would resent a 10:00 pm c