ADHD Nephew
Our nephew has some psychological issues, between ADHD, PTSD and
just an all around crazy life living with his grandparents and rotating
between his mom and dad on weekends.
My husband and I spent some time with
him and noticed that he is learning how to play the rules at each house.
He has started to manipulate situations by pretending he is having
issues that really don't exist - just to get away with something he's
not supposed to do. We started calling him on it and he stopped right
away. We tried telling my mother-in-law, but I'm not sure that she
really heard us. She feels badly for him and lets him get a way with
things because of it.
Any advice on how to teach my mother-in-law to let
go of the "poor grandson" mentality and start laying down the law?
Thanks!
[answer]
When children (or adults) manipulate it
is because their needs are not being met either because they are not
able to show / tell them or because the atmosphere doesn’t allow them
to.
For your nephew, it may very well be both. As your mother–in-law
starts to see improvement in his behavior, perhaps she will be more open
to adopting your methods.
I hope your nephew is receiving professional
help. If so, the professional would be the most influential person to
advise your mother-in-law. If not, a boy with a dual diagnosis of ADHD
and PTSD, who has a disruptive living arrangement, would benefit greatly from professional help as his burden is really heavy.
Good Luck,
Natalie Robinson Garfield
TheSenseConnection.wordpress.com
homepage photo: Voy
Published: March 20, 2017