my niece is out of control | ADHD Information

My niece is 8 years old. In the past and still she has trouble with following directions,paying attention and staying on task and she talks to her neighbor in class and plays around with her neighbor in class too when the teacher is talking. At home she has outburst and she attacks for no reason and she gets mad and pinches,bites and put her fingers in your arm and yestyerday she had a big outburst that i just ask her to see the computer for a minute so i could order a movie off of amazon.com and she started screaming and i grab the computer it was just a minute i was trying to get on and i told her that i was going to give it back to her. She hit me in the chest and she puts her nails into my arms and she pinched my mom. If she gets mad and she will go after you and attack you and she tries so hard to get a hold of you so she can bite and pinched you and she also hits. She attacks the 3 year old and also i have seen her have him on the ground stepping on him and hitting him. I feel that she needs help and i told my mom and other people in the house that maybe she needs behavior therapy and my little brother girlfriend said she just needs a good beating or butt whipping like they say she just needs a spanking. But i feel that is not what she needs and feel that there is something wrong.

Last year they diagnosed her with mild mental handicap and she is now in a regular reading class and reads at a 2nd grade level and math she has trouble with and behind in math. But she never was developmentally delayed when she was younger but I know that. I think she needs to talk to the doctor.

Also she back talks everyone she talks to her mom in a way that is not nice and she is very disrespectful and very disobedient.  She is disrepectful to others at home.

 

What do you think about this?

Hitting a child to stop hitting someone else is oxymoronic. All it proves is "I'm bigger than you so I can hit you"--and that's not a lesson we want to teach.

You might want to practise physical restraint with this child for the saftey of other people.

This kid is definetely struggling and I believe you are correct. Some parental and family understanding of psychology and behavioural modification could prove very helpful.
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I think she needs to talk to the doctor.

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Yes, I think you are right about that, she needs to talk to the doctor.
Once she gets the right medical treatment (drugs and therapy), you need to invest MUCH time into helping her change her bahavior patterns. This will take most of your time, but it will pay off in the end. Try to be patient, and consistent. I wish the best for you.You might try also having a quiet space for her to go to calm down.  Explain that it isn't punishment but she needs time to calm down.  Have her do something quiet to help her focus.  I do this with my son.  At first he thought it was punishment, but got the hang of it.  He comes out (his bedroom) on his own when he is calmed down.  When she is calmed down that is when you talk about the behavior and any punishments she has.  But she does need to go to a doctor to get properly diagnosed so she can be helped.  I have to wonder too--what medical/mental health care is available.

What are the parent's medical plans like--can they get a full assessment for this child?

Then does their plan have good followup?

I wouldn't jump all over the parents just yet until I know if financially there are provisions for the full care of this child. Then I would want to know if the parents are capable of follow-through.

What kind of supports are available to these parents?
It sounds like the result an undesirable home environment over an extended period of time to me. Not enough parental supervision, intervention, and poor role models. It also sounds like she is not getting enough attention/ caring.