Let's Deal with Distractions---ADHD Strategies for Home & School

It's almost time to turn another calendar page. August is nearly here, and with it will come the annual back-to-school specials, no-sales-tax holidays, last-minute family vacations and other events that sadly signal the end of summer. Are you ready for all of this activity?

More importantly, is your child ready to think about the coming school year---are YOU? If your daughter loves reading and learning, you and she are probably looking forward to the first week of school. If your son very much enjoys science and math, the thought of school is most likely a pleasant and exciting one for him. However, if your child or teen is a reluctant reader or learner, the school year and its academic expectations may not be on his list of favorite things. Add to that the challenges of ADHD, and you may have a student who definitely does not like the idea of returning to school for the new term.

What's a parent to do, especially when ADHD or other issues will need to be addressed? Well, we are all about preparation---good preparation. While others may be still seeking more fun in the sun or picnics in the park, you and your child can be prepping for a great school year.

What will you need to help your child with ADHD be well-prepared for this school year? Providing you with some excellent focusing tips for ADHD would certainly be a great place to start. That's why we have created the following list of tips to help your child focus, get"in gear," as well as be ready to read and study. We hope you will find at least 1 or 2 tips here that are new and motivating for your child.

Focusing Tips for Children with ADHD

ADHD Strategies for Home

1. With your child, create a color-coded system to help organize his papers. For example, all science papers might be placed in a green folder and all reading papers put in a purple one.

2. Label files and folders using general subject headings. By using "Science" instead of "Chemistry," your child can get more than a year of use from one filing system.

3. Encourage your child to write the date at the top of each assignment to promote much easier, chronological organization at test time.

4. With your child, create checklists to ensure that assignments are always completed on time. When each project is finished, just cross it off the list! This will give your child a genuine sense of accomplishment and provide motivation to keep moving forward.

5. At the beginning of the school year, make copies of your child's important papers, including schedules and permission slips, and post them somewhere very visible in the house. These visual reminders will keep the information top of mind for your child. Remember---"Out of sight, out of mind."

6. Begin maintaining a daily routine now as the summer winds down. Create a workable yet structured schedule to give your child a time frame in which each chore or task should be completed. Developing a routine doesn't have to be limited to just homework. It can also help limit distractions when children do chores, get ready each morning or participate in other day-to-day activities.

7. Noise (or not) can make a difference. Discover if your child works better in complete silence or with some background sound(s). If normal household or neighborhood noises are too distracting, your child might need a separate workspace away from this noise or a set of noise-reducing headphones in order to work. However, if background noise helps, the kitchen table or a set of headphones streaming (wordless or instrumental) music may help your child get assignments finished.

8. Allow your child to take small breaks between assignments or tasks. Walking around for a few minutes and including a drink of water or other appropriate beverage can go a long way in helping develop a better workflow. Short breaks can also give a child something positive to anticipate, which can in turn help motivate the completion of a task. Also, breaking big assignments down into smaller chunks or tasks can make almost any project much less overwhelming and far more manageable.

9. Keep it clean and neat! Clutter in your child's workspace can be a huge distraction. So, in order to keep your child focused on her assignments, encourage the workstation to be clutter-free and organized.

ADHD Strategies for School

1. A front-row seat can be most helpful. Talk with your child's teacher and politely request a seat for your child near the front of the classroom, if possible. Should your child's teacher allow free seating, it would be a good idea to encourage sitting up front on the first day of class. Having a desk close to the teacher will make it easier to be more attentive during lessons AND minimize distractions.

2. Write down ideas and thoughts. Suggest to your child that he write down distracting thoughts instead of blurting them out. This practice will help prevent disruptions in the class or during lessons.

3. Learning styles DO matter. Work with your child’s teacher to identify strategies that work best for the type of learner your child is. Whether he learns best by watching, listening or actively doing, finding methods that are in line with your child’s learning style can help to make lessons much easier to understand and improve focus.

4. Also consider asking your child's teacher if he may use reading tools in the classroom to help increase focus, concentration and retention of what is learned. Most teachers will be grateful for such a request. It might be a good idea to have a duplicate set of these tools for your child to use at home, too. Special note: In some states, if these same focusing tools are included in the accommodations of a student's IEP AND utilized in the classroom by the student during the academic year of that IEP, they can also be used when taking the state achievement test. Check with your school's administrators to confirm or learn more about this.

5. Sincere encouragement is always a good thing. Even though your child may try her best, at times she may feel discouraged (i.e. right before a major test, by receiving a surprising low grade, etc.) It’s important to remind your child of previous examples when she did do well, reassuring her that you know she can again succeed.

Secondly, we think that having the right resources to support you and your child in this good preparation for the school year could make all the difference in the world for both of you! To address this important need, we have collected quite a few resources to promote more focus and concentration both at home and at school. Consider taking a look at these resources now to see which ones might give you the support you need to help your student focus with more success.

Focusing Resources for Children with ADHD

1. They Do the Rest
Excellent articles and FREE downloadable tools to help parents and children get better organized and ready for school and home life(tools include school supply lists, family chore lists, parent/teacher conference question lists, etc.)
Tool List for Children: http://www.theydotherest.com/most-popular.aspx?nv=kids10&snv=mostpopular&mid=V012700&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=bing&utm_campaign=2014_ub_dtc_theydotherest_adhd_pede&utm_term=kids%20adhd&utm_content=kids_phrase
Tool List for Teens: http://www.theydotherest.com/most-popular.aspx?nv=teenager&snv=MostPopular

2. ADD/ADHD and School from Helpguide.org
Helping Children with ADHD Succeed at School
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_teaching_strategies.htm

3. 6 tips to coach your kids with ADD/ADHD by Elaine Taylor-Klaus, special to HLN
Elaine Taylor-Klaus is the co-founder of ImpactADHD, an organization that educates and supports parents raising kids with ADD/ADHD by providing weekly coaching tips and strategies. She is also the co-author of the e-book, ADHD in Reality: Tips for Parents from Parents.
http://www.hlntv.com/article/2012/10/15/national-adhd-awareness-week-coaching-tips

4. When ADHD Kids Fidget: Better Focus Through Multitasking by by Roland Rotz, Ph.D., Sarah D. Wright & ADDitude Magazine
ADHD children may actually concentrate, focus and stay on-task better with a little foot-tapping, gum-chewing or fidgeting.
http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/3967.html

5. Reading Focus Cards | Focus on Reading and Learning by North Carolina Assistive Technology Program (NCATP)--posted July 23, 2014
Article about customizable reading aids available for children, teens and adults of all ages
http://attraining.org/atdaily/2014/07/23/reading-focus/

6. Reading Focus Cards Desktop App (Patent 8,360,779)
This DESKTOP app is the digital version of the low-tech, physical Reading Focus Cards tools (Patent 7,565,759), solutions for struggling readers. This app provides very practical support for children and adults with ADHD, dyslexia, autism and other conditions that can affect reading success. It promotes more FOCUSED online reading of almost ALL digital media (webpages, PDF files, Word docs, Excel spreadsheets & more.) In addition, the app supports touch-screen technology (where applicable).
1. For Macs (desktops & notebooks):
Visit the Mac App Store and search for Reading Focus Cards or go directly to
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/read-and-focus/id920617853?mt=12
2. For Windows PCs (desktops & laptops):
Visit Gumroad at https://gumroad.com/l/ReadingFocusCards OR visit the Microsoft Windows Store and search for the app called Reading Focus Cards. (No URLs are ever provided for apps in the Windows Store.)

Sources

Dealing with Distractions — Strategies for Home and School from They Do the Rest
http://www.theydotherest.com/most-popular.aspx?nv=teenager&snv=MostPopular

Tips to Keep Your Child Organized at Home from They Do the Rest
http://www.theydotherest.com/detailed-article.aspx?aid=402&nv=preteen&snv=Tips

For more information on customizable reading tools for better focus & attention, please visit:
www.FocusandRead.com Tools for struggling readers of all ages!
www.BrennanInnovators.com Info & support for struggling readers
314-892-3897

Image courtesy of:
Brennan Innovators, LLC at www.focusandread.com

A New Year Brings Helpful ADHD Strategies for Parents

The 2nd in a series of three articles (for teachers, parents & adults)

The New Year 2014 is but a few days old, and everywhere one can see ads and commercials for the latest diet supplements, the most effective weight loss programs and assistance from the most famous exercise gurus. It's natural and predictable that each new year brings with it many ways for self-improvement. Hopefully, if you have decided to improve your quality of life in one or more ways, you will also resolve to stay the course and reach your goal(s)in 2014. We especially hope that if ADHD is in some way apart of your life or someone you care about, you are making plans to help facilitate improvement and better management of the ADHD symptoms.

Last week, we began this series of three articles to offer teachers some practical strategies to help their students challenged with the issues often associated with ADHD. We thought it best to present these resources during the holiday break so that teachers might have a better opportunity to read and make plans to implement some of the strategies in the article (With a New Year, New ADHD Strategies for Teachers http://helpforstrugglingreaders.blogspot.com/2013/12/with-new-year-new-adhd-strategies-for.html). If you are an educator, we hope you will find the strategies presented in the article to be helpful in your classroom.

This week, however, the article here is written with parents in mind. Parents want to help their children enjoy more success in the classroom, in relationships with friends and at home with the family. Even though these parents want to help, they may not always know the best ways to do so. We wanted to provide a few, practical strategies that might give them a good place to start, especially as we begin the New Year. We hope that improvement in your child will soon be evident when these ideas and tips are implemented.

Please remember that it will be important to be consistent, compassionate and observant as you work with your child who is challenged with attention and focus issues. Have frequent "talks" with your child and ask for his or her input regarding the new strategies. These discussions will be even more helpful and productive with older children in the middle and high school years. You might even discover that more benefits than expected will result from using some of the strategies presented here. It just could enrich your parent-child relationship at the same time. What a WIN-WIN that would be for the New Year, right?

Happy New Year AND Happy Reading, parents!

ADHD Strategies for Parents

1. Be informed about ADHD and how it affects your child: Read and learn as much as you can about ADHD (which affects between 1.6 and 2 million adults and children in the U.S.) so that you can be an effective advocate for your child. There are many good books on the subject, including Answers to Distraction by Edward Hallowell, M.D. and John Ratey, M.D. Also, a quarterly publication to consider with excellent and some of the most current information about ADHD is ADDitude Magazine, published by New Hope Media.

2. Be upfront about your child's ADHD: It will be helpful to your child if you can accept the fact that he or she has these attention and focus issues. How well you accept and handle this will impact your child's self-esteem and ability to manage the ADHD symptoms in order to experience success in the classroom and elsewhere. Talk to your child's teachers, coaches, camp counselors, babysitters, etc. about the fact that your child has ADHD. This will help them to better understand your child and work more effectively with him or her---and you.

3. Don't overestimate the "power" of medications: At the same time, be aware of any medications prescribed by your child's medical professional, staying abreast of changes in medications should they become necessary. Understand that medication is a partial solution for ADHD. Behavioral modification with the right blend of strategies for your child will be a key component in effectively helping your daughter or son with the challenges and symptoms of ADHD.

4. Learn methods of effective discipline: One of the best behavioral modification systems is 1-2-3 Magic. The concept was developed by Thomas Phelan, Ph.D., who wrote: 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12. This precise and effective tool also works for kids who don't have ADHD. Again, being consistent yet compassionate will aid in the effectiveness of your approach and use of the appropriate strategies.

5. Work with your child's teacher(s): Establish a good, working and respectful relationship with your child's teacher(s). If your child is misbehaving at school, work with his teacher(s) to develop an effective discipline system like 1-2-3 Magic (many teachers already use this system). If your child is having trouble staying focused on his studies, work with the teacher(s) to develop a reward system that can bring about the needed results.

6. Help provide structure at home for your child: Work together to provide a set time for study and homework to be completed each day at home. Arrange for a dedicated space in your home for that study---away from the TV or other stimulating distractions. At the same time, soft, instrumental background music may help some children or teens experience more focus when studying. Frequent study breaks and short periods of exercise or movement may also contribute to more successful reading and study. You may need to experiment with a little trial and error to see what will work best for your child.

7. Create an effective rewards system at home: Develop a list of specific tasks that your child will need to complete each day (homework, gathering the recyclables, etc.) Then decide upon the appropriate reward. If your child is very young, consider filling a jar with small prizes such as colored pencils, stickers or the like. Allow your child to select one prize each day if he accomplishes all of the tasks on his list. If he accomplishes only three of the four tasks, for example, tell him he did a good job but that he must complete all four tasks to get the reward. If your child is older, consider other rewards (a trip to the zoo or to a movie on Saturday). Behavior modification charts may be very helpful to use for each day or throughout each week. To access a variety of FREE, printable charts of this type for various age levels, visit http://www.freeprintablebehaviorcharts.com/unlocking_the_secrets_to_good_behavior.htm.

8. Seek out good, professional help: Consider working with a child psychologist to learn parenting skills that can be particularly helpful for children with ADHD. If your child is developing negative ways of interacting with family members, consider family counseling to try and turn things around. Everyone's self-esteem will certainly benefit.

9. Do connect with other parents: Many communities have created organizations to help support parents of children with ADHD (known as CHADD [Chapter of Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder]). These groups can be enormously helpful. Not only will you feel supported, but you will be able to pick up effective tips and strategies that have worked for other parents. Ask your child's medical professional if there's a CHADD chapter in your community.

10. Remember to take good care of yourself: The challenges of ADHD can be taxing amnd at tome even a bit overwhelming. Look for positive outlets to keep your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual life in balance. Regular exercise is one great outlet.

11. Think positively: With proper information, education, structure, coaching (and medication in some situations), the prognosis for kids with ADHD is good. It's also important to realize that kids with ADHD often exhibit these prominent, positive traits: creativity, warm-heartedness, a trusting and/or forgiving attitude, the ability to take risks (a double-edged sword, to be sure), flexibility, tenacity and determination. Help your child channel these gifts in the best possible directions. And don't forget to "catch" your child doing something good and offer genuine praise at the same time. You'll both enjoy the experience.

Sources

12 Strategies to Help Parents of Kids with ADHD by Donna Engelgau---from Discovery Fit & Health
http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/adhd/twelve-strategies-to-help-parents-of-kids-with-adhd1.htm

12 Parenting Strategies That Work for ADD Kids by Deborah Carpenter---from ADDitude Magazine
http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/985.html

For information on customizable reading tools for ADHD & other reading challenges:
www.FocusandRead.com Tools for struggling readers of all ages!
www.BrennanInnovators.com Info & support for struggling readers
314-892-3897

Image courtesy of: Brennan Innovators, LLC at www.focusandread.com