Back To School – 5 Step Elementary School Checklist for ADHD Children

Back To School – 5 Step Elementary School Checklist for ADHD Children

With elementary school getting underway I thought it might be a good time to run through a five point checklist to assist parents in helping their young ADHD children get off to a good start, possibly avoiding some common pitfalls down the road. The basic structure for these five suggestions was inspired by writings from ADHD expert Dr. Michael Flannigan. Hopefully you will find them as interesting and helpful as I did.

If you have a few minutes why don’t we get started.

*Help them get organized. Organization is one of the biggest challenges ADHD children face and is likely to persist well past their elementary school years, even into adulthood. The sooner you start to work with your child in this area the better off they will be in the long-run. If your child is not new to elementary school you probably have already experienced this first hand. For those parents whose ADHD children are just getting started get ready for lost homework, misplaced books, failure to remember homework assignments, and completed assignments that somehow were eaten by the dog or lost between home and school. By helping them with their organizational skills now you will not only be doing them a big favor but saving yourself a great deal of frustration as well.

*Failure to fully comprehend instructions. Misunderstanding is a common problem for children with ADHD. That said, there is no set pattern with some children struggling terribly with the written word while others struggle to comprehend and interpret verbal instructions. To reduce misunderstanding and poor comprehension you (or your child’s teacher) should take the time to provide instructions in both written and verbal form when possible.

]]>

If your child’s reading skills are not quite up to par yet showing him or her pictures or breaking down instructions into simple language and then asking him or her to repeat back what is expected might be the best solution.

*Failure to pay attention. Since a short attention span is considered to be the central symptom of ADHD it just makes sense it would be on our list. The key to overcoming inattention in ADHD children is to make things interesting while minimizing distractions. While you may have little control in the classroom, that is unless your child’s teacher is on board, you can definitely have an impact in this area at home.

*Getting started may be a problem. Generally it is very difficult to get young students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder started on anything little alone something involving school work. There are two strategies that have been shown to produce consistently good results: The first is to work with them to get past whatever obstacle is getting in their way and the second is providing a specific reward for doing the activity. Some experts believe a combination of the two is the best course of action but with ADHD symptoms varying greatly from child to child trial and error is probably the best approach.

*Changing activities. So you have been successful at getting them started and are thinking to yourself you were a little bit too successful since you can’t get them to stop. The most effective way to handle this situation is to prepare them for the change by telling them what’s coming up next. About 20 minutes prior to the change start reminding them of what we will be doing next. Then when the time comes it will be easier to redirect their attention to the next task.

There are many different treatments available for ADHD children including prescription stimulants, behavioral therapy, and homeopathic natural remedies with no one treatment being right for everyone.

Additionally, the most effective treatments have about a 70 percent success rate. This suggests that even when an ADHD child is benefitting from treatment more may be needed making parental involvement an essential part of effectively managing childhood ADHD symptoms.