Winter may just be starting, but fall academic planning is only a few months away. Remember that grades are not the bottom line for academic planning. Some students get reasonable marks even while struggling significantly with ADHD, which can affect anything related to planning and organization. This includes writing, study habits, time management and far more. A strong school plan implements specific supports wherever we find ADHD, regardless of grades alone.
During school meetings, you can use the following checklist (a download is also available) to guide discussion about potential accommodations. Seek out both short-term solutions that adapt to your child's present skills and a long-term plan for independence. Include instruction for your child in both academic and organizational skills, or consider hiring a psychologist, coach, or tutor to help your child in these areas. Identify who will coordinate your child's plan at school, both as a resource for your child and as your own link for communication; often this will be a teacher, school psychologist, social worker, or guidance counselor.
Classroom accommodations
- Preferential seating in the front of room, facing the teacher, and away from children who are particularly distracting
Homework and organizational accommodations
- Prompting your child to write down assignments, and not relying on online systems unless all teachers in the school are committed to using them daily
Behavioral planning
- Using reward-based behavioral plans, with positive feedback outweighing negative, and rewarding productive behaviors, such as self-checking schoolwork
Testing modifications
- Extending test time as needed. (Some children with ADHD rush regardless; extended time only helps those who work slowly.)
- Adapted from "Mindful Parenting for ADHD" released September 2015 by New Harbinger