“Living With ADHD”

“Organizing Life One Minute at A time”

An UncommonSense Health Newsletter

from drhuggiebear.com and Frank Barnhill, M.D.

Issue 8 Volume 2 August 2006

Hope your summer is has been great!

Today’s article is about helping your ADHDer get back to school without pulling your hair out by the roots. The tips included were complied as the result of asking parents how they accomplished such a difficult task over the years, as well as dealing with an ADHD son. Please pass this one on to your friends.

Here’s to your family’s success in life!

Today’s success quote:

“Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain!” Unknown

This UncommonSense Health Newsletter is dedicated to being your source for easy to read, up to date ADHD information on current and important medical issues for your growing family.

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Dr. Frank’s behavioral rule #1:

“ADHD is first a diagnosis of exclusion, then a diagnosis of inclusion!”

You must first exclude all the illnesses that mimic ADHD and then be sure the diagnosis fits ADHD traits.

This Month’s issue:

ADHD behavior

“What you can do to help your ADHD child
get ready for school”

Frank Barnhill, M.D.

As you have probably noticed by now, ADHD children don’t handle transitions, sudden changes and surprises well. Since executive thinking processes in ADHD children are not quite mature, they have a difficult time rapidly assessing and interpreting change. Therefore, they react in the most basic manner for which we are “programmed”. They become defensive and ready to “protect” themselves from a perceived threat to their normal routines. I know I’m a creature of habit, as are most ADHDers.

Even kids who are on a year-round school schedule with three-week breaks between mini-semesters and home-schooled children who are given similar breaks can have a difficult time with school-back to learning transitions. Our job as parents, educators and professionals is to help each child reach his or her maximum potential in life and as my teacher colleagues have so often pointed out, “The first few days of class are spent getting kids used to being back in school”.

In kids with ADHD and learning disorders, this transition time may actually be closer to four weeks. This lag leaves the ADHD child further and further behind his classmates, creates frustration, feelings of inadequacy and builds resistance to effective learning.

So, what can you do to help your ADHD child feel less threatened by the summer-back-to-school transition?

About three weeks before school starts:

Speak to your child’s upcoming teacher. Explain about your child’s behavior and learning challenges as well as treatment plans. Ask for a copy of the reading book to be used in the beginning of this school session so you can introduce your child to the book. (Some parents ask for all books in advance!) Get your child into the habit of reading this book at home prior to the start of classes. This little “advantage” will give him or her a slight edge over non-ADHD kids and help with his self-esteem and credibility in being in that grade. He or she will not be seen or feel as “dumb”.
Take your child shopping for all the pencils, notebooks and other supplies needed for class. Do not wait until two or three days before class starts. Doing so will create panic over whether they will feel prepared and indeed less threatened. Letting your child help pick out the supplies will place responsibility on her for their use and care.
Having her supplies this far in advance will help her feel comfortable with their use and will allow you to help her learn to organized those things needed for school each day. Show her how to properly load her supplies and books into a book bag or backpack and teach her to make it a habit to put everything back in it’s place.

About two weeks before school starts:

Shop for new clothing with your child. ADHD kids are easily distracted by the smallest things, such as large tags in the back of dresses and shirts. Avoid clothing with toys attached that provide opportunities to fidget. You may have to remove all of these to keep the child from tugging at them or fidgeting during class. Letting kids help with buying their new school clothes will show you respect their opinion and help them develop “ownership” in what they wear. Be sure to wash and dry new clothes as some kids are bothered by the stiffness of new clothing. Keep in mind that kids can be brutal with each other when it comes to criticizing hairstyles and clothing.
Ask your child’s teacher if she may “visit” the new classroom for a few minutes during this week. Doing so will alleviate a lot of fear about getting lost and what to expect in her new surroundings. Her teacher may want to go ahead and assign her a front row seat away from distracting windows and other overly active kids.
Set aside an hour every afternoon to be used for reading a schoolbook. Be consistent in the use of this hour and tell your daughter you expect her to use this time for study after school starts. This will allow you to help establish a good habit and your ADHDer will be less resistant to studying. Use this time to give your ADHDer tips on “finding” the important stuff in a sentence or paragraph. Remember, not all children learn the same way, even though our schools tend to teach them the same way.

About one week before school starts:

Start getting your child up at the time he will need to be up when school starts. Feed him breakfast just as if he were going to school that morning and expect him to stay up for at least an hour. If he wants to go back to bed for a while, that’s ok. In older children, now is the time to get them in the habit of setting and awakening to an alarm clock. By having your ADHD child get up, eat breakfast and prepare to leave for school, you can estimate the amount of time you will need each morning. It’s just like being in boot camp!
Help him choose proper clothing for the “next school day” and lay it out ready for him to dress as if going to school. Once his clothes are ready and in a place where he can expect to find them, it should be off to bed to get at least 7 hours sleep and be ready to “get up” for school.
Get your child in the habit of placing his schoolbooks, supplies, teacher’s notes, and backpack on a table near the door through which he leaves for school. Starting now will save a lot of headaches in the next two or three weeks. Now is a good time to set up a rotating schedule for riding in the front seat if you have more than one child going to school. Riding shotgun is considered a big deal with some children and you may not only avoid a screaming fit on the first few school days, but also teach him or her the art of sharing.

We certainly hope these tips help you and your ADHD child better cope with the start of this school year!

Dr. Frank

If you would like more ADHD tips, please subscribe to our free monthly e-newsletter, “Living with ADHD” “Organizing life one minute at a time”

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Dedicated to our common goal in helping ADHDers achieve their greatest potential in all aspects of life!

Dr. Frank’s Golden Rule:

“ADHD is first a diagnosis of exclusion, then a diagnosis of inclusion”.

No portion of this information is intended to be offered as medical advice for the individual. Your family doctor is still the best source of advice for you and your family and you should consult him or her if you have any medical concerns. If you wish to use this article as a parent handout or in your newsletter, please see http://www.drhuggiebear.com/ for our reprint policy . mailto:drfrank@drhuggiebear.com

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All articles are derived from published materials, educational sources and years of experience for each author. No portion of the above-contained information is offered as medical advice in any manner. In times of need, your family doctor or professional counselor is still the best source of advice for you and your family and you should consult him or her if you have any medical concerns. If you have comments or questions, please drop me a line at drfrank@drhuggiebear.com.

Frank Barnhill, M.D.

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