Need Time Management /Org. Tips for ADHD kid

Submitted by an LD OnLine user on

We retained our son in 2nd gr. this year. Great results until this last 9 wk. term. He is terribly unorganized, poor use of time and doesn’t get his work done in class in the alotted time. We don’t have these prob. @ home, but not the same distractions.

He is ADHD, on Strattera 35 mg., LD’s are memory, fine motor and reading and speech impairment. Teacher is very good, but conference in two weeks about ways to help him manage his time. Also, grades have started slipping and Hyper/Impulsive behaviors have started reappearing. Bothers other kids, social prob’s, bossy, loud, etc..

Any tips for helping with the time problem without being obvious to the other kids. He already feel self-conscience abt. begin retained, speech, reading tutor. Frustrating! :?

Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 04/04/2004 - 9:33 PM

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Is the 35mgs Strattera within his target zone? How long has he been on strattera? What is his weight? Sometimes, the dosage needs adjusting when his weight changes or if he is metabolizing it faster.

To calculate his target dosage:

weight divided by 2.2 multiply by 1.2 for minimum target dose
weight divided by 2.2 multiply by 1.8 for maximum target dose.

His dose should be within the minimum and maximum target dose. So if you find that the strattera has been working well and suddenly he is more impulsive and not being very focussed, chances are his dosage needs to be adjust up a little. Make sure that he is within his target zone, too low or too high you will have mood issues.

I have just had to move my son strattera dose from 40mgs to 45mgs and he is doing very well. He is ADD/IN is 8 yrs old.

I don’t visit this site very often. So if you have questions go to the link I gave you.

Go to http://millermom.proboards23.com

There are lost of kids on strattera there and the members there might be able to help.

Submitted by flma on Sun, 04/04/2004 - 11:18 PM

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We just upped his Strattera from 25 mg. to 35 mg. in the past two weeks, but not really seeing alot of improvement. I think he’s abt. 53 lbs., skinny kid.

When we retained him the psych. said that sometimes mid-year the kids don’t do that well. This can really hurt self-esteem because they think I’ve done this before and I’m still not doing as well as my classmates. Trying to nip in the butt.

Submitted by Roxie on Mon, 04/05/2004 - 11:50 AM

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If you are seening changes in his response to the medication, that is certainly something to discuss with your Dr. For the organizational skills, you will probably have to try many things.
Your son is only in 2nd grade, exactly what are the expectations? Are they a bit too high? You mentioned not getting homework done in class. First I would have to ask the teacher why? Is it b/c he is getting out of his seat? Talking? Staring out the window in a haze? Are all the other children getting their work done? What is the significance of getting it done in school? Does it hurt to have him bring it home? Is he disrupting other children during this quiet time work? When you have the answer- you can then come up with interventions to encourage completion of the work at school. My child always had homework, when younger, it was b/c she had no clue what she was supposed to be doing. So she might try, and erase, and try again. Or just go into that ADHD haze, looking like she is concentrating, but anything but. As she got older, and one issue was addressed another seemed to come up, then it became the distractions in the classroom that were the primary source on incomplete work. She had a spot in the class where she could move to that was a bit off from the other kids, later on it was a small office in the hall.
At home inefficient time use is another thing, it’s usually b/c she has so many things to do she doesn’t know where to start, she now uses checklists, breaks up her tasks, and sometimes even prioritizes them (she is in 9th grade- so this is something you would have to do now if it would help). Hope that helps some. Good luck

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 04/05/2004 - 2:48 PM

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to flma-did you lok at LD in Depth on this site, try clicking on ADHD and going down to ADHD in the classroom…look at the checklist for teachers.

The challenge with retention of kids is to teach in a different way the work they didn’t get “done” the first time thru a grade and to remediate the problems in reading, and behavior. Ask the teacher what is she doing so that your child won’t be lagging again compared to other students in this grade.

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