My 13 year old son was diagnosed with ADHD by his pediatrician following the end of his 7th grade school year.
Last year was an extremely difficult school year in which he struggled immensely to try to organize himself so that he would move on to 8th grade. He is starting 8th grade at the end of this month. I will be meeting with his “team” to develop a plan once he starts. I can use whatever advise anyone has.
Ian has been a difficult, hyper and disorgnized child his entire life, but it has finally come to the point where he needs help to get through school. He has no trouble at all with tests and understands the material he is given. He can read on an adult reading level. His problems are mostly with the teachers perceiving him as “not paying attention”. He fidgets and daydreams, but he can usually recite everything that was said to him.
He is extremely disorganized though. Toward the end of last year, I had to check his binders every single night to make sure his work was in the correct subject areas. He has difficulty remembering to write down his homework. He forgets to hand in the homework that he does complete (usually leaves it in his locker).
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am very new to the diagnosis and have researched what I can, but I am becoming overwhelmed with the techno jargon. I just want to know what works for others.
Thanks!
Re: Help with 13 yr old - he was just diagnosed
I agree that the separate binders could be helpful. Color coding them can be helpful too, so that he can just grab the color he needs. WalMart has some wonderful plastic folder inserts for 3-ring binders. They are slightly over-sized so papers fit easily into the pockets, the inserts are all different colors (color coding again), and each insert has a pocket on each side. The front side can be used for class handouts, and the back side for storing homework papers.
Some types of ADD/ADHD are physiological in nature, involving chemicals in the brain. This type is sometimes responsive to medication and/or supplements (fish oil, for example). Dr. Amen has a good website about different types of ADD. You can find it by Googling.
Many times the symptoms of ADD can be helped with therapy. Interactive Metronome is one that has an excellent track record with ADD. Website is http://www.interactivemetronome.com . PACE is another one that often helps. Website for that is http://www.processingskills.com . If you were to do both, I would do IM first.
Nancy
My ADD son found that having just one binder led to a lot of disorganization so he came up with a system of smaller, 1” binders for each class. Each of these was labled so that he would take it to the class necessary. This worked really well for him all through high school.
As for assignments, you can ask if the school has a homework line for each teacher where you can check on what is due and what is coming up. Some schools are also doing an online homework schedule that is accessible only to students and requires a password. DS had one teacher that would email parents once a week with assignment info.
I hope this gives you some ideas. :) I know for us its all a matter of finding what works consistantly for each individual.