Setting your child with ADHD up for success at school

Ensuring a child with ADHD will succeed in the classroom is a group effort between parents, siblings, and doctors.

Transcript

00:00

How can parents, siblings, even doctors help set up a child with ADHD for success? We all play a big role in this.

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I think there's so much you can do when it comes to healthy lifestyle that really can help kids with ADHD thrive.

00:21

You want to make sure they have consistent routines, so a consistent bedtime routine. Make sure they're getting enough sleep.

00:27

Organizing the night before everything that has to be done in the morning to make it easier for the family and easier for them, so they can get more sleep can help.

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A healthy, protein-rich breakfast. I find that really focusing on nutrition can help these kids.

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Also, if they're taking medication for ADHD, which many do need, that can kind of cut their appetite down during the day,

00:48

so you want to pack in that nutrition in the morning. Any supplements that your doctor has recommended, I often use omegas, magnesium-- different things

00:55

for these kids. And then really structuring their day out but in bite-sized pieces that they can handle, right?

01:01

So they may not be able to understand "Here's your whole middle school schedule, make sure you go to all these classes,

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turn in all these papers, and go to these exams." You really have to narrow it down and give them simple things to do, check it off when they're done,

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move on to the next thing, check it off. And so things like that can really help. And then a lot of positive reinforcement and encouragement

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can really help, because they have to feel good about themselves. Even though we have teachers who

01:27

are very knowledgeable of what ADHD is, we also still have some who are kind of unsure of how

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to work with a child with ADHD in the classroom, especially a general education classroom, so we

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are working with training teachers as well as parents and families. I think it's important to be really

01:48

present at those parent/teacher conferences and really ask the teacher what's going on. Also watch your child at home as well,

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and see if what the teacher says is also being demonstrated at home. [MUSIC PLAYING]