EF challenges: tips for preparing for the start of school?
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Anonymous
| DS has significant ADHD and EF challenges. Over the years, I have noticed that things go better if we put the right systems into place at the beginning of the school year. I was wondering if other parents have experience with systems they have put into place at the beginning of the year to deal with EF challenges (beyond IEP accommodations --- thinking about the work on EF that you do at home). Our DS is entering 6th grade. |
Anonymous
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Starting 6th grade (for my kid) is when EF got in the way of school.
There are a bunch of videos on You Tube by a EF professional - Seth Perler that helped our family on how to set up folders / notebooks / think about assignments etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6RMBGJiw94 |
Anonymous
| I second Seth Perler! |
Anonymous
| Starting in 6TH grade I made my son responsible for developing his strategies. It was highly successful. We would wait until the end of September to buy a new binder so that he had an idea what would work best. |
Anonymous
| In 6th grade the most important thing is a system for keeping track of assignments - a planner or electronic system/calendar, plus all the right materials and binders for each class, a clean desk and room at home. |
Anonymous
| Not meaning to derail thread - but any suggestions for HS? I’m currently making my way through Seth Perler from pp. thank you! definitely have resistant HS who got by on smarts before. Wish we had addressed this earlier. |
Anonymous
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My rising senior has ADHD and other differences.
The best decision we ever made was to medicate him, even though we quickly found out an optimal dose had too many side effects so he has a very low dose compared to what he should have. The one single technique that had the most impact was walking him through the use of his planner in 6th grade. At first the school required use of his school planner, but then I found an ADHD-friendly one on Amazon (sorry, wanted to link, but can't find it - however there are a bunch of new ones): it had a better layout for every part of the day, so he had a visual guide to plan out his work. Since 9th grade we all pick out our favorite Moleskines, and he manages his work himself. It's funny that a lot of students don't actually know what to do with planners. I remember being the same age and writing the assignment the day it was given to me, not the day it was due. My other kid, who is highly functional with no ADHD, made the same mistake 
And then of course the greatest effort has been the daily slog of parenting an ADHD/HFA/etc kid: checking in with him morning and evening, discussing all the issues that come up, helping him write emails to his teachers so he could learn to advocate for himself in middle school, reminding him to clean out his binders, not leave paper everywhere (everyone is guilty of that at home!), having a mini writing boot camp every year to address his dysgraphia, tutoring him ourselves or paying for tutors because he's the intellectual kind and wants to do well academically... Basically our entire lives have centered on this kid ever since he was born premature with issues. |
Anonymous
| We hired an EF coach for our son. The coach and our DS just set up his binder and the folders last night. Our hope is this will eliminate several family battles. We hope to work with the coach weekly during the school year. So far we’ve been impressed. |
Anonymous
reference please? |
Anonymous
| Sure. My email is Margot.v.Chapman@gmail.com I’d be happy to provide our coach’s contact information |
Anonymous
We stated with Seth Perler in 8th grade. We are now entering 11th and 3 years ago could not have imagined this is where we would be. It has not been an easy path - but it is the path we are on. A few things we decided to do - not make our entire relationship with our teen nagging about assignments that were not handed in or other school stuff. once we took some of the anxiety off the table (that we were creating) we were able to have more meaningful conversations. I have watched a lot of shows that I would have preferred not to - but investing in the relationship has paid dividends. But we do use the phrase "I love you too much to let you fail" when we see where things are going and need to step in (I can not remember which parenting author said it) Things that have the most power - peer relationships. Encourage your child to find their group. Debate, ultimate, the recycling club. This connection was what pulled him along to make choices for himself. |