Your HFA/ADHD 6-7 yo - keeping up with school and camp things

[Anonymous]

How much support do you give your 6-7 yo HFA/ADHD child in terms of bringing home from school and camp their belongings? I am at my wits end! My husband has ADHD (and probably HFA), so he is no help.

Do you do laminated checklists?

We are at a SN camp but he brings home the things that are supposed to stay all week, plus one shoe, one sock, no water bottle, no shirt, etc.

Constructive comments only, I am at my wits end and doing the best I can!

[Anonymous]

Same profile kids and DH- yes I made laminated checklist business card size that clips to handle of backpack (carabiner). I made one for each day of week as activities vary. We have a matching checklist by day on magnet board of hall in house. And we have an adult version of the routine in a notebook on the kitchen counter that we all refer to. This helps when grandparents are babysitting- they can do the pm checklist so we are ready for the next morning.

It is compulsive and takes me about an hour to type all of the lists and make the cards etc each season. But it keeps us all organized.

And the one time I didn't get them done before the session started both my husband and kids asked where their lists were.

We also talk through the pack list each morning before we head out and then before we leave school/ camp.

And we have 2-3 spares of everything and all of my kids socks are the same and therefore interchangeable with matches. We really should buy stock in label daddy because everything gets a sticker. One year I even kept a bag of spare swim gear and water bottles in my car- since then we've chosen less complicated camp schedules.

Good luck! It is really frustrating when it feels like you have to parent your spouse too. I found I resented making the labels/ lists once less than I resented the daily reminders.

[Anonymous]

We had no camp to deal with, since I stayed home, but my severely inattentive ADHD kiddo actually forgot less items than his non-ADHD siblings at the same age, during the school year. He was infuriatingly SLOW, but packed his bag without forgetting anything.

On the other hand, he would get confused in class and forget to turn in classwork, and that was a source of great conflict with the school. I would rather he had forgotten his stuff!

Are you considering meds in the future? Meds worked wonders for our child regarding processing speed and remembering to turn in work at school.

[Anonymous]

PP - forgot to mention that this son of mine has Aspie tendencies but has never been formally diagnosed with HFA.

[Anonymous]

Never did figure it out for my ADHD kiddo. I must have purchased 10 water bottles and 10+ pairs of goggles last year and 3-4 lunch bags. I checked the lost and found almost every day.

Thanks to PP for the checklist tip.

[Anonymous]

We use checklists, and we also asked the school/camp to make our kid has everything she needs to come home and nothing that needs to stay at school/camp. The checklist is attached to the bag and she is responsible for both packing the bag in the morning and unpacking as soon as she comes home. This gets her used to the routine of what is supposed to go in the bag. Not a perfect system, but it helps.

I suggest you look into Ivymount's Unstuck and On Target classes which teaches both you and your child executive functioning skills and includes a lot about checklists.

[Anonymous]

You check the pack at pickup and go find everything that's not there on the spot. If you wait until the next day, it's gone.

[Anonymous]

What worked for us was to have a place for everything and everything goes in its place. So we planned where socks, shoes, etc would be placed when removed. And we did this everywhere, all the time. Nothing was left to chance - we designated a place for everything. It became second nature. FWIW, my son was obviously ADHD from a young age, so we were doing this from the time he was two. By the time he was in camp, it was ingrained.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You check the pack at pickup and go find everything that's not there on the spot. If you wait until the next day, it's gone.

This. I ask DC at pickup - do you have X, Y, Z. So far, DC has not forgotten anything. I chalk this up to meds - this is the first year we've done medication while at camp.

[Anonymous]

Mine is 10 and we're still struggling with this, even with both checklists, which he loves, and the a-labeled-place-for-everything-etc. method.

[Anonymous]

OP again - thanks everyone.

[Anonymous]

Mabel's Labels on everything!! I also pack everything in zip lock bags so he knows it goes back in zip lock bags together.
We don't have anything that stays all week at camp. That would get tricky for a little one to remember what stays and what goes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same profile kids and DH- yes I made laminated checklist business card size that clips to handle of backpack (carabiner). I made one for each day of week as activities vary. We have a matching checklist by day on magnet board of hall in house. And we have an adult version of the routine in a notebook on the kitchen counter that we all refer to. This helps when grandparents are babysitting- they can do the pm checklist so we are ready for the next morning.

It is compulsive and takes me about an hour to type all of the lists and make the cards etc each season. But it keeps us all organized.

And the one time I didn't get them done before the session started both my husband and kids asked where their lists were.

We also talk through the pack list each morning before we head out and then before we leave school/ camp.

And we have 2-3 spares of everything and all of my kids socks are the same and therefore interchangeable with matches. We really should buy stock in label daddy because everything gets a sticker. One year I even kept a bag of spare swim gear and water bottles in my car- since then we've chosen less complicated camp schedules.

Good luck! It is really frustrating when it feels like you have to parent your spouse too. I found I resented making the labels/ lists once less than I resented the daily reminders.

I love this.

I've just started with checklists and it really helps .. if we're all consistent. A big part of the problem is I have ADHD too so I don't always get the checklist done on time, am not always consistent with it, and forget the rewards half the time.

I like the idea of laminating small checklists on the bag. I just bought the kids bag tags so their TKD bags are easy to identify. Maybe I can get those little clear badge holders and stick a short checklist in there.

[Anonymous]

We have so many laminated checklists in our house, we bought a laminator :lol. You can get a pretty good one on Amazon for $20-$30.

[Anonymous]

If you don't want a laminator, you can also buy drop-in sleeves. We use these for checklists in our house: https://www.amazon.com/C-Line-Reusable-Pockets-Assorted-41810/dp/B004PJ2UVE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499347143&sr=8-1&keywords=worksheet+sleeves