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Bad grades are not always a fair reflection of your child’s effort, learning, motivation, or potential for success. And this is especially true for students with ADHD and other learning differences. On the surface, disappointing grades represent a failure at school. But there’s usually more to the story, which may never be heard because strong emotions — for parents and students — take over.

So how can we respond more positively and thoughtfully to a bad report card? Here to suggest solutions is Ann Dolin, M.Ed., an experienced author, educator, advocate, and parent of kids with ADHD who will help parents uncover possible reasons for their child’s grades and show them how to navigate these sticky situations while preserving their relationship with their child.

In this webinar, you will learn:

• How to talk to your child about their school performance, including some easy conversation starters
• Ways to investigate why it’s happening and the two most common reasons for poor grades
• What to do moving forward, including strategies to help your child study more effectively and stay organized
• Whether you should set consequences for your child’s bad grades (or reward them for good grades) and how to keep kids with ADHD motivated

Have a question for our expert? There will be an opportunity to post questions for the presenter during the live webinar.

Meet the Expert Speaker

Ann Dolin, M.Ed., has nearly 30 years of experience working with students. She is a former public school special education teacher and author who founded Educational Connections in 1998. The company specializes in helping students, especially those with ADHD, build executive function skills and study habits to perform better in school and, ultimately, in college.

She and her team of more than 120 tutors, executive function coaches, college consultants, and parent coaches provide virtual support to families with kindergarten to college students throughout the country.

Ann is the author of Homework Made Simple: Tips, Tools, and Solutions for Stress-Free Homework and Getting Past Procrastination: How to Get Your Kids Organized, Focused and Motivated… Without Being the Bad Guy. (#CommissionsEarned) She also is past president of CHADD of Northern Virginia and is an advocate for students with ADHD.

#CommissionsEarned As an Amazon Associate, ADDitude earns a commission from qualifying purchases made by ADDitude readers on the affiliate links we share.

ADHD at School: More Resources

• Download: Transform Your Teen’s Apathy Into Engagement
• Read: Do This, Then That! How to Model Planning & Prioritizing for Students with ADHD
• Q&A: “We Need an After-School Routine to Ease the Transition to Homework.”
• eBook: The ADHD Homework Survival Guide

Webinar Sponsor

The sponsor of this ADDitude webinar is…

Brain Balance helps kids, teens and adults with ADHD, learning differences, anxiety & more through our integrative cognitive development and brain wellness program. Our approach combines cognitive, physical and sensory training with nutritional guidance to strengthen and build brain connectivity without the use of medication. Stronger connections translate to improved attention, behaviors, and social-emotional well-being. | brainbalancecenters.com/additudemag

ADDitude thanks our sponsors for supporting our webinars. Sponsorship has no influence on speaker selection or webinar content.

Certificate of Attendance: For information on how to purchase the certificate of attendance option (cost $10), register for the webinar, then look for instructions in the email you’ll receive one hour after it ends. The certificate of attendance link will also be available here, on the webinar replay page, several hours after the live webinar. ADDitude does not offer CEU credits.

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Academic achievement is strongly predicted by the presence of certain non-cognitive skills, like persistence and motivation, which are linked to genetic factors and become increasingly important as children age, according to a study published in Nature Human Behaviour.¹

“Children who are emotionally stable, motivated, and capable of regulating their attention and impulses do better in school, independent of their level of cognitive ability,” the researchers wrote.

The study involved a U.K.-based sample of more than 10,000 children aged 7 to 16 that used surveys and multiple genetic methods, including twin models and DNA-based analyses. Data was collected at ages 7, 9, 12, and 16.

Non-Cognitive Skills

Parents, teachers, and twins were asked questions related to the child’s performance at school and non-cognitive skills, including academic interest and self-regulation. After accounting for general cognitive ability, researchers performed multiple regression analyses that revealed an association between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement at all ages studied.

Non-cognitive skills grew more predictive of academic achievement as children approached late adolescence. Self-report surveys revealed the biggest effect sizes (as compared to surveys completed by parents and teachers). The correlation between self-reported, education-specific non-cognitive skills and academic achievement grew significantly over time (from r=0.10 at age 9 to r=0.51 at age 16).

While cognitive skills refer to objective traits, such as memory, reasoning, and IQ, non-cognitive skills refer to more subjective qualities. In this study, non-cognitive skills were broadly classified as:

• Education-specific non-cognitive skills (academic interest, attitudes towards learning, academic self-efficacy)
• Domain-general self-regulation skills (behavioral and emotional regulation that exist outside of school).

“These findings highlight the important role that non-cognitive skills play during primary and secondary education and suggest that fostering such skills might provide an avenue for successful educational strategies and interventions,” the researchers wrote.

Genetic Influence

Similar findings were revealed using polygenic scores, or PGSs, which estimate the effect of multiple genes on a specific trait. Non-cognitive PGS on academic achievement doubled from ages 7 to 16, while cognitive PGS stayed the same. By the end of the study, the variance in academic achievement was equally accounted for by non-cognitive and cognitive skills.

When controlling for shared family environments, as in the case of siblings, the effects of non-cognitive PGS were slightly diminished but still significant. According to the gene-environment correlation theory, or rGe, this can be attributed to genetic control over environmental exposures.² As children grow up, they “evoke and actively select academic environments that correlate with their genetic disposition towards non-cognitive skills,” the researchers wrote. These traits are then reinforced over time. In contrast, cognitive PGS predictions remained the same through development.

Socioeconomic status did not alter the overall findings. Although children from higher socio-economic backgrounds performed better academically, the slope of association between academic achievement and non-cognitive skills did not change from one group to the next.

“Higher PGS, for both cognitive and non-cognitive skills, corresponded to higher academic achievement, and higher SES corresponded to both higher mean PGSs and higher achievement, indicating a correlation rather than an interaction between genetic and environmental influences on academic achievement,” the researchers wrote.

Mental Health & ADHD

The study confirmed strong correlations between cognitive and non-cognitive genetic factors and their links to psychiatric, personality, and socioeconomic traits. But non-cognitive skills played a bigger role in certain outcomes, like mental health. The disparity between genetic factors was more pronounced for certain psychiatric traits, such as autism and ADHD, compared to earlier studies.³

Some studies suggest mental health conditions are influenced by the same genetic factors. A study published in Nature in 2023 and covered by ADDitude found that 84% to 98% of common genetic variants tied to ADHD seemed to influence other psychiatric disorders, including autism, depression, and schizophrenia.⁴ Genetic research has also linked ADHD to emotion regulation and motivation.⁵

“One of the main areas of the brain affected by the genetics of ADHD is the reward center — in particular, the transmission of a chemical called dopamine. The neurons in the brain of a person with ADHD act differently…They need higher levels of stimulation from their environment,” said Maggie Sibley, Ph.D., in her 2022 ADDitude webinar “My Teen with ADHD Lacks All Motivation! How to Build Executive Function Skills and Drive.”

“You can see that translating into prominent motivation difficulties in kids with ADHD,” Sibley said.

Limitations and Future Research

Targeted interventions that build non-cognitive skills could benefit children with relative social and emotional weaknesses, including those with ADHD. But more research is needed to understand how non-cognitive skills develop. Future studies should focus on the association between these and academic achievement.

Sources

¹ Malanchini, M., Allegrini, A.G., Nivard, M.G. et al. (2024). Genetic associations between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement over development. Nat Hum Behav. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01967-9

² Jaffee, S., & Price, T. (2007). Gene–environment correlations: a review of the evidence and implications for prevention of mental illness. Mol Psychiatry, 12, 432–442. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001950

³ Demange, P. A. et al. (2021). Investigating the genetic architecture of noncognitive skills using GWAS-by-subtraction. Nat. Genet., 53, 35–44. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-020-00754-2

⁴ Demontis, D., Walters, G. B., Athanasiadis, G., Walters, R., Therrien, K., Nielsen, T. T., … Børglum, A. D. (2023). Genome-wide analyses of ADHD identify 27 risk loci, refine the genetic architecture and implicate several cognitive domains. Nature Genetics, 55(2), 198–208. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-022-01285-8

⁵ Merwood, A., Chen, W., Rijsdijk, F., Skirrow, C., Larsson, H., Thapar, A., Kuntsi, J., & Asherson, P. (2013). Genetic association between the symptoms of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder and emotional lability in child and adolescent twins. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(2), 209‐220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2013.11.006

My professor had given us clear instructions. I was passionate about (read: hyperfixated on) the subject. I’d been researching for days. But I couldn’t seem to get started — there was too much I wanted to say and, horror of horrors, I couldn’t even use the just-start-rambling tactic that had carried me through high school. The topic was too important, the stakes were too high, and every time I started to write, it came out wrong.

Like many with ADHD, I’m an all-or-nothing type. I haven’t yet found the magic key that lets me put, say, 45% effort into something. I have to give 100% perfection or it’s simply not worth doing at all.

All the same time, in high school, even when I’d make a bulleted outline for an essay and try to follow it, I’d get stuck, delete the outline in frustration, abandon the draft entirely, and write the whole essay in one go. Writing off the cuff produced some beautiful sentences, but I was prone to rambling or leaving things out. When I’d revise, I couldn’t recapture the energy and thought process I had while freewriting. Even with a reverse outline (first draft then outline), I got stuck. My transitions didn’t make as much sense the second time around, my writing seemed clunkier, and I still ended up scrapping everything. For a while, this strategy was workable. My essays, while spontaneous and poorly outlined, were good enough.

Now in college, as the night wore on and my meds wore off – still with no essay in sight – I was frustrated to the point of tears. Then I had an idea: I decided that if I couldn’t write the best version of my essay, or even a good version of my essay, I would write the worst version of my essay. And that’s what I did. I wrote in purposefully irreverent, goofy ways that amused me and kept my attention. In the end, to my surprise, I had a draft that had actually captured my ideas and was fun to read during revision.

I dubbed this strategy The Crappy Draft.

[Read: How to Prepare Your ADHD Teen for College, According to Research]

Why The Crappy Draft Technique Works for ADHD College Students

The goal of The Crappy Draft is twofold. First, it relieves the pressure to Write Something Good and makes the task that’s been driving you crazy into something lighthearted, with stakes so low they’re in the ground. And you get something done. Revising is tomorrow’s problem; tonight, you can sleep knowing you got started.

Second, The Crappy Draft lets you see the shape of your essay. Yes, this version may be nonsensical, but it also holds great wisdom. One of the great skills of the ADHD brain is making connections even where seemingly none exist. If harnessed correctly, this can be a great essay-writing tool: the ways in which you jump from one topic to another when you’re not thinking about writing a polished draft often allow for your best ideas to come forward.

You may be surprised to find how easy it is to turn something from apparent crap into an eloquent essay! For example, in one Crappy Draft of a history paper, I wrote “We can all talk a big game about war, but maybe we mostly just want everyone to have enough potatoes and not get their stuff stolen.” In the final version of the essay, this became “People want to avoid war more than they want to protect territory or follow orders, and sometimes they can even succeed in avoiding it.”

I’ve since used The Crappy Draft approach to great success every time I feel even slightly stuck on an essay. The Crappy Draft allows me the pleasure of writing in my own voice while capturing all of my ideas without censoring myself or succumbing to anxiety. And because my goofy Crappy Drafts are fun to read, they keep me focused when I go back to revise. The process is more manageable, and the final product is more organized, thoughtful, and in-depth.

[Read: “Writing Made Easier for College Kids with Learning Differences”]

How to Write Your Own Crappy Draft

1. Type at the top of your document: THIS DRAFT IS CRAPPY ON PURPOSE. I’LL MAKE IT GOOD LATER.

I type this in bold and highlight the words in red, but you do you. The important thing is that by writing this affirmation, you release yourself from the need to write anything presentable.

2. Write the silliest version of your draft you can possibly write.

Hit the points you want to hit but don’t pay any attention to whether you’re hitting them in the right order. Forgo punctuation. Don’t just write from your inner monologue — write from the most informal, personal part of your brain. Put in as many swears and as much Internet slang as you want. Make yourself laugh. Have fun with it.

Don’t forget the “assignment” part entirely, though. Here’s what I wrote one of my Crappy Drafts when I noticed myself going wildly off topic and getting distracted:

Man, do you ever think about the butterfly effe– [I AM HIT OVER THE HEAD WITH A COMICALLY LARGE HAMMER. NEXT PARAGRAPH PLEASE !!]

Optional step: Change the font to Comic Sans or some other stupid-looking font.

This is also a neat trick for resetting your brain when you’ve been staring at your words for hours and are starting to hate them. Different font? Ooh, it must be a different task! How new and exciting!

3. Get a good night’s sleep and revise another day.

I’m hopeful that your Crappy Draft will surprise you and make you smile. Read your draft with an open mind. Follow what jumps out at you, and you’ll find the makings of a strong, cohesive essay.

How to Write an Essay in College: Next Steps

• Free Download: How to Get ADHD Accommodations in College
• Read: “3 College Tips to Help Students Stress Less, Learn More”
• Read: “Yes, You Really Do Belong in College”

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

An approach called the Life Course Model could significantly improve outcomes by keeping parents informed on the effectiveness of behavioral interventions and by ensuring consistency between home and school strategies.

The model’s primary aim is to foster collaborative family-school partnerships. Through meetings with the child’s academic and/or IEP team, parents can help make decisions regarding the best behavioral interventions to address the child’s needs.

[eBook: The Teacher’s Guide to ADHD and Classroom Behavior]

Daily communication about a student’s progress may also allow the teacher to advise on implementing interventions at home. However, successful student outcomes still rely on professional development and teacher training around ADHD interventions and strategies.

Life Course Model Implementation

These practice guidelines were created to help teachers address disruptive or noncompliant behaviors among students with ADHD by providing supports that build skills for independence and self-regulation. Interventions that reduce symptoms (e.g., medication) and accommodations that don’t necessarily build skills are given lower priority in the treatment plan sequence.

Life Course Model, Part 1: Services and Sequencing

Life Course Model, Part 2: Principles for Service Delivery

Behavioral Interventions for ADHD: Next Steps

• Free Download: Classroom Accommodations for Children with ADHD
• Sign Up: Free ADHD Teacher Training Program!
• Read: Could a Behavior Intervention Plan Help Your Student with ADHD? 

Marsha Ariol, M.S., is a third-year doctoral student in the school psychology program at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

George J. DuPaul, Ph.D., is a professor of school psychology and associate dean for research in the College of Education at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

Sources

¹ Hustus, C.L., Evans, S.W., Owens, J.S., Benson, K., Hetrick, A., Kipperman, K., & DuPaul, G.J. (2020). An Evaluation of 504 and Individualized Educational Programs for High School Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. School Psychology Review,49, 333-345.doi: 10.1080/2372966X.2020.1777830

² DuPaul, G.J., Chronis-Tuscano, A., Danielson, M.L., & Visser, S.N. (2019). Predictors of Receipt of School Services in a National Sample of Youth with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Journal of Attention Disorders, 23, 1303-1319.doi: 10.1177/1087054718816169

Alongside other ADHD advocates, I’ve been working for more than a decade to create systemic change in the way we educate students with ADHD. I will share exciting opportunities for civic actions you can take to encourage local and state legislators to implement these special ed reforms. As Margaret Mead famously said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Teacher Training Transforms the Classroom

I have conducted hundreds of ADHD-specific teacher trainings across diverse school districts nationwide that vary in size, economic status, and geography. They all share a common asset: teachers eager for additional knowledge, tools, and resources to enhance their students’ success. They aspire to spend less time dealing with challenging behaviors and more time addressing the needs of all their students. That’s where I come in. Within 12 hours, my training can transform how teachers perceive, interact with, and support students with ADHD, building their competence and confidence in the classroom.

Last summer, Lisa Reynolds, a parent in Kansas, asked if I would speak with one of her local legislators about creating a bill that would improve the way students with ADHD are taught. Reynolds pleaded for change after years of failed attempts to help her son receive appropriate education and support.

“If he required too many redirections, teachers recommended removing him from class and transferring him to the in-school suspension room for independent work,” Reynolds said of her son, who has ADHD. “These kids get labeled as lazy or bad. They don’t understand why school is so hard and why they are being punished.”

[Get This Download: An Educator’s Guide to Classroom Challenges & Solutions]

With Reynolds’s help, I drafted Kansas House Bill 2480, requiring each school district in the state to hire an ADHD specialist to train and support teachers. I then gathered stellar experts from across disciplines with the knowledge, experience, and research to support this effort. Not surprisingly, I found that many professionals share my determination to change the current educational methodology.

Bright Students, Poor Outcomes

George J. DuPaul, Ph.D., professor of school psychology and associate dean for research at Lehigh University College of Education, is one of many experts and clinicians prepared to testify on behalf of this ADHD legislation. He says that youth with ADHD face significant academic and mental health challenges in elementary and secondary schools. Typically, he says, they complete less assigned work, receive below-average grades, perform poorly on exams, and are more likely than their peers to drop out of school.

Many students with ADHD are of average or above-average intelligence. Yet they are at greater risk of underemployment, incarceration, and even suicide.

Every day, well-meaning teachers unintentionally create hardship, frustration, and worse by expecting students with ADHD to behave and perform according to neurotypical standards. Very bright students with ADHD may have slower processing speed (which creates overwhelm and disengagement), weaker working memory (they struggle to retain what is presented without visual or other supports), and other challenges that arise from underdeveloped executive function and emotional regulation skills.

[Click to Download: 10 Teaching Strategies that Help Students with ADHD]

Many educators have backgrounds in special education but no expertise in ADHD. Teachers are leaving the profession in droves due to overwhelming challenges and limited resources and support. We cannot ask more of teachers. But we can provide the training and resources they need to support their neurodivergent students.

Seeking Action Across America

While HR Bill 2480 is still working its way through the Kansas legislature, we are determined to proceed on a broader scale and create a national dialogue about supporting students and families impacted by ADHD. We hope that lawmakers will be inclined to consider legislation once they see similar bills successfully passed.

Virginia is a good example. Academic outcomes for Virginia students with learning differences have been inexcusably poor in recent years. These students scored lower on Standards of Learning assessments, on average, than their neurotypical peers. Worse, they were 52 percent more likely to drop out of high school.

After a scathing report on the state’s failure to comply with basic federal special education program requirements, and an ongoing probe by the U.S. Department of Education, lawmakers passed a bill that aims to dramatically change the way educators are trained to identify and support students with learning differences and disabilities.

The bill was signed into law and became effective July 1, 2024. However, it could take until the 2025-26 school year for some, if not all, of the widespread changes to be implemented, says Virginia Delegate Carrie Coyner, who co-sponsored the bipartisan bill with Delegate Barbara Favola.

The new law requires every teacher and administrator statewide to receive professional development by regional coaches and experts in special education. The state will also fund regional parent resource centers to help caregivers advocate for students with diagnosed or suspected learning differences.

Coyner says she spent one year interviewing and surveying educators and special education systems across the country to learn about best practices. She studied lawsuits filed by parents against school districts in Virginia involving claims of inadequate education supports for their students, and she worked with the University of Virginia law school on public policy measures to address current challenges.

We need states across America to prioritize the importance of adequate training for teachers and recognize that it can change the lives of future generations of students. Employing an on-site ADHD specialist can provide education, re-teaching, and effective problem-solving, enabling these students to become assets to the entire school population.

Your Call-To-Action Guide

It is up to us to create a groundswell of support by approaching school boards, and local and national legislators, to push for change. Experiences from local parents and professionals will have the most impact regionally; however, their shared information and approach can apply to all states.

• Ask your local school board how teachers are being taught to support students with ADHD. How current is the training, how recently has it been provided, and how many staff members have received the most recent training?
• Use the template below to approach your local school board, state senator, and state representative, as well as your U.S. senators and congressional representatives, to advocate for legislation at both the local and national levels.

How to Approach Your Representatives

• Start by writing a letter or an email addressed to each of your school board members and state senators and representatives. Each state has an education committee in the state House and the state Senate. Search for “Education Committee in Congress” and “Senate Education Committee” in your state for the names of committee members.
• Include an overview of the problem, a fact sheet to support your views, and information about how all students would benefit from your proposed changes.

Then ask your representatives to do the following:

• Enact legislation requiring all educators to undergo training on the impact of ADHD on the brain, and its implications for teaching, classroom design, and support. [See Proposed Teacher Training Solutions to get more specifics.]
• Equip every educator with a fundamental understanding of the social and emotional impact of ADHD and executive function challenges on learning, motivation, and behavior.
• Encourage universities to incorporate a curriculum on ADHD for general education teachers.

Your Fact Sheet

Help legislators understand the prevalence and consequences of ADHD with these facts:

• The American Psychiatric Association recognizes ADHD as a prevalent mental disorder in children.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that roughly 10 percent of school-age children have ADHD, though some reports skew higher. This means that virtually every classroom has at least one student with ADHD.
• ADHD is a chronic and sometimes debilitating disorder. It is known to impact the academic achievements and daily functioning of students.
• People diagnosed with ADHD have an elevated risk for school failure, drug and alcohol abuse, accidental injuries, premature death, and suicide.
• ADHD is not specifically identified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Instead, it falls under the “other health impairment” category in IEPs. This distinction might contribute to differences in training compared to training about autism, which affects one-quarter as many school-age children.

Proposed Teacher Training Solutions

Tell your legislators that employing a school district-wide ADHD specialist is the most cost-effective and impactful way to support teachers and students. The ADHD specialist may be an educator or administrator who is already on staff, regardless of discipline. They can:

• Train current and incoming staff to manage the social and emotional impact of ADHD by introducing effective teaching methods. Many simple adjustments in teaching style and classroom environment can significantly improve the learning experience for all students.
• Reduce the time teachers spend managing ADHD students who fall off task, or those with challenging behaviors, by offering guidance and sharing best practices and evidence-based teaching strategies to address situations in the classroom.
• Support parents by explaining how ADHD affects learning, motivation, and behavior. This knowledge will empower parents to become more collaborative and effective partners with teachers.

Over time, these investments in teacher training will lead to a stable and experienced education workforce, while reducing teacher stress, burnout, turnover, and associated costs.

These steps will also improve students’ retention, mental health, underemployment, and rates of incarceration and self-harm.

Effective ADHD specialist training should include:

• A comprehensive, research-based description of the social and emotional impact of ADHD and executive function development on learning, motivation, behavior, and the family system.
• Strategies to address executive function skill development in task initiation, organization, time management, self-advocacy, emotional regulation, and attention regulation. Executive function deficits are addressed by helping each student develop internal and external strategies and skills.
• A program to address challenging behaviors with a strengths-based, collaborative problem-solving approach designed to improve conflict resolution, productivity, and motivation.

Teacher Training for ADHD: Next Steps

• Read: “We Are Behind the Times” Only 4 in 10 Educators Receive ADHD Training
• Sign-up: Free ADHD Training for Educators
• Download: What Every Teacher Should Know About ADHD – A Poster for School
• Read: Everything You Never Knew About Learning Disabilities
• Read: Inadequate Teacher Training Stifles Students with ADHD

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

– How to improve executive function by developing “domino” habits
– How to foster a positive learning environment that leans more heavily on praise
– How to design a neurodivergent-friendly classroom
– How to model good planning and prioritizing skills for your child
– How to capture wandering attention without embarrassing students with ADHD
– How to use a daily report card system effectively
– How to manage multiple students’ accommodations efficiently
– How to spot and avoid burnout in twice-exceptional students who are gifted and have ADHD
– How to reduce screen-time battles and use music to spark focus

Get all of these resources and more in this concise, practical, 12-page guide to building stronger executive functions in children with ADHD.

Print it, share it, use it, and start off the new school year smart!

NOTE: This resource is for personal use only.

Strengthening a Teacher-Student Relationship

Q: “How can I encourage my child to ask their teacher for help when needed?”

The skill of self-advocacy is both critical and elusive for many students with ADHD. They can benefit greatly from the student-teacher communication that they are terrified to initiate. Most educators are eager to hear their students’ needs and concerns; many adolescents, however, feel embarrassed, anxious, and/or unsure about face-to-face meetings.

Enter the dialogue journal — a blank book, usually kept in a designated space, that a teacher and student can use to correspond back and forth. This simple but powerful tool offers students a low-pressure way to express their thoughts, concerns, and needs without feeling put on the spot. It also allows teachers to digest the information when it’s convenient for them and not when they’re juggling a dozen other things.

A student could share, “I’m having a hard time focusing at my table,” “I struggle when you call me out for not paying attention in front of everyone,” or “I didn’t understand the math today.” The teacher can ask follow-up questions to get more info, offer solutions, or suggest having a face-to-face conversation.

[Get This Free Download: Explaining ADHD to Teachers]

Perhaps most importantly, the dialogue journal gives teachers the chance to offer positive feedback to students with ADHD, who respond best to praise but seldom receive it. Comments like, “Thanks for helping clean up the paints today,” or “I really enjoyed your observation in Social Studies,” can boost confidence, improve motivation, and significantly enhance the teacher-student relationship.

Homework Solutions: Starting and Finishing Assignments

“What’s the best way to help my student start and finish their homework?”

Completing homework requires sustained attention, focus, and working memory. These executive functioning skills develop more slowly in students with ADHD, creating stress and erecting barriers as a child tries to initiate and complete their assignments on time.

Here are some tips to help your student avoid the frustration that often accompanies homework assignments. Encourage your child to:

• Decompress. When you get home from school, take 40 minutes to eat a healthy snack and refuel your brain. Then take out your books or review your homework assignments within your classroom portal.
• Work in increments. Start with the hardest subject first. Set a timer for 30 minutes, work, then take a 10-minute break. Consider stretching and moving your body during the break to recharge. Then return to the task for another 30 minutes. Your goal is to finish each assignment before it is due. If it doesn’t get done, submit what you have, even though it’s not completed.
• Work backward. This is an awesome strategy: Put the assignment due date on your calendar and break the project into smaller parts to determine the steps you need to finish it. Then set a deadline for completing each step. You may want to create a to-do list and mark off each step as you go for a feeling of accomplishment.

Teacher-Student Relationship: Next Steps

• Sign-Up: Free Teacher Training Program
• Download: Solving Classroom Challenges 
• Read: 4 Secrets to More Positive Teacher-Student Relationships
• Listen: “Meet the Teacher — How to Build Relationships This School Year”

Kristin Seymour, MSN, R.N., AHCNS-BC, is a board-certified Clinical Nurse Specialist at the Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Heart & Vascular Center in St. Louis.

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

Q: How can I, as a teacher, more effectively and efficiently implement many Individualized Education Program (IEP) and 504 Plan accommodations for multiple students with learning differences in one classroom?

Many students with learning differences benefit from classroom accommodations, but managing them all can challenge any educator. This is especially true today, as the number of students requesting accommodations has increased dramatically. In fact, it’s one of the top reasons cited by educators for burnout.

If I teach 100 students, about 30 will have an IEP or 504 Plan, with two to three accommodations for each student. Teachers are tasked with figuring out how to implement and track these, while also covering all the course content, engaging young minds, and maintaining rigor. It’s a lot to manage.

To tackle multiple accommodations at once, take the time to carefully organize your online classroom portal. By uploading your notes in advance, for example, you can knock off several accommodations, such as “provide notes to students” and “offer different instructional strategies.”

[Read: 27 Classroom Accommodations That Target Common ADHD Challenges]

Along those lines, set clear due dates in advance for students who are given extra time to complete assignments. Doing so offers a clear structure, which is comforting and motivating for students; for teachers, it streamlines an otherwise unwieldy process.

Q: I see my students with ADHD struggling to focus. How can I help them pay attention without embarrassing them in class?

When teachers tell students with ADHD to pay attention,” most of the kids don’t know what that looks like. This is where we can turn to the SLANT model, developed by Doug Lemov, author of The Coach’s Guidee to Teaching.

[Free Poster: What Every Teacher Should Know About ADHD]

The SLANT strategy details the behaviors necessary for students to pay attention:

• Sit up
• Listen or lean forward
• Ask or answer questions
• Nod your head
• Track the speaker with your eyes

The benefits of this approach are twofold. First, these behaviors enhance the ability of the student to really engage. Second, the student who adopts them looks respectful, which sets a positive tone in the classroom.

Accommodations for ADHD: Next Steps

• Read: The Educator’s Guide to Executive Functions
• Read: Positive Teaching Strategies to Uplift Students with ADHD
• Free Download: Easy Accommodations for Kids with ADHD

Brandon Slade is the founder and CEO of Untapped Learning, an executive function coaching organization. He is a former special education teacher.

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Navigating students’ emotional dysregulation can be one of the most challenging aspects of classroom management. In this one-hour webinar, educators will learn how to engage both proactive and reactive strategies for effectively managing emotional dysregulation in students.

Proactive Strategies Include:

• Building a Supportive Classroom Environment: Learn techniques for creating a classroom atmosphere that promotes emotional stability and resilience.
• Implementing Preventative Measures: Discover approaches to identify potential triggers and integrate preventative strategies that reduce the likelihood of emotional outbursts.
• Developing Emotional Regulation Skills: Explore methods for teaching students self-regulation skills and coping mechanisms that they can use independently.

Reactive Strategies Include:

• Deploying Immediate Response Techniques: Understand best practices for addressing emotional dysregulation as it occurs, ensuring interventions are effective and respectful.
• Engaging De-escalation Strategies: Gain practical skills for de-escalating tense situations and restoring a calm learning environment.
• Prioritizing Post-Incident Reflection and Support: Learn how to follow up with students after an emotional incident to provide support and prevent future occurrences.

Watch the Video Replay

Enter your email address in the box above labeled “Video Replay + Slide Access” to watch the video replay (closed captions available) and download the slide presentation.

Classroom Management Strategies for Teachers: More Resources

• Download: Kid-Friendly Mindful Meditation Exercises
• Sign Up: The ADHD Learning Series for Educators
• Read: Top Emotion Regulation Difficulties for Youth with ADHD
• Read: 13 Trauma-Informed Teaching Strategies for Educators Today
• eBook: The Teacher’s Guide to ADHD School Behavior

Obtain a Certificate of Attendance

If you attended the live webinar on September 17, 2024, watched the video replay, or listened to the podcast, you may purchase a certificate of attendance option (cost: $10). Note: ADDitude does not offer CEU credits. Click here to purchase the certificate of attendance option »

Meet the Expert Speaker

Cheryl Chase, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Independence, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. She specializes in the diagnostic and neuropsychological assessment of various conditions impacting children, adolescents, and young adults including ADHD, Learning Disorders, and emotional concerns. She is PSYPACT certified and able to serve clients from the 40 participating states. In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Chase is also an accomplished international speaker, leading workshops on such timely topics as executive functioning, dyslexia/dysgraphia, and creative ways to support those who struggle in school. Finally, Dr. Chase serves as an adjunct instructor at several colleges in the Cleveland area. She is an active member of the International Dyslexia Association, the American Psychological Association, and Learning Disabilities Association of America. For more information, please visit ChasingYourPotential.com or her LinkedIn page.

Listener Testimonials

“This webinar was beyond excellent. Dr. Chase’s strategies and encouraging comments ware great both for students — primary and high school — and teachers/parents/guardians. Thank you so much!”

“Excellent, well-informed speaker. Well paced and with a good amount of information to communicate in the time available.”

“There were great strategies that I had not been exposed to in previous trainings. Thank you!”

“From a parent perspective, thank you for the information provided to teachers. Very helpful for everyone! Loved when you reminded them to reflect on their own childhood.”

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Arguing and pleading with your student will not work. Giving them a voice in the process of prioritizing tasks and managing time will be more effective. To help build your child’s executive function skills, follow these steps.

1. Be a model.

Show your child how to plan and prioritize by working on a fun task together. For example, plan a trip to the ice cream shop: Walk or take the car, choose the route, take money with you, decide what flavor you want, and place the order. Model the planning of a desirable task so your child can see it in action and engage in the process.

[Get This Free Checklist: Common Executive Function Challenges — and Solutions]

2. Let your child plan.

Have your child plan an activity, breaking down all the steps from start to finish, and estimating how much time each step will take. Time estimation is an important life skill that seldom comes easily. At home and in the classroom, challenge your child to write down how long they think it will take to do various tasks and then record how long it actually takes.

3. Anticipate roadblocks.

As we teach children to plan, we must also help them to anticipate roadblocks that may interfere with their schedule. College students, I observed, would often plan to get to class with just enough time to print out an assignment, only to find that the network was down.

4. Apply the Premack Principle.

When students prefer one important task over another, use the Premack Principle: Have your student do the less preferred activity first to increase the odds that they’ll finish it to get to the preferred activity.

Here are other proven strategies for getting things done in class and at home:

[Read: How to Stack Habits to Improve Executive Functioning]

• Productivity gurus agree that the Eisenhower Matrix is a simple yet powerful way to set priorities and to focus your time and energy on what matters most. The matrix is divided into four quadrants according to two attributes: urgency and importance. Finishing a big work presentation for your boss that’s due tomorrow is both highly urgent and highly important. Washing your car is neither. Assigning each task to a quadrant helps students break up their to-do lists and truly see priorities.
• Getting started is often the hardest part of any assignment. The parent or educator can do the first step or two with a student, then have them continue the work alone. You can also alternate steps: the adult does one step, then the child does one, and so on.
• Play “beat the clock,” a game that can kickstart students with and without ADHD. One of my students would procrastinate by putting his head down on the desk. I learned to say, “Andrew, I bet that this will take you 10 minutes to do.” Guess what? He would get it done in five minutes to prove me wrong. This strategy may, however, be too stressful for students who have anxiety.
• Buddy systems, or doing a task with another person, can help motivate a student and keep them accountable.
• Charts and self-monitoring help students see their progress when completing a task with multiple parts. Crossing off items gives everyone a feeling of accomplishment.

How to Prioritize: Next Steps

• Free Download: The Eisenhower Matrix for Prioritization
• Read: The Educator’s Guide to Executive Functions
• Read: Be on Time! Teaching Sequence and Schedules

Beverley Holden Johns is an author and learning and behavior consultant. She has worked with students with learning differences for more than 30 years.

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Executive function (EF) skills are the cognitive processes that power you to achieve a goal — whether that’s starring in the school musical or getting to class on time. EF skills help us break down a big goal into actionable steps and then transition between those steps smoothly. ADHD brains often struggle with EFs, but, as educators, we can help our students fortify these skills, which are essential in school and in life.

One of the best ways to support executive functioning is by establishing “lead dominoes.” A lead domino is an action or routine that will make other things in our life fall into place. It kicks off a chain reaction of desired outcomes.

Domino #1: Movement

Brain scans show that, after 20 minutes of movement, the brain is active and ready to learn. The positive effects last for two to three hours after exercise — attention is improved, memory is enhanced, and the endorphins released during physical activity decrease levels of stress and anxiety.

Teachers worry that, if kids get up to move, it will be hard to rein them in again. The solution is to use multiple modalities, like ringing a bell and giving verbal instructions, to prompt them to return quickly from the break. Practicing this in advance will also help.

How to Do It

• Take a stand. Instead of raising hands, have students stand to ask or answer questions.
• Walk and talk. Hold walking office hours. An added benefit: it’s less intimidating for students.
• Take bite-sized breaks. Watch five-minute-long YouTube movement videos between subjects.

[Free Download: 4 Secrets to Motivating Students with ADHD]

Domino #2: Self-Advocacy

Each student must learn to approach the teacher in a kind and non-entitled way to advocate for their needs. Self-advocacy is a transferable skill that is important for higher education, job interviews, and relationships.

How to Do It

• Role-play. Build confidence by rehearsing the conversation with students.
• Spell it out. In your online portal, include a how-to section that details your expectations and preferred methods for student communication.
• Model an email. Begin the school year by teaching students how to write a clear email to their teachers, asking for help or supports. Have them save this draft to copy, paste, and update as needed.

Domino #3: Organize Online Resources

Students with executive function deficits struggle to weave through various portals or pages to find scattered information. Take the time to thoughtfully organize your portal so students and parents will be able to answer their own questions and utilize all of your resources.

This approach requires an upfront investment of time, but you will field fewer messages from confused students in the long run. It also encourages them to be independent.

[Read: 3 Digital Skills That Ease Learning (and Life) for Students with ADHD]

How to Do It

• Get feedback. Test the clarity of your syllabus by showing it to a disorganized friend and asking them to navigate it.
• Be predictable. Routine is helpful, so make discussion posts due every Tuesday or vocab sheets due every Friday.
• Use consistent labels: Eliminate confusion by using consistent terms for assignments in your portal and your gradebook.

Stacking Habits for ADHD Students: Next Steps

• Free Series: ADHD @ School — A Class for Parents
• Free Download: Your Guide to Solving Disorganization at School
• Read: How to Sharpen Executive Functions — Activities to Hone Brain Skills

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Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

Each Fall, many families dive headfirst into big ideas for doing things differently in the new school year… only to see those hopes and ambitions unravel before Halloween. Kids get out of bed grumpily, arrive late to school, struggle to do homework, and fight about their chores. The constant cycle of arguments, reminders, and stress leaves everybody frustrated and unhappy. What if you could nurture cooperation and accountability in your family instead? You can — by learning how to begin this school year with practical tools for a smooth transition.

In this webinar, Dr. Sharon Saline will show you how to change self-defeating cycles by improving key executive functioning skills related to productivity for students. Many children and teens with ADHD become so easily frustrated or overwhelmed that they cannot engage in the organizational tools that would help them. Beginning with methods for understanding and managing time, Dr. Saline shows you how to collaboratively teach realistic planning and effective prioritizing. When kids know how to realistically assess the amount of time they need for an activity, and then arrange tasks according to urgency, importance, and level of difficulty, they develop the independence needed for success at school and at home.

In addition to our standard question-and-answer period, we’ve added a live “Solve My Problem” portion of the webinar where Dr. Saline will address three specific scenarios submitted by ADDitude readers during the webinar registration process. You will leave this webinar with a set of practical strategies and solutions to use right away!

In this webinar, caregivers and educators will learn how to:

• Identify the executive functioning skills that affect productivity, organization, and follow-through
• Use tools for improving time management, planning, and prioritizing
• Develop strategies for effective decision-making that reduce stress and negativity
• Create effective routines with meaningful incentives that foster performance and goal-directed persistence
• Increase cooperation and reduce pushback for challenging tasks

Watch the Video Replay

Enter your email address in the box above labeled “Video Replay + Slide Access” to watch the video replay (closed captions available) and download the slide presentation.

Time Blindness & Executive Function in ADHD Students: More Resources

• Sign Up: ADHD @ School: A Free Class for Parents
• Read: Prioritize & Organize With These Planner Pointers
  
• Read: Activity Ideas to Hone Brain Skills
  
• Read: Teaching Sequence and Schedules
• eBook: A Parent’s Guide to Effective Routines
  

Obtain a Certificate of Attendance

If you attended the live webinar on August 28, 2024, watched the video replay, or listened to the podcast, you may purchase a certificate of attendance option (cost: $10). Note: ADDitude does not offer CEU credits. Click here to purchase the certificate of attendance option »

Meet the Expert Speaker

Sharon Saline, Psy.D., clinical psychologist and author of the award-winning book, What Your ADHD Child Wishes You Knew: Working Together to Empower Kids for Success in School and Life and The ADHD Solution Deck, specializes in working with children, teens, emerging adults and families living with ADHD, anxiety, learning disabilities, autism, twice exceptionalism, and mental health issues. (#CommissionsEarned) She lectures and facilitates workshops internationally on topics such as understanding ADHD, executive functioning, anxiety, motivation, different kinds of learners, and the teen brain. Dr. Saline is a regular contributor to ADDitudemag.com, among many other leading publications.

Learn more at www.drsharonsaline.com.

#CommissionsEarned As an Amazon Associate, ADDitude earns a commission from qualifying purchases made by ADDitude readers on the affiliate links we share. However, all products linked in the ADDitude Store have been independently selected by our editors and/or recommended by our readers. Prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.

Listener Testimonials

“This will really complement my work as a Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner as well as help my family.”

“Dr. Saline is outstanding! Thank you so much. From a family with a momma with ADHD and 2 daughters — a teen and a tween!”

“Exceptionally helpful and uplifting discussion. Thank you for all that you do, Dr. Saline and ADDitude Magazine team!”

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Q: “When our child comes home from school, they immediately get on their phone or play video games. I allow this because it’s their downtime, but the transition to getting them off their screens to do homework or chores is rough. How can we make this easier?”

Children need decompression time after school. It is challenging for an inattentive or hyperactive student to stay focused and on point for the duration of the school day. So I am all about them coming home from school and just going outside or watching videos for 30 to 40 minutes. But at 40 minutes, the alarm on their phone or a caregiver’s phone should go off, and the student’s phone should go back to its docking station or be otherwise out of reach.

If they refuse to give up their device or stop playing video games willingly, you need to confiscate the electronics. I’ve shut down my kid’s phone remotely using a deactivation tool from my cell phone provider. She learned pretty quickly that I was serious. If you decide to deactivate your child’s phone for a period to prove your point, you might say: “When you follow these rules, your work gets done, and you feel better. If you do not follow the rules, we will need to prevent access to your phone or video games in the evening so you can get your work done.”

Then, have your child work on homework for 30 to 40 minutes, followed by a 10-minute break, and repeat. Your child should not have access to electronics during any breaks.

[Download: 5 Academic Challenges Rooted in ADHD Executive Dysfunction]

Experts say it takes 21 to 30 days to make a habit stick. Once kids get into the after-school routine of transitioning from downtime to schoolwork, they will start to develop self-discipline.

Listening to Music While Studying

Q: “Should I allow my teen to listen to music while studying and doing homework?”

Yes. Listening to music while studying is a great idea if they can manage it.

Music stimulates the release of dopamine, which regulates motivation, working memory, attention, and focus — all needed for tackling homework — and often in short supply for people with ADHD. I sometimes ask my patients, “How do you study best? Do you like listening to music? Does it help you get into hyperfocus, or is it distracting?”

Half of my patients say music helps them study and focus. If playing music works for your teen and helps promote focus and calm, that’s great.

[Download: 11 Tips for Redirecting Focus]

Have your child make a playlist lasting 30 to 40 minutes. Leaving their phone in another room while music plays on a remote speaker or Bluetooth headphones will make it less likely that they will check their text messages or otherwise get distracted.

After-School Routines: Next Steps

• Free Download: Free Checklist of Executive Dysfunctions in the Classroom
• Read: How to Tune Out Distractions & Focus on School
• Read: Fun (and Functional) Fidgets for ADHD Brains
• Watch: “‘I Can’t Focus!’ When ADHD Impacts Your Child’s Math & Writing Performance”

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Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

These strategies will help your teen tap into their “grit.”

Teachers and parents can take advantage of these strategies for training focus, combatting procrastination, and prioritizing effectively to achieve the success that drives future motivation.

When we create learning environments and activities that help students feel safe and confident, we reduce their chances of experiencing failure and increase their chance at success.

Does delayed executive function maturity make it hard for your child to achieve his goals? Here, tips for practice, patience, and perseverance for children and teenagers with ADHD.

Traditional carrots and sticks don’t motivate students with ADHD – that much is clear. But these strategies do.

Why do adults and children with ADHD or ADD have strong motivation and executive function for some tasks and never find the cognitive spark to do others? Learn more.

Learn about seven important executive function skills, their relationship to motivation, and how to improve each skill. Learn more.

Foster Friendships & Regulate Emotions

Required reading for any parent whose child has felt excluded — or whose child has excluded others.

Students with ADHD thrive in a positive classroom environment, and peer interactions and relationships play a big role in shaping that learning experience.

While your child has strengths, it is the weak executive functions — the management system of the brain — that affect their social skills.

ADHD can cause specific immature behaviors, causing kids to be an outcast amongst peers. Learn how praise and getting involved in activities can help.

How to help your child make friends (and keep them) this year. Learn more.

Teach your child how to deal with a bully and become an upstander for other neurodivergent kids with these strategies.

Children and teens with ADHD may lose friends because of deficits in social executive function skills – the underlying processes that are involved in social skills ranging from perspective-taking to reciprocity and cognitive flexibility. Learn how to help them.

Initiate & Complete Homework

Research suggests that the soundtrack to your child’s homework should comprise these 21 songs, proven to change the electromagnetic frequency of brain waves for optimal focus.

Learn ways to treat dysgraphia – a disability that impacts writing abilities – and to improve handwriting for a lifetime.

With these homework routines, teachers and parents can replace after-school tantrums with higher grades..

Hurdles with writing trace back to executive functioning — our brains’ ability to absorb, organize, and act on information. Learn more.

12 ADHD-friendly strategies for creating calm, avoiding burnout, and staying organized during homework time.

Spare your family drama and fights by following this homework system designed for children with ADHD and learning disabilities.

Kids with ADHD often struggle with homework, but each one struggles in a unique way. Here are specific solutions that really work for kids with ADHD.

Secure Accommodations & Self-Advocate

These academic and organizational tips are designed to help high school students with ADHD finish homework, execute long-term projects, manage their time, earn high grades, and avoid feeling overwhelmed.

“Daily report cards are among the most powerful evidence-based tools that educators have to encourage better behavior in students. A strong report card system has a few key elements that make or break its effectiveness.”

Know your rights if the school refuses to evaluate your student for learning differences.

8 straightforward steps — from requesting a school evaluation to monitoring accommodations — to help parents develop the best IEP or 504 Plan possible for kids with ADHD.

Learn how to help a student with ADHD understand and communicate their learning needs to teachers and parents.

Here are some of our favorite solutions for addressing common ADHD challenges at school.

Here are some of our favorite solutions for addressing common ADHD challenges at school.

Remember Not to Forget

A working memory deficit could explain his difficulty working out math problems in his head or with reading retention. Take this self-test.

Improve working memory in children with ADHD by using these 10 exercises that lighten the mental load by externalizing reminders.

Learn faster. Retain more. Perform better on tests. Yes, really. With these research-based techniques for studying with ADHD .

Educators must do more to support students with learning differences for whom working memory is an area of need. The following are a few strategies and pointers for educators.

Research shows that students with ADHD don’t need to study harder or longer to conquer exams — they just need to study differently. Here’s how.

Weak working memory impairs a child’s ability to follow multi-step directions, tap into old information, or quickly recall lessons. These 15 exercises and strategies can help.

Verbal and non-verbal working memory are two essential batteries powering what Dr. Russell Barkley calls your brain’s GPS system — the one that keeps you on track, on time, and in control. Learn how to keep them charged.

Build Self-Confidence at School

Responding to bad behavior with neurotypical parenting techniques is counterproductive because it ignores the root problem. Here is a better way.

When teens with ADHD feel less than adequate, parents should use these strategies to help them bolster their self confidence, make healthy choices, and develop a positive perspective on the future. Here’s how.

Daily challenges and corrections at school can demoralize a child and trample her confidence. How to end the cycle.

These ADHD teaching strategies will help all students — but especially those with ADD — learn to the best of their ability in any classroom. Get started.

No child with ADHD can succeed at school if he believes he is less smart or less capable than his peers. Here is a better way.

Many children with ADHD, battered by daily criticisms and admonitions, have low self-esteem as early as second grade. Make a powerful difference with these reframing strategies.

Chronic stress at school can make kids (particularly those with ADHD or LD) dread going — and change their brains for the worse. Learn more.

Organize & Manage Time

The most critical tool for building these executive functions? The right planner. Here it is.

Want to make sure that your child gets his homework done every night — and learns about planning and how to prioritize? Teach them to use a homework planner.

11 tips for cementing your family’s routine.

Here, learn how to use calendars and clocks to teach your child the value of strong priorities and to help him be on time more often.

Paper planners outperform digital ones for ADHD brains. Here is what makes a great planner.

Chaotic desk? Forgotten homework? Missed deadlines? Your child needs these ADHD organizing tips.

Reliable schedules for mornings, after school, and bedtime make a tremendous difference in setting expectations, building good habits, and improving ADD-related behavior. Learn more.

Resist Distractions and Focus

dopamine menu lists an assortment of pleasurable, healthy activities — from appetizers like yoga poses to main courses like a HIIT class to sides like white noise — from which ADHD brains can choose when they need stimulation. Learn more.

Research shows that physical activity — even a little foot-tapping or gum chewing — increases levels of the neurotransmitters in the brain that control focus and attention. Learn more.

“Procrastivity” is a self-defeating ADHD time-management habit can be helped by cognitive behavioral therapy approaches that teach patients how to prioritize tasks. Learn more here.

You can’t train away executive dysfunction. But you can more consistently get things done by creating systems in your life that support these brain processes. Get started here.

Soothing, effective fidgets for students with ADHD who focus best when they are chewing, squeezing, picking, or — yes — spinning. See our picks here.

Children with ADHD experience a lower level of brain arousal, which means they are easily distracted by internal and external stimuli. Use these school and home strategies to improve focus and comprehension.

For inconsistent focus, use these teacher-approved accommodations to put some real muscle behind his 504 Plan and put the attention back on learning. Get started.

Control Impulses and Behavior

Back-to-school supplies for students with ADHD — from erasable pens and highlighter tape to wiggle seat cushions, and more — that improve focus, organization, and classroom engagement. See the list.

Educators share their top tips for developing stronger executive function skills and independence in students with ADHD and learning differences here.

The Good Behavior Game is one of many classroom behavior interventions — backed by research — that inspires better behavior from students with and without ADHD. Here is how to play.

Is your child experiencing behavior problems at school? Use this step-by-step guide.

Time-outs and lectures won’t magically cure the impulsive tendencies of kids with ADHD. But these real-world tips for teachers and parents just might.

Lack of impulse control may be the most difficult ADHD symptom to change. Medication can help, but kids also need effective behavior management strategies in place — clear expectations, positive incentives, and predictable consequences — if they are to learn to regulate their behavior. Get started here.

Teach students to regulate their emotions with these ADHD strategies.

Forge Stronger Executive Functions

Executive function deficits may look like absentmindedness or forgetfulness. Learn more.

Learn about your child’s seven executive functions — and how to boost them.

“Executive dysfunction is ubiquitous in children with ADHD, which helps to explain why so many students with attention deficit are reprimanded for forgotten homework, disorganized projects, running out of time on tests, and more.” Learn more.

Martial arts help build self-control, discipline, and persistence. Learn how.

Symptoms of inattentive ADHD are often mistaken for apathy or laziness. Learn the truth.

ADHD intentions don’t always translate into action. Learn how to align them here.

90% of kids with ADHD have an executive function deficit. Learn how to strengthen executive functions here.

Parent and educators can help the children in their lives flourish by teaching them how to hope by following these steps.

1. Talk about hope.

Hope is not frivolous or fleeting. It is a mindset centered on taking action to achieve the future one wants. Hope is powered by three key components: goals, pathways (i.e., how to move towards goals), and willpower (i.e., keeping your eye on the prize).

[Free Webinar: Learn About the Science and Power of Hope]

Hope does not sprout from a one-time conversation, so talk to your child or students often about hope, its components, and hopes they hold personally.

2. Find examples of hope in age-appropriate media.

Children’s movies, television, and books are filled with lessons on hope, as characters commonly work toward goals in the face of barriers and adversity.

While reading a book or watching a movie, ask your child or student about the goals of a character. How is the character trying to achieve their goals? What barriers does the character face, and how does it affect their hope? Does the character struggle to maintain motivation? Does the character eventually keep going? If so, what motivates them? How did they change course to overcome the barriers?

In practically all children’s media, the main character can’t overcome barriers without the help of friends. This is the social gift of hope. Ask: How can you rely on friends and others to help you overcome barriers? How can you help your friends remain hopeful in reaching their goals?

[Read: ADHD & the Art of Persistence — Teaching Goal-Setting Skills]

3. Create a visual map of hope.

Help your child or students map out their goals and hopes in a powerful visual reminder of what it means to take action toward a better future. Help them find pictures that represent a goal, that goal’s pathways (at least three), and willpower. Have them write a few sentences about how a picture symbolizes a component of hope. The final product will be a graphic display of hope, goals, pathways, and willpower in a framework.

4. Be attentive to future-oriented statements.

Listen for statements about wanting to do something, like joining the school band or basketball team. These are future expectations, and it’s on you to help your child or student figure out how to engage in pathways and sustain motivation to achieve those goals.

Why Is Hope Important?: Next Steps

• Download: Unlocking Motivation in Kids with ADHD
• Read: “My Anxious Child Is Convinced She Can’t Do Hard Things.”
• Read: Shake Loose of Your Limiting Beliefs — A Guide for Teens with ADHD

The content for this article was derived from the ADDitude ADHD Experts webinar titled, “The Science and Power of Hope” [Video Replay & Podcast #486] with Chan M. Hellman, Ph.D., which was broadcast on January 10, 2024.

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.