Here's another one:
What Does This Mean for Your Child?Kids with AD/HD may be delayed as much as 30 percent of their actual age in their ability to pay
attention and remember. This means that a 9-year-old may act more like a 6-year-old in his ability to
focus and use self-control. Imagine how hard it might be for a fi rst grader to sit and concentrate on
instruction in a fourth grade classroom, and you’ll get an idea of how hard it is for many kids with
AD/HD to function in groups their own age. It doesn’t mean his intelligence is any less; it’s just the
ability to control impulses that’s affected.
What Services are Available?A medical diagnosis of AD/HD doesn’t automatically qualify your child for special education. Your child
must be assessed and found eligible by the public school’s multidisciplinary team in order to qualify for
services. If she’s experiencing academic problems along with AD/HD, you or the teacher may request
an evaluation to see if she qualifi es for special education services.
Kids with AD/HD may be eligible under “specifi c learning disability” since attention problems may be
the cause of signifi cant academic diffi culties. Or they may qualify as “emotionally disturbed” if their
social or emotional behaviors negatively affect their ability to learn. Or they can be considered “other
health impaired” if they have limited strength, vitality, or alertness (including increased attention to
environmental stimuli which results in limited concentration in the educational setting) and the AD/HD
adversely affects their educational performance.
If your child with AD/HD doesn’t qualify for special education, she may be eligible for
accommodations, such as preferential seating in the general education classroom under Section 504
of the Rehabilitation Act. This law prohibits discrimination on the basis of a disability. She qualifi es if
the public school’s multidisciplinary 504 team agrees that, in comparison to the average child with no
disability, she has an impairment that “substantially limits one or more major life activities.”
If your child doesn’t qualify for these services, then her needs may be addressed in the general
education classroom.
How Is It Treated?Depending on your child’s needs, more than one of the following may be appropriate and/or necessary
to help your child succeed:
• Medication
• Behavior management strategies at home and at school
AD/HD — An OverviewIf your child with AD/HD doesn’t qualify for special education, she may be eligible for accommodations ... in
the general education classroom under Section 504
• Classroom accommodations
• Family and child counseling
How Can Parents Help?• Anticipate problems and help her make a plan.
• Establish clear rules, limits, and expectations.
• Reduce the amount of talking and reminding; use charts and lists as reminders instead.
• Consistently use positive reinforcement and logical consequences.
• Collaborate with her teacher about necessary modifi cations and/or accommodations.
• Look for opportunities to support and celebrate her strengths, especially in the
non-academic areas.
• Become knowledgeable about AD/HD by reading, attending conferences, participating in
support groups or online communities.
• Depending on your child’s age, discuss the specifi cs of his/her AD/HD, using books and
websites for kids.
• Be sure that childcare providers and leaders of groups and programs outside of school are aware
of the management strategies that you and the school have found to be effective.
How Can Teachers Help?• Provide individual accomodations as appropriate.
• Follow a consistent behavior management plan.
• Reinforce appropriate behavior.
• Find opportunities to use her strengths and talents at school.
• Work collaboratively and communicate regularly with parents.
A Parent's Guide to Helping Kids With Learning Difficulties:Supporting your child with Attention-Defi cit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) at home can be very tiring.
But to help your child succeed, you’ll need to coach him daily. You’ll fi nd it’s easier if you have a practical
and meaningful plan geared to his level of development and AD/HD symptoms.
General Parenting Tips:• When developing a plan to help your child, you’ll need to adjust the rules and consequences
to your child’s level of development. Many kids who have AD/HD behave as if they’re much
younger than their true age.
• Explain to your child that you care about him and you’ll do your best to understand what he’s
going through.
• Show him how proud you are of his accomplishments with praise and affection. Catch him being
good.
• Set up a few clear rules and be consistent. Don’t argue over small things. Say “no” less often, but
mean it when you say it.
• When giving your child directions or instructions, check for his understanding.
Keep directions short.
• Some kids with AD/HD have a hard time putting their thoughts in order. Ask , “Who? What?
Where? When? Why?” to help him think about and explain what’s important.
• Establish open lines of communication from a young age. Don’t be afraid to talk to him about his
strengths and needs and how AD/HD affects him. He should be “brought into the loop” so he
can understand what AD/HD is and is not. Often kids misunderstand what’s wrong with them
when adults don’t give them the facts.
Academic Support at Home
• Set up a regular routine for homework. Try to schedule homework for the same time and place
each day. If you involve your child in setting the schedule, he may be more cooperative in
completing homework.
• When he’s working on homework, schedule regular breaks for activity every 10 or 15 minutes. Let
him walk around, get a drink of water, or have a snack. Use a timer to monitor breaks and time
spent working on homework. Often kids with AD/HD have diffi culty managing time. They need
to learn how to plan ahead and pace themselves.
• Offer rewards for doing homework. Coordinate the program with his teacher. The goal is to lessen
your direct supervision and gradually have him take responsibility for completing his work. His
chances of success may be better if you propose a reward or consequence and follow through on
it.
• Give non-judgmental, constructive feedback. You might say, “I’m glad you started working on
that paper. I’m looking forward to reviewing the fi rst few paragraphs tomorrow,” rather than,
“You haven’t done a thing all week.”
Management Strategies — Attention-Defi cit/Hyperactivity Disorder• Organizing your child’s homework might be the most diffi cult task to deal with. An assignment
book or sheet that the teacher can sign may prevent confusion about assignments. If he forgets
his materials or the assignment book at school or home, then consequences should be logical. For
instance, have him return to school to get what he needs.
Behavioral Support at Home• Tell your child what you want him to do rather than what you don’t want. For instance, say,
“Please fi nish your math homework,” rather than, “ Stop bothering your sister.”
• Prepare your child for change in routine. Many kids don’t take surprises or change very well. If you
expect a change, review the rules, agree on a possible incentive or reward for good behavior, and
clearly state the consequences for misbehaving.
• Reinforce even small, positive changes in your child’s behavior. As you help him realize the progress
he is making, his motivation and self-confi dence will increase.
• If you need to cool off from a diffi cult moment with your child, fi nd a friend or neighbor to watch
him, even for 15 minutes. To take care of your child, you have to take care of yourself, too.
Home-School Connection• Regular communication between home and school may be necessary for the fi rst several months of
school. A communication plan should be initiated with the teacher during the fi rst month of school.
Depending upon your child’s age, daily, weekly, or monthly plans can be developed to monitor
your child’s behavior and schoolwork.
• Often kids with AD/HD benefi t from classroom accommodations to complete work. Talk to the
teacher to see if your child needs more time, a quiet place to work, or shorter assignments to be
successful.
• When designing a behavior plan with the teacher, it’s often helpful to estabish consequences and
rewards together and agree on how to enforce them. Similar language should be used with your
child at home and school for consistency.
• Schedule regular meetings with teachers and school support staff to monitor progress of your
child’s behavior or action plan. Depending on his age, he should be present during the discussion
of the school-based plan. By 5th or 6th grade, he can probably be involved in describing problems
affecting his learning, and setting his goals.
• If your child is on medication, ask the teacher to provide feedback to you about its effectiveness.
Consult with your child’s doctor regularly, at least twice a year. Share medical reports with school
personnel.
Looking Toward the FutureIn general, most children and teens do not outgrow their AD/HD, so medications may be helpful over
the entire lifespan. However, depending on the specifi c type of AD/HD — inattentive, hyperactive/
impulsive, or combined — interventions may change over time. Teens are capable of developing
cognitive strategies that were not possible for them as children. Adults may develop still more strategies
that lead to successful management of their AD/HD and which may lessen or eliminate the need for
medication.
If you want to read the entire article/articles this is the link:
www.schwablearning.org/pdfs/EguideADHDBasics.pdf?date=2-22-05&status=updated.
So I use both, depending on the situation.
So I use both, depending on the situation.