Homework can be challenging for parents and kids when ADHD is in the picture. In order to prevent hassles, the first place to start is at your child’s school.

Try to meet with your child’s teachers and learn what the homework expectations will be for the coming school year. (If the homework assignments seem to be excessive, remember that under 504 plans or an IEP, it is possible for the amount of homework to be modified to accommodate the abilities of the child with ADHD.) At this time, it’s also a good idea to set up regular quarterly meetings or determine a system for communication between parent and teacher to make sure that everybody’s on the same page.

The next step is to set the stage at home. Just prior to the start of school, it’s probably a good idea to have a time to talk about upcoming changes that the start of school will bring. Homework can be presented in the context of “It’s part of the work of a child to do some work at home, just like it is for adults.”  If you or your spouse bring work home from time to time, use that as an example.  (more…)

Children with ADHD experience one or more neuropsychological impairment of functions such as concentration, memory, impulse control, processing speed or ability to follow directions.  These impairments are no different from those caused by head injury or neurological disease.  It has been standard practice for trauma or neurology patients to go through cognitive rehabilitation to restore functioning.  Recently, research has shown that children with ADHD may also experience improvement in neuropsychological functioning through a similar process.  Also, this procedure is now being recommended for middle age adults to improve and/or maintain cognitive functions as the progress into later stages.

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Recently, meditation has been featured in Newsweek as a way to help kids to calm down and focus.

For years it was thought that each of us was born with a generous supply of brain cells, but that we were unable to produce additional cells or make changes in how they function. Fairly recently, neuroscientists discovered the presence of something called “neuroplasticity” which enables the brain to actually grow additional cells or modify the function of existing cells.

Amazingly, cognitive exercises have been found to produce desired changes in not only how the brain works, but how it looks. What this means for parents is that you now have the ability to work with your child to help improve their ADHD symptoms.

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When someone hears the term ADHD the first thing that usually comes to mind is the boy they saw running all over the place or a boy having a major meltdown at the mall much to the chagrin of his parents.  Unless one knows personally of a girl struggling with this disorder, the wound-up boy is the image that instantly appears.  Of course one reason for this is the fact that boys with the diagnosis outnumber girls 3 to 1.  Another reason is that ADHD in girls is more often associated with impaired attention and concentration rather than hyperactivity and impulsivity. 

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