Assess How ADHD Child Is Doing in School

The people who care most about your child’s education (you and the teacher) have a great opportunity to communicate and work together at the regularly scheduled parent/teacher conferences. Teachers have a lot of kids to keep track of – and each one has their own strengths and weaknesses. But since school can be especially difficult for your ADD and ADHD child, this conference with the teacher is the perfect opportunity for you to make sure your child doesn’t fall behind and have trouble fitting in at school.

You know your child better than anyone else. You know the problems aren’t because your child is a bad kid and it’s not because you’re a bad parent. Just as a child with a broken bone needs special care, so a child with an interrupted brain balance needs special attention. And things can change for the better!

When a parent takes some time to prepare for the parent/teacher conference or schedules a private meeting with the teacher, you can respectfully show that you want to be involved and supportive. Some questions you can discuss are:

1. What skills (math, reading, etc) should my child learn this year?
2. What are my child’s weaknesses and strengths?
3. How is my child’s class behavior?
4. How is my child doing socially?
5. How is my child doing emotionally?
6. In what areas do you see need for improvement?
7. Do you feel my child is doing his/her best?
8. What type of learner is my child – visual, auditory, or kinesthetic?
9. How can we best accommodate my child’s learning style?
10. Is my child performing at Grade Level?
11. Does my child need extra help in any areas?
12. How much time should my child spend on homework?
13. How can I help?
14. If your child is having a problem, initiate a conversation about it by asking: “May I share a concern?”
15. What would you advise?

What more can you do? The first step to really improving life for those with ADD and ADHD is to build your child’s self-esteem. They don’t have many experiences that build their self-esteem and competence. And it’s not easy coping with the frustrations day after day. They may fear that they’re strange, abnormal, or stupid. Some children release their frustration by acting contrary, starting fights, or destroying property. Some turn the frustration into body ailments, like the child who gets a stomachache everyday before school. Others hold their needs and fears inside, so that no one sees how badly they feel.

Over time a trained therapist

can help children with ADD or ADHD identify and build on their strengths, cope with daily problems, and learn to control their attention and aggression. If you live near Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA, please

contact my office and schedule an appointment. Holiday breaks are a great time to fit it into your busy schedule.