If you have a student or a child who has been diagnosed with ADHD, you may notice that specific areas of your house or class may be difficult to keep organized. No matter what you do, there’s always a mess for you to clean up.
It’s not easy because it adds so much more to your already full plate. There are times where you might feel like pulling out your hair out and screaming but you know that this beautiful child is doing their best.
Instead of constantly telling your child that they have to be organized or dictating how to do it, let’s implement small changes so that your child finds it easy enough to participate. Then make it a routine by repeating it over and over again until your child masters each step.
Actionable Steps:
#1. Placement
Provide as much order as you can for your students. You can do this by having specific places where books and folders can go instead of everything being placed in their desks. Color coordinate and label each section so that it’s easy for a child to figure out where each item goes.
At home, do this with toys or other items so that not everything gets dumped into one corner or all around your house.
#2. Schedule
Write down your schedule for the day so that your students know when each subject will take place. If you have young ones, it’s best to put up visual schedules as it’s easier for them and your other students to look at the pictures instead of reading the entire word. Teach them how the word and image relate to each other.
#3. Study Space
Create a quiet working area. Perhaps have flexible seating with desks facing a white or a beige wall for students to go to if they need it. Put on some soft music to calm students down and to help them focus. Dimming the lights or brightening them, depending on the needs of your students can also hold their concentration.
#4. Rest Area
Your students will need breaks so that they can get out their wiggles and then get back to work. The following resources will walk you through creating a sensory space for your students on a minimal budget so that they can go to this area independently and join the class when they’re ready. You’ll need to teach your children to use this space and then monitor it until you feel that they’re ready to be there on their own.
Recap:
Let’s recap really quickly. Today, we looked at the following:
- The importance of helping children who have ADHD stay organized.
- How to help my child with ADHD get organized: placement, schedule, study space, and rest area.
Free Resources:
If your children are struggling to hand in assignments on time, check out the following video training: 3 Steps to Teach Children How to Overcome Procrastination to Increase Productivity.
Next Steps:
For calm down areas on a budget, for your students who have autism, CLICK HERE.
You’re welcome to join us inside ADHD and Autism Self Regulation by CLICKING HERE or on the fallowing image.
If you found this video beneficial, would you do me a favor? Share this with your family, your friends, your loved ones, your co-workers or someone who you think could benefit from this. Thank you!
I’ll see you next Friday at 5:30pm PST.
Until I see you next time, remember to create, experience & teach from the heart.
Take care,
Charlotte
Disclaimer: I’m a teacher and a parent. I’m not a medical professional, so please don’t take this as medical advice. The advice that I provide in my videos and online are strategies that I have used in my own class or at home that have worked beautifully. Since mental health is a spectrum, make sure to adapt these strategies for your individual child. Thank you!