ADD Student

Group projects are often used in school and the workplace because they have a lot of potential in terms of learning and accomplishment.

ADD Students, however, may not do so well in group project situations.

A group project’s dynamics include a social atmosphere; its members need to learn to communicate and work with one another effectively in order to get the job done. Also, group projects tend to be fairly large projects that require many small tasks to be completed and melded into the whole.

Kids with ADHD (adults too) often have poor social skills. They don’t pick up on subtle signals that others take for granted. They may interrupt, contribute to the conversation in seemingly irrelevant ways, or stop paying attention.

Unlike teachers, your child’s peers have no tools to help them understand and deal with ADHD. When an ADD child is put into a group project situation, it can often turn into a frustrating experience for everyone involved.

The groups members may not feel as though the ADD student is pulling his or her weight, become frustrated with forgetfulness and missed deadlines. Often the answer the group comes up with is to exclude the ADD student from the actual work.

In that case, no one really wins.

As a parent, there are some things that you can do to make group projects a positive learning experience for your ADD student.

Talk to the teacher at the beginning of the year, or as soon as the project is announced. Get as much information as you can about the project so that you will be better informed and more able to help your child with their part of the assignment.

Think about your child’s strengths. What are some of the things that they do well and enjoy doing? Can you utilize those skills in the group project?

For instance, maybe your child is fantastic at researching things online. Give them a subject and they will track down all kinds of resources online. Maybe that could be a big part of their contribution to the project.

Talk to your child, giving them an idea of what to expect in a group situation and how they are expected to behave. Knowing what to expect ahead of time helps those of us with ADHD know how to act.

Offer your home as a gathering place for the group to get together. This way you can observe group dynamics and step in to help work things out if needed.

Group projects, whether you like them or not, are an established way of doing business these days. Helping your child learn to navigate their way will serve them for the rest of their lives.

When I first decided to become an ADD Coach, it was to help kids who have ADHD do better in school. I did it for several years and found it both frustrating and rewarding.

My life circumstances have changed and I no longer do coaching, but I thought I would give you a little information about it in case you have considered it.

Coaching can be a very effective way to help students with ADHD be more successful in school but it can also be a very long and slow process.

Most coaches who work with ADHD do not specialize in students and learning and most of them work over the phone.

I personally have found that it is more difficult to engage a teen or adolescent over the phone. In addition, one of the most important keys to successful ADHD coaching is motivation to change. I find that in many cases, the parents are motivated but the child is not.

When you are looking for help for your ADD Student, the best place to start is to get an idea of where the problem actually is.

Are their grades poor in math because they don’t understand it or is it because they have so many missing assignments? Are they getting good grades on their tests but not in the class overall? Is it a problem regardless of the class or is it just one or two classes?

Talk to your child and their teachers to get a better idea of what’s going on so that you can begin to formulate a solution.

If the problem is academic – they don’t understand math – then a tutor may help. You might want to find one that is knowledgeable about ADHD; that could be a huge help.

If the problem is losing assignments or managing time, you might want to consider a personal organizer. Again, knowledge of ADHD is helpful.

If they are doing well on assignments but not tests, it may be test anxiety. You can work with them to teach them some skills to help, or you could see a professional.

Psychologists and social workers are often good people to seek out to help with behavioral changes, and may be covered by your health insurance too.

In a recent experiment, a group of 50 children with ADHD were put into a room with 50 sleep deprived children. Then a group of experts – some behavioral experts and some sleep experts – were put into the room and asked to identify which children had ADHD and which simply needed some sleep.

Overall, the experts did very poorly. According to sleep specialist Dr. Chris Seton, “A tired five year old and a five year old with ADHD can both act in the same way”.

If you are the parent of a child with ADHD, you know how important sleep can be. A lack of sleep can make ADHD symptoms worse, and as the study suggests, perhaps even mirror ADHD behavior.

ADDers can have trouble getting to sleep because it’s difficult to “turn off” your brain long enough to relax and get to sleep. And once they’ve gotten to sleep, it can be hard for them to transition back to a waking state.

In addition, Dr. Seton says that modern technology has greatly impacted the sleep patterns of teens. A recent study showed that 45% of American teens were using their cell phones as late as 3:00 am in order to send and receive text messages.

According to Dr. Seton, the best indication of whether or not you have had enough sleep is that you awaken spontaneously without the use of an alarm clock. He also says that teens need about 9 or 10 hours of sleep per night, while younger aged kids can need as much as 9 – 11 hours each night.

Based on my own observations, it seems that way too many of us are sleep deprived by Dr. Seton’s standards. It’s something you may want to consider in the overall picture of ADHD.