ADD Student

Archive for April, 2008

People with Attention Deficit Disorder miss bits of information here and there because they aren’t paying attention. This isn’t something they do on purpose; it’s an integral part of their AD/HD. This is part of the reason they often struggle in school, despite their intelligence.

When my son was in middle school, I realized that he didn’t know how to write a paper. He knew what he wanted to say, but he had no idea how to take those thoughts and put them into a logical sequence. The problem was solved when I gave him a simple outline on how to write a paper. Here it is:

A simple paper consists of 5 parts: the introduction, 3 points that you want to make about your subject, and the conclusion. Each part should be a separate paragraph. Longer papers that go into more depth may have additional points and/or more than one paragraph dedicated to each.

Let’s say you want to write a paper about the importance of tying your shoes.

Paragraph 1 is the introduction, where you tell the reader what your paper is about (the importance of tying your shoes) and you mention the 3 points your want to make (it looks better, it’s safer, and it makes your shoes fit better).

In paragraph 2, you expand on the idea of why tying your shoes makes them look better. Paragraphs 3 & 4 do the same for the other two points.

Paragraph 5 is the conclusion, where you wrap things up. You mention again that it’s important to tie your shoes, and then you list your reasons why.

Obviously, this is a very simplistic outline, but it was enough to give my son a idea of how to put a paper together, and with a little practice, he became quite good at it.

Maybe your child has no problems writing papers; my daughters never did. But keep this idea in mind as a reminder that they may have gaps in their learning, especially in basic ideas – the ones “everybody knows”. If you find one, maybe you can use this same idea to fill in the blanks.

Have you ever helped your child study for an exam, and felt confident when you sent them off to school the next day that they were prepared, only to get the exam results back in a day or so to find out that they’d failed?

If this is a fairly common event in your household, you might want to consider the possibility that your child has test anxiety. A person who has it is typically prepared for the material on the exam, but as soon as the testing begins, their mind seems to go blank. They get nervous and worried, and have to struggle to remember things they knew only minutes or hours ago. Often, once the class is over, they recall test questions and their answers with ease.

If you have a chld with Attention Deficit Disorder, and the professional who did the diagnosis noted that test anxiety was a co-existing condtion, then you can ask for accommodations to help minimize the anxiety. These would include allowing extra time to take the test, or changing the test location. Exactly which accommodations are appropriate is up to the person who evaluated your child.

If someone like a pediatrician diagnosed AD/HD in your child, you may not have such detailed information. However, there are still things you can do to help with test anxiety, and in fact, they are helpful for those with accommodations as well.

Here they are:

Spend classtime before the exam away from the rest of the students, or at least with friends who agree not to discuss the coming test. If there is nervous tension among other students, it will only make matters worse. Also, students tend to discuss the upcoming exam, using the time as a last minute study session. If the material they are discussing is different from what you have studied, or believe to be true, it will cast doubt in your mind, even though it is just as possible that they are wrong.

When you first get the exam, do a very quick read through to get an idea of what covered, then prepare to go back and start answering questions.

Do not answer questions in order. Glance through the test until you find a question that you are sure about. Answer it, being careful to put your answer in the correct spot on the answer sheet. Continue looking for these types of questions until you have answered every question that you are confident about. This tactic does several things: it boosts your confidence level and relaxes you, it increases your chances of passing the test, and it may trigger answers for some of the questions you were not certain about.

Once you have answered all the questions you know, go back and do the rest in order.

If you feel yourself starting to get nervous or panic, take a quick 60 second break. Close your eyes and try to relax, or look directly up at the ceiling for a few seconds, and then roll your shoulders and neck in order to relax them. Take a few deep breaths to calm down and then resume the exam.

Try preparing for the exam as far in advance as you can. In addition to studying, learn to visualize yourself taking the exam. See yourself as being relaxed and confident, and then visualize yourself getting the exam back with an “A”. When you visualize this, put as much detail in as possible. Feel the seat of the chair beneath you, and the desktop under your arms. Hear the sound of your pencil on the paper. The more realistic you make it, the more your chances of success. When you are in the real situation, your body will automatically relax, because it has done it so many times before. This is a real technique that works if you give it a try. It’s especially popular among professional athletes, including Tiger Woods.

Finally, pack some peppermints with you for the exam. Try to get the real ones, not the ones that are mostly sugar. There is evidence that peppermint helps keep the brain alert and focused, and that can do nothing but help

Have you been listening to my Tuesday Ten Minute Tips? Last week (I think) I did one called Teaching the Dog.

Teaching the Dog was an idea I came up with when I was a kid trying to study for exams. I realized that sometimes I would skip over things I needed to know for an exam, thinking that I already knew them. I would find out the next day during the test that I was wrong.

So I began teaching the dog. (Can you tell I was a lonely child? Poor doggy. He would have been the smartest dog around if he had understood anything I said.) Anyway, I would get my books and notebooks and plop down on the floor of my room with Charlie next to me. Sometimes he would sleep, but it didn’t matter. I would still teach.

Basically, what I did was see what I had to know for my test the next day and then explain it to Charlie. I could find out fast whether or not I had more studying to do.

It occurred to me tonight that a modifed version of this technique could be put to use every day, and that we could get you (I’m assuming you are a parent and not a student) to stand in for Charlie. You don’t mind replacing a dog, do you? He really was a very good dog.

So, here’s my idea: every day when your child comes home from school, play the Charlie game with them. You might need to get out some of the day’s papers or notes to help the process. This is sort of a modified version of “what did you do in school today?” except this time you’re supposed to get an answer. Besides “nothing”, I mean.

So, you ask your child what they learned in history that day, and they turn into the teacher, teaching you what they learned. You use their papers and notes to make sure they get it all. That extra repetition, plus the experience of putting it in their own words and teaching someone else, will help them remember and understand much more. Tie in today’s lesson with what they learned yesterday, and you’ve got gold. They’ll barely need to study when it comes to the exam. (And that’s the hook you use to get your older kids to give it a try.)

By the way, I fully intended to add a picture here of me and Charlie, so you could see him, but it’s just not working tonight. Picture a medium sized brown dog with floppy ears, and you’ve got it.