Ready, Set, Regulate: An ADHD back to school guide
Written by: Michelle Schall, CPNP-PC, PMHS
August has come upon us which means finishing the summer with family trips, vacations, time with friends and more. This also means that the return to school has arrived. This can be exciting, but for individuals or families who experience Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), this can be very stressful. Returning back to school is not only a change in the daily schedule but places more demand on the child for emotional regulation, impulse control, executive functioning, focus and more. Parents may notice this in behaviors from their children such as troubles falling asleep or staying asleep, behavior meltdowns, irritability, troubles with organization or resistance to routines.
It is important to remember that ADHD brings challenges that often include:
Starting tasks
Remembering multiple steps of directions
Estimating time
Transitioning from one activity or task to another
Organizing belongings or thoughts
Regulating emotions
Maintaining attention on something that isn't interesting or immediately rewarding
The automatic question in the parent brain often is “Why won’t they just listen?” or “Why won’t they just do it?” However, a question that can actually make positive change is asking themselves, “What support does their brain need to do this successfully?”
Before school starts it is helpful to adjust bedtimes, wake up times, establish routines such as getting dressed in the mornings. This can bring predictability and routine into their days before the academics begin.
One of the most effective means for improving executive functioning in this season is to provide structure and organization. Parents are encouraged to support their children with external organization instead of expecting them to remember everything. This gives scaffolding to them while they are developing their executive functioning and habit forming skills. This can look like or include:
Visual reminders of items needed to walk out the door
Having a set launch pad near the door. This can keep their backpack and school belongings in the same place every day
Create a designated homework station
Make alarms or timers
Breaking larger tasks into smaller steps, also known as chunking
We should never underestimate the power of good nutrition, sleep and movement. These lifestyle factors can play a significant role in performance, focus, energy, behaviors and more. The brain works very hard in the school setting. Those with ADHD are also working against their challenges on top of the typical school stress. It is not uncommon that these can improve the “after school crash” that can look like behavioral meltdowns, exhaustion. The lifestyle factors that can have a positive effect include:
Having a balanced diet with good protein intake at every meal
Hydrate well by ensuring they have a water bottle for school and will refill it
Get movement in before school and after school
Provide opportunities for unwinding the brain or decompressing after school
Connecting with your child and helping with regulation can be very impactful before addressing school concerns or trying to problem solve. For example, if they are emotional or dysregulated and parents begin asking why they did not bring home their homework or turn it in the child often will have less ability to tackle this problem. Parents instead will have more success helping them by considering their needs and ask themselves if they could be hungry, overstimulated, physically or mentally exhausted, need movement, connection or a break BEFORE trying to problem solve
In addition to utilizing these supports at home it can also be beneficial to begin a partnership with the child’s teacher and school early. This can help their teacher understand what strategies have worked best at home or in school years past, gain clarity on how assignments and communication works or understand what supports are present in the school such as a 504 plan or Individualized Education Program (IEP) if needed.
Return to school can be with increased demands and mental load for those with ADHD. Many words spoken to them may be related to executive functioning and task completion. Parents can help promote their child’s confidence with commenting on all of the other superpowers they have (often due to their ADHD!). This is seen in creativity, persistence, humor, compassion, problem solving skills and more.These should always shine through!
The success of returning to school is not about the perfect routine or fixing every struggle for your child. It is about supporting them creatively that make life manageable and adjusting as you go. A child with ADHD can have the most success when they have integrated supports. Tying together a balanced nutrition, good hydration, routine sleep habits, movement, simple yet effective structure and scaffolding as well as a parent who leads with curiosity gives the child the most chances of success.