Help Your Child Organize

School Organization Tips for Students with ADHD or Learning Disabilities
Help your child with ADHD or learning disabilities develop school organization skills that will bring success - and end clutter.
by Donna Goldberg


There's no doubt that kids are busy: Along with academic and social demands, they also juggle extracurricular activities, playdates and sleepovers, and, oh yes, family responsibilities.
Many children need school organization help -- it's hard for anyone to get and stay organized during back-to-school time. But for children with attention deficit disorder (ADD ADHD), whose ability to organize, prioritize, and manage time is affected by neurological deficiencies, the challenges are far greater.
That's where you come in. Work with your child to get school help by supplying her with organization tips to gain control at home and at school.
ADHD or no ADHD, organization is not an innate skill. Children must learn to manage and maintain systems. Consider yourself your child's consultant. She should be engaged in the process, so involve her in every step and allow her to make choices and decisions. Help your child practice her skills on a regular basis, and follow through with the systems you create together.
Organization for school has two major components:
TIME MANAGEMENT — how your child keeps up with homework assignments, activities, and appointments.
PAPER FLOW AND MANAGEMENT — how papers move to and from school and what your child does with these papers now and later.
Because time management is the more challenging, especially for a child with ADHD, that's where we'll start.
ON TIME
In my 15 years as an organizational coach, I've learned that understanding and managing time is a huge part of being organized. The concept of time is difficult for children to master, especially in our digital world.
Schools and parents teach kids how to use a calendar and read a clock, but by fourth, fifth, and even sixth grade, some children still haven't mastered these skills. Older elementary-school students are expected to be somewhat independent and manage a large school workload, long-term assignments, and extended projects — next-to-impossible tasks for a child who doesn't grasp time.
Understanding sequence
Children learn about time from an early age. Initially, toddlers are exposed to sequence and routine: First you have a bath, then you have a story, then you go to sleep. Eventually, sequences include the concept of before and after: Before dinner you will take a bath; after a story, you will go to sleep. In kindergarten and first grade, the teacher puts up a daily schedule and uses words and pictures to review it. The concept of time expands to include days of the week, months, and seasons.
By second grade, students are introduced to the clock and are taught to tell time. The clock is reviewed again in third grade — and then time education comes to an end. At this point we expect children to infer that calendars and clocks can be used to determine the sequence of events and create routines. We also expect that children will translate their understanding of time into responsible planning. Unfortunately, many kids, particularly those with ADHD, do not make these leaps and are lost in school because of it.


SIGN ME UPfor a free copy of the ADD handout...Battling Disorganization at School.

You can help your child by reinforcing these concepts at home. Make sequence clear to him by giving specific verbal cues — first, next, then, before, after — as you develop a routine. Ask questions: What comes next? Do you remember what you did first? Reinforce sequence comprehension by giving a series of directions using these verbal cues. Make it fun ("First do ten jumping jacks, then write your name backwards") and have your child give you directions as well. Tell him that you are doing this to help him learn how to listen carefully and pick up on important words that tell us what order to do things in. Ask him to point out words that are related to time. A child who masters the concept of sequence will be better able to organize and prioritize tasks.
Concepts of before and after eventually develop into yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and develop further into past, present, and future. Again, as your child learns these concepts, support them at home. Talk about future vacation plans or reminisce about his last birthday party.

From ADDitude

For all those ADD and ADHD Read on!

Alternative ADHD Treatment: Fish Oil
Research on alternative ADHD treatments suggests a daily fish oil capsule can help curb the symptoms of attention deficit without medication.
by Tina Adler

ADDitude magazine
Supplementation with omega 3's is the only sensible way forward. Paul Montgomery, University of Oxford



Alternative ADHD Treatments



Could a daily fish oil capsule help curb the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD ADHD) in children and adults? Could this alternative ADHD treatment really help?
Quite possibly, suggests the latest research - including a study published in the May 5, 2005, issue of Pediatrics. "A lack of certain polyunsaturated fatty acids may contribute to dyslexia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder," reports one of the study's authors, Paul Montgomery, D.Phil., a researcher in the psychiatry department at the University of Oxford in England.
For the study, schoolchildren were given fish oil supplements rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs) for a period of three months. The children showed significant improvements in behavior, reading, and spelling.
Given this finding, Montgomery has become a proponent of fish-oil supplements for children with ADD. "People would be lucky if they could get their kids' EFA levels up sufficiently by diet alone," says Montgomery. "I think supplementation with omega 3's is the only sensible way forward. One gram per day seems right for most children."
Montgomery recommends choosing a fish oil supplement that contains a high ratio of omega-3 fatty acids (EPA) to omega-6 fatty acids (DHA). "The right ratio of 3's to 6's seems to be about four to one," he says.

Graduation and the Special Ed Student

This is an article every parent of a Special Education child should read. It makes you think of the book 1984. All diplomas are equal but some are more equal than others. This is a problem that we as parents of children in Sepcial ed need to address quickly.

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=64995&utm_source=newsletter1&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Dec-E-blasts

ADHD Magizine

Here is the site for the ADHD Magizine. It is a good source. Click on Link and sign up.
http://view.exacttarget.com/?j=fe4f157870630d75771c&m=fef016767c6c02&ls=fdf01276776c0c7974177874&l=febb1375776c0174&s=fdf615757d65047873117473&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe241671736d0d7f701d70

From Span Families Digest

FW: UCP Inclusion Grants for Davidson County Children


Openings remain for this program.

For Immediate Release

November 17, 2008 Nashville TN United Cerebral Palsy of Middle Tennessee announces availability of All Together Kids inclusion grants for children with disabilities in Davidson County Tennessee. All Together Kids is a program designed to promote the inclusion of children with disabilities in community based after school programs, recreation, arts, and extra curricular activities alongside their typically developing peers. The program will supply grants for up to $1,000 to families for direct assistance for their child to participate in these activities. The program is funded by a grant from the Metropolitan Government of Na shville.

The program is designed to be flexible to meet children’s specific needs, and available to families in neighborhoods where they live and work. For example, funds may be used for tuition or enrollment in a variety of community programs such as day care, arts, after school care, camps, recreation and faith-based programs. Funds may be used for specialized accessible transportation, supplies, uniforms and other items specific to the child’s needs in the program. Funds also may be used for specific therapies and services that are targeted toward development of communication, socialization, or other skills that may be necessary for children with disabilities to integrate effectively with their peers.

The program is for children with disabilities who are enrolled in the Metropolitan Nashville Public School System and who are currently enrolled, or will be enrolled during the period of the grant, in an inclusive community based after-school, recreational, extracurricular or other community based program in the Nashville community.

While families may apply at any time, applications received on or prior to December 17, 2008 will be reviewed at the December meeting of the volunteer review team. To download an application for the grant, go to www.ucpnashville.org and click the link for
Davidson County All Together Kids Inclusion Program, or go to http://www.ucpnashville.org/AllTogetherKids/ATKIndex.htm

All Together Kids also will supply inclusion training and direct assistance for community based programs accepting children with disabilities into their activities. Contact United Cerebral Palsy for information about the grant and the training initiative for community programs.

United Cerebral Palsy of Middle Tennessee
1200 9th Avenue North, Suite 110
Nashville, TN 37208
615-242-4091
Email: Request@...
Website: www.ucpnashville.org