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Why Good Manners Matter to Your ADHD Teen

Posted by Brock
Good manners and etiquette for the ADHD child

Learning to be polite and consider the needs of others shouldn’t be a hardship – even for a 14- year-old teen diagnosed with ADHD-inattentive. Your teen may not clamor to learn about manners any more than she clamors to memorize algebraic formulas, but she stands to greatly benefit from both types of knowledge. As a parent, you may find that you often return to the role of the take-no-prisoners manners police: “Don’t talk with your mouth full….Take your baseball cap off…Hold the door open,” etc., etc. The good news is that most teens behave better for someone else – … [Read more...]

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Brock and Lesley

Posted by Kayla
Brock Myers

Like Kayla told you last week, I'm Brock Myers, and I'll be writing a good bit for adhd-inattentive.com. I have a 14-year-old daughter who's ADHD inattentive, and like you, I've gained a lot of valuable tips by reading Who Put the Ketchup in the Medicine Cabinet? This newsletter has allowed me to learn so much from other parents! I love the new focus that Michelle shared on the blog when she started seeing "how ADHD is really a gift and not a deficit." It's so true for Lesley who's the youngest in our family. (Her brother Edison is in his second year in university, and her sister Olivia is … [Read more...]

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Getting Rid of Clutter

Posted by Kayla

So you've made a resolution, and this year you're getting rid of clutter! You're going to eliminate the clutter! ADHD kids crave order, even if they don't act like it. If your home is in disarray, your children can't focus. If you haven't already, make it your New Year's resolution to clear a path - and clear the clutter! There are several great online products to help you de-clutter and organize your stuff. One of my favorite resources is Fly Lady. She'll nag via email, and help you organize your life step by step - with no charge - including getting rid of clutter! Another unique … [Read more...]

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A Homework Nightmare

Posted by Kayla
test for learning styles

Last week in the newsletter, I mentioned that all of our kids had come home for the weekend - Ron with college homework in tow. While he was taking a break, I read him an article I wrote back when he was in the tenth grade. Read, it, multiply it by four, and you'll understand why I'm able to write stuff like Waking Up from the Homework Nightmare and Focus Pocus! "Did you wash jeans? My Algebra assignments were in my pocket." Sure enough, crumpled up in the trash was a freshly laundered yellow sticky note, with penciled assignments too faded to read. So he pored through the Algebra II … [Read more...]

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Five Focusing Hints – A Preview

Posted by Kayla
help your child pay attention

Here are some of the helpful hints from Focus Pocus - 100 Ways to Help Your Child Pay Attention. 7. For multi-step tasks, have kids pair a task to a finger. If you want your son to pick up the bathroom, empty the trash, feed the dog, then sweep the front porch, have him ‘put’ one task on each of his fingers. Then have him count back to you – as he holds up the first finger, he says, “Pick up the bathroom.” On second finger, he should say, “Empty the trash.” This will help him remind himself, and ensure that he heard you in the first place. 13. Pick your fidgety child to be … [Read more...]

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Focus Pocus – 100 Ways to Help Your Child Pay Attention

Posted by Kayla
help your child pay attention

Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder all have one thing in common - the inability to sustain and focus attention. But every child - ADHD or not - occasionally has problems staying on task and avoiding distraction. As parents and teachers - we try to conjure up ways to help them focus. As if they were magical spells, we say such things as, “Listen!” “Pay attention!” “Stop daydreaming!” “Think!” “FOCUS!” But the spells rarely work. To complicate things, once we find a trick that works, the magic wears off, and the clock strikes twelve. As a result, we … [Read more...]

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ADHD-I Turns 18

Posted by Kayla
adhd success story

The most inattentive of our inattentive boys once said that his attention was like an oscillating fan. Bright, artistic, forgetful, self-absorbed, creative, exasperating, determined, spacey...he could be the poster child for ADHD-I. His first year of school, he went to kindergarten without his backpack for days on end - and suffered the consequences. One day, we pulled out of the driveway before he realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. When he turned 18, however, he had matured so very much that it was almost sad. He began to carry on articulate conversations with us, his friends, and (the … [Read more...]

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