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Cogmed Working Memory Training Outline: Everything You Want To Know About ADHD
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Return to ADDvisor Volume 2 2000 Index Number 5 March 1, 2000
In this issue: 1. Personal comments 2. Homework -- it's hardly easy Do you know somebody with an ADHD child or teenager? All parents of ADHD children and teens need help from time to time. Help them solve their dilemmas by forwarding this e-mail newsletter to them.
PERSONAL COMMENTS
It's about the time of year that parents of ADHD kids start to get worried about critical issues regarding their children's progress in school. Time and time again we find that a major influence on school progress or lack thereof is homework completion. We are, therefore, setting aside a significant amount of time to discuss critical school issues in our Friday phone calls, which occurs every two weeks, and in our upcoming free audio teleconference seminar, FIVE THINGS YOU MUST DO TO INSURE YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL SUCCESS, which will occur on Monday, March 6, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, 11:30AM, Central Time. Please join us for either one of these educational events. Sign up instructions are provided at the end of this newsletter.
HOMEWORK -- IT'S HARDLY EASY
This spring, the promises by your teenager will be flowing faster than water down the swimming pool slide. "I promise I’ll do better next year. I don’t need to go to summer school. It will just make me even sicker of school. I know next year really counts. I won’t have any problems with my grades, I promise." Now, in front of you, sit two interim reports. One says, "D in Math, assignments missing." The other indicates, "Failing in English, doesn’t pay attention in class, assignments missing, please call." The excuses are falling faster than leaves on a windy day. "I’m only one assignment behind and I already turned it in. My math teacher is so unfair. I can’t believe she’s giving me a D." Now what? If this is an all-too-familiar scenario, now is the time to stop believing the excuses and to start expecting some accountability. Although a lack of homework completion is often the culprit, it is not the only reason for poor grades. ADHD kids, however, are notorious for having significant difficulty completing their homework. Many grade problems can be solved by simply completing homework assignments. This can be accomplished in two time-tested ways—easy or hard. The Easy Way. Meet with your student’s guidance counselor and set up a scheduled weekly or bi-monthly phone conference to become informed of any missing assignments. Get a "grade-to-date" and report of any behavior problems. If there are missing assignments, the student’s "life as they know it," ends until all assignments are made up. No excuses, no exceptions. Once the student is convinced this policy will be followed to the letter, they often decide it’s easier to complete assignments on a daily basis. When the student has received a good report on homework completion, they should be rewarded for their responsibility with privileges, gradually restored. Please remember, we are not teaching the student how to do homework here. The student already knows this. We are teaching self-motivation, responsibility and initiative. These are much more difficult values to instill and doing so will take much more time, effort and patience on everyone’s part. Your teenager will, more than likely, not appreciate this new way of life. But, you’re not doing this to be loved and admired. You’re helping your child along a most difficult path toward responsible independence. One final note: Set up the structure, stand your ground, follow through and stick with it! When your teen starts to improve, communicate how happy you are about it. Praise small gains to achieve larger gains. And cheerlead whenever you can. These are wonderful kids who are struggling to find their way. Believe in them, even when they don’t believe in themselves. You will be amazed at what they can do.
CONTACT INFORMATION _______________________ Alan R. Graham, Ph.D. Bill Benninger, Ph.D. ADDvisor.com Voice: 1-866-ADDvisor Fax: 847-824-2386 Email: Alan@ADDvisor.com Bill@ADDvisor.com Web: www.ADDvisor.com (c) Copyright 2000 ADDvisor.com, Ltd. All rights reserved The above material may be retransmitted or distributed to whomever you wish as long as not a single word is changed, added or deleted, including the contact information. However, you may not copy it to a web site. Republication of "The ADDvisor" in paper media is encouraged and permitted by organizations and associations which serve parents of ADHD children at the national, state and/or local level as long as the issue is reprinted in its entirety without charge and includes the contact information. With advance permission, we are happy to edit an issue to fit your space requirements. Republication is also encouraged under other circumstances, however, the advance permission of ADDvisor.com, Ltd. must be obtained in the event that changes in the text are desired or republication is to be made by individuals or by organizations other than those mentioned above.
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Questions or comments? Send e mail to Alan@ADDvisor.com
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