Here's What An Expert Has To Say About Helping A Child With ADHD Thrive Over The Summer

Viewing things from your child’s point of view may be helpful. “A child or teen with ADHD has difficulty with focus and attention and often forgets things,” says O’Grady. “This is because there are 12 thoughts flying through their brains at the same time, like 12 balls in the air. A routine is a way to bring order to the thoughts and help them become sequential so they can focus on one thing at a time. This helps the child stay on track, making it easier to accomplish daily tasks.”

O’Grady says that discussing schedule changes and keeping track what’s coming on a white board or the refrigerator can also be helpful. She also suggests that parents, “keep repeating the conversation and asking them how they can prepare and remember.”

Another tip O’Grady shares is about the balance activities with downtime. “The gift of summer is being able to slow down the pace of the busy school year. So, let’s say the school year pace is at a 10 for being busy, and you want to slow down the pace to at least to 7. But you don’t want to go from 10 to 0. You want to have some space in the routine, some downtime. The unfortunate thing is that today, downtime has become synonymous for screens. I would suggest that only part of downtime is screens, and the other part of downtime is doing anything else in the real world. And yes, your ADHD kid will complain, but if they get bored enough they just might pick up the dusty guitar in the corner of the room.”