Hi. Newbie... My son Mo just turned 11. He is in the fifth grade. He is spending 2 hours doing an assignment the teacher says should take 20. I am frustrated because I don't know how to help him. I have tried doing it with him, but I don't feel that is letting him learn. I can't let him do it in his room, where it is quiet, because he will play or read something else. He does it in the kitchen, where the noise is minimal, but it is the center of the house...

Background, he was diagnosed ADD by a specialist at our local hospital. We went to all the classes they offerred. None of it fit our then 1st grader, except the absent minded professor ideal. It wasn't interfering with his daily life, so we worked on behaviorally treating. Now he is just a mess. His teacher is telling us he will flunk if he doesn't improve. We took him to the ped doc, he did that form on ADHD, and low and behold he got a 16 from teacher and me, 6 being borderline diagnosis, no surprise there. He prescribed concerta. We are starting it this next 4 day weekend.

Question. Will this help? I assume it is supposed to. Our other son's dbp (developemental behavioral pediatrician) can't wait until Z is big enough for it... She is very positive about this drug. I just know it is easy to put them on, and easy to take them off if it doesn't work. And it is made for kids, unlike Z's meds.

Can anyone give me any ideas on how to help him focus more, and succeed? He is actually above average acedemically, but he can't focus his brain to keep up with that work. HELP! Jen

Here's some great references:

The ADHD Book of Lists...by Sandra Rief

Taking Charge of ADHD...by Russell Barkley

The Parents Guide to Attention Deficit Disorder...by Stephen McCarney & Angela Marie Bauer (Hawthorne Press)

Wonderful homework suggestions.

In fact, Russ Barkley doesn't want ADHD kids to have homework.

Welcome to the Forum and good luck. :)

mctavish23 (Robert )

My daughter is in the same grade and we have evenings like that. She is Inattentive ADD and not currently on meds. She was on Strattera but they made her stomach upset. When it comes to homework I don't think there is a golden answer...sorry...I was upset about that too (lol). My daughter's teacher did suggest getting a tutor or nonparent to help her with her homework. It actually seems to help. Her older stepsister struggles in school (10th grade) but can help the 10 year old. Maybe there's a teacher or older kid in the school that can help out.

God bless!

Dawn

My adhd kids take concerta. It works differently for everyone. For them, it's been a great success, but it's not the only technique we use. Reward charts, regular exercise, therapy, and 6-8 smaller meals a day have also helped. In addition, I supplement a lot of lessons at home when they're not quite getting concepts in school. This is done with the full backing of their teachers.

In addition, my children have learned that playing sports is a privilege, not a right. If they want to get to practice and be signed up to play to begin with, they have to make sure they get to school every day (except legitimate sick days, of course), behave themselves to the best of their abilities while in school, do all of the things scholastically required of them while there, and once home, complete their homework in a reasonable amount of time. If it's not done, and checked by myself, and then put into the backpacks for the next day, then we're not going to practice. Period. The coaches have given me their full support on this, and it's only been an issue ONCE. My son called my bluff. His behind sat on the bench for half of the next game, as per our agreement with his coach. He was miserable, because he LOVES to play football. Now, he comes home, and runs to do the work without being told.

What does your child like to do? If he/she doesn't seem to have a real passion for something yet, maybe try out some new things in your community and find one. :)

Mo likes to read. He goes to gymnastics once a week, but it isn't a real passion. He was not able to join chorus this semester because of his homework performance, and that hurt, but not enough to show much improvement. I'm just hoping the meds work, because he does try hard. He just gets distracted way too easily, and we don't have a padded room for him to work in (though I have thought about it for me!!) Thanks for the suggestions, I just don't know what will work, and his teacher is at a loss too.

MoMom, I hope the trial of meds is successful.

When K (also in 5th grade) has trouble focusing I set a timer for 15 minutes. He has to work until it beeps, and then he can get up and move around for 5 minutes or so, then work for another 15. When we do this, it never takes more than half an hour to finish. When we don't, he spends at least two hours grousing about how much homework he has.

All of these are good suggestions. When you start the concerta make sure you are paying attention to the time and how long it works. You need to make sure the meds are working when he needs to do homework. Concerta should be a 12 hr medicine..it does not work that long on all people. My daughter (also 11) only gets about 9 1/2 to 10 hrs off of her dose, since she has to have it by 6AM that means it's gone by 4pm when most kids are taking meds. We have a does of Ritalin that she takes at 4 Pm so she has meds working while she does her homework.

When meds work, they work well, but if your son has "wholes" in his base knowledge from inattention then he still may struggle with homework. Encouragement and rewards for getting it done helps a great deal. Putting him on meds will not necissarily change his habits, but it should help with the frustration. He's probably expending a huge amount of energy a day just doing what is asked of him in school both educationally and socially.

I agree with the comment that the medicine may run out before the homework is done. First of all let me tell you about my history and where I am coming from. I have a daughter W. that was diagnoised when she was in 1st grade with ADD. She was given ritalin. and in second grade she started making A's and B's. when she got in the 4th or 5th grade her grades started going down. We found out it was because she was forgotting she had home work or she would lose it before she got to class. She could not sit down or remember her homework after school. she was then prescribed another 1/2 a dose of ritalin at 4 pm. she was able to concentrate and get her home work done. later in W.'s school career (middle school) she decided she did not want to take her medicine. The doctor told me I would not be able to force her to take it. I told her as long as her grades stayed up I would help her. Some of the things we did was get a homework fold to put her homework in. THis was due because she would lose it. She was very disorganized. Her teacher suggested that she could have a study buddy that would make sure she had her home work written down and any thing else she may need before she left class.

Something else that W. found out was that if she could drink a caffine drink such as a coca-cola or Mellow Yellow she could actually settle her mind down some to concentrate. I am no doctor or have any science to back me up on this but it seem to work. It sure didn't hurt any. I did notice she would calm down some. You never know what may help. It is all trail and error for each indiviual.

After say all this I want to tell you that my daughter is now a sophomore in High school. Her last report card was all A's. And she also is a member of the color gaurd in her High school marching band.

I am very proud of her. and Good luck to all the people out there who has a love one with ADD or ADHD