“I Can Do It Myself, Mom!”

It's a refrain parents hear over-and-over again as tweens start to develop independence in middle school. The only problem is that ADHD – and the executive functioning difficulties it brings – makes it harder for our kids to manage school on their own. Dr. Sam Wasserman offers practical tips for caregivers and adolescents.
ADHD Videos | posted by Janice Rodden

It's not just that they don't want to do their homework. It's that their difficulties with organizing, anticipating, planning, and executing make it a lot harder to get assignments done (and then turned in on time).

With the transition to middle school comes a heap of new responsbilities. Kids have many different teachers, and receive less individual attention, making it a lot easier to forget or skip over one of the five steps to completing homework:

1. Knowing what the assignment is
2. Having the right materials to do it
3. Being willing to do the work
4. Putting homework in a place they can find it
5. Remembering to turn it in

Plus. changes in brain chemistry during adolescence make tweens less willing to take commands on how and when to do work from parents.

While medication can help with hyperactivity, impulsivity, and difficulty focusing, it does little to improve executive functioning problems that get in the way.

In this video, Dr. Wasserman distills 30 years of experience into five parenting tools that will help kids with ADHD master middle school. Click to hear his advice on how to tweak your parenting style to acknowledge your child's growing desire for independence while also helping them succeed.

Start Strong, Start Smart from Saul Wasserman on Vimeo.


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