Transcript School Savvy_Exploring the Secrets that Help Kids

Abigail Levrini, PhD
Betsey Noboa, PsyD
Indu Singh
“Succeeding with
Adult ADHD:
Daily Strategies
to Help you
Achieve Your
Goals and
Manage Your
Life”
Levrini & Prevatt
(APA, 2012)
Amazon.com
APA Video
Therapy Series Treating ADHD
Levrini & Prevatt
(2013)
www.apa.org
PEC Planner (in
collaboration
with
Tools4Wisdom)
Amazon.com
“ADHD
Coaching: A
Guide for Mental
Health
Professionals”
Prevatt & Levrini
(APA, 2015)
Practically speaking, problems with the "brain's CEO"•
contribute to several problems: disorganization, difficulty
getting started and finishing work, remembering homework,
plus difficulty memorizing facts, writing essays or reports,
working complex math problems, remembering what is read,
completing long-term projects, being on time, controlling
emotions, and planning for the future.
Working memory and recall (holding facts in mind
while manipulating information; accessing facts
stored in long-term memory.)
Activation, arousal, and effort (getting started; paying
attention; finishing work)
Controlling emotions (ability to tolerate frustration;
thinking before acting or speaking)
Internalizing language (using "self-talk" to control
one's behavior and direct future actions)
Taking an issue apart, analyzing the pieces,
reconstituting and organizing it into new ideas
(complex problem solving).
Shifting, inhibiting (changing activities, stopping
existing activity, stopping and thinking before acting
or speaking)
Organizing/planning ahead (organizing time,
projects, materials, and possessions)
Monitoring (self-monitoring and prompting)
In school, at home, or in the workplace, we're called on all day, every day, to
self-regulate behavior. Executive function allows us to:
•Make
plans
•Keep track of time and finish work on time
•Keep track of more than one thing at once
•Meaningfully include past knowledge in discussions
•Evaluate ideas and reflect on our work
•Change our minds and make mid-course corrections while thinking,
reading, and writing
•Ask for help or seek more information when we need it
•Engage in group dynamics
•Wait to speak until we're called on
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Goal directed behavior occurs when a person is
able to hold a Goal in their awareness and use
the abstract image of that goal to guide and
direct their actions.
Being S.M.A.R.T-P makes for an effective goal!
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Specific
Measurable
Action Driven
Realistic
Time Sensitive
Process Based (rather than Outcome based)
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Some kids naturally self-regulate more easily
than others.
For those that don’t, this skill can be taught by
using external motivators.
Talk through goals and objectives, and consider
attaching an external motivator (in advance) to
those that kids struggle with naturally.
Don’t forget to allow your child to take the lead!
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Be complimentary - The most effective rewards and consequences are those
with relevance to a particular objective or goal. For example, pair a
budgeting goal with a consequence of “giving twenty dollars to charity,”
both of which involved spending money responsibly.
The sooner the better - The immediacy with which rewards or consequences
are delivered will impact how well they work.
Get creative – As you begin to think of ideas for rewards and consequences,
take a week and see what you are doing or gravitating towards instead of
what you should be doing or are avoiding. If you take a good look you can
come up with some creative and fun ideas to work with.
Try both and then use what works (or, try neither and revisit later)– Despite
evidence that external incentives are helpful to adults with ADHD, you may
find that that either the rewards or consequences aren’t motivating. This
can happen for a variety of reasons Therefore, you should begin by using
both rewards and consequences but then decide if both are motivating, one
works better than the other, or both cause added stress, and adjust
accordingly.
This isn’t a bribe –The point of rewards and consequences are not to bribe
you or reward you for doing something you should be doing to begin with.
This is not an excuse for personal accountability. Instead, the idea is that by
putting emphasis on particular objectives and creating a structure with
immediate feedback, you can begin to internalize a sense of self-regulation
not previously experienced.
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Specialty Timers
Life Wheel
Metaphors
Inspiration Toolbox
Decision Making Table
Juggling Exercise
Processing Exercise
Eisenhower Grid
Learning Style
PEC Planner
Graphic Organizers
Apps and Web Products
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According to the National Sleep Foundation,
children aged six to 13 need 9-11 hours of
sleep.
If you have to wake your child up for school,
he/she is not getting the sleep he/she needs.
◦ Additional signs of a sleep deficit include:
 Difficulty paying attention
 Unable to concentrate
 Hyperactivity
 Defiant behavior
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As children enter elementary school, there are
increasing demands on children’s time due to:
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Longer school hours
Increasing amounts of homework
Extracurricular Activities
Sports
In addition, kids are becoming more interested in
watching TV, using computers, the internet, and
videogames. These have been linked to:
 Increased difficulty falling asleep
 nightmares
 sleep disruptions (wake-ups.)
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Important to remember that getting enough
sleep is a biological necessity. It is as important
to good health as good nutrition and exercise.
Children who don’t get enough sleep are:
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Less mentally alert
More inattentive
Easily distracted
Can be more physically impulsive
Have more mood swings
Less likely to share
Show a decrease in appropriate social skills
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During sleep, our brains create and strengthen
different types of memory.
◦ Just before your child wakes in the morning, his brain
uses the last stages of REM sleep to sort and store
memories and information from the previous day and
get ready for the day ahead.
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Children's brains transform subconsciously
learned material into active knowledge while they
sleep.
Sleeping after learning supports the long-term
storage of the material learned.
During sleep, children take what they have
learned and turn into a form of memory that
makes future learning easier.
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Talk to your children about healthy sleep habits.
Educate them on why sleep is so important.
Keep TV’s, computers, iPhones and Ipads out of the
bedroom.
Help your child establish a regular and consistent
sleep schedule. They should go to bed and wake up
every day at the same time (even on weekends!)
Create a relaxing routine before bedtime.
Create a bedroom environment conducive to sleep.
Keep it dark, cool, and quiet.
In the mornings, open up the shades and blinds right
away. Exposure to morning sunlight can help keep
the body’s circadian rhythms in sync and make falling
asleep easier.
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If your child continues to have difficulty falling
asleep, a psychologist can help teach your child
relaxation strategies including progressive muscle
relaxation, deep breathing and the use of imagery.
Children sometimes have difficulty sleeping because
of fears related to bedtime. A psychologist can
suggest strategies to help work through these fears
including:
 Helping parents understands their child’s fears and how to best
manage them.
 Teaching children to manage their own anxiety.
 Help parents set up a reward system to encourage and reinforce
appropriate sleep behaviors (being “brave” and staying in bed,
not calling out)
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We can also help with an all too common problem –
your child sleeping in your bed!