How can parents help a child with ADHD stay more organized?

One of the biggest challenges for individuals with ADHD, especially children, is staying organized. This is crucial for students in school as they often struggle more with organization, time management, and planning compared to their peers. These struggles can significantly affect their ability to complete tasks and remember important information. Forgetting assignments, misplacing materials, and procrastinating are common issues that not only impact school performance but can also lead to conflicts with parents and teachers. Unfortunately, these difficulties in organization, time management, and planning often persist into adolescence and adulthood, negatively influencing work performance and job opportunities.

Research has shown that parents and teachers play a pivotal role in helping children with ADHD develop good organizational habits. For instance, a study revealed that structured interventions like having organized binders and regular checks by teachers are linked with better outcomes for students with ADHD in organization training programs. Such structured approaches not only improve organization skills but also reduce life interference and family conflicts. Additionally, when parents are involved in training programs for organization, students tend to perform better. This collaboration among parents, children, and teachers is crucial for the success of such interventions.

The Comprehensive ADHD Support (CLAS) program is a prime example of an effective approach that emphasizes collaboration among parents, children, and teachers. This program includes components focusing on ADHD-I management, setting up home challenges, independence, social skills, self-management, and classroom management strategies. Teachers note significant improvements in children's ability to pay attention in class, organize schoolwork, and display better social skills. Parents also observe better organization of school materials and overall improvement in their children’s behavior and skills. Such programs highlight the importance of a united effort in managing ADHD, particularly in school and home environments.

People with ADHD have also developed their own coping mechanisms and skills for staying organized. Personal techniques such as working in short bursts with breaks, exercising before engaging in tasks, using noise-canceling headphones with music, and keeping a piece of scrap paper to jot down distracting thoughts have proven helpful. Practices like body doubling, where studying is done in the presence of others, time boxing for scheduling tasks, and self-testing for study preparation are also effective strategies. These personal tips and tricks, developed by individuals with ADHD, can be valuable for parents to help their children stay organized.

For managing tasks effectively with ADHD, simple and effective techniques can be employed. Creating brief to-do lists with big letters and not exceeding five tasks can help in staying focused. Managing hyperfocus with the use of alarms, timers, or assistance from someone else is also beneficial. Strategies like using a body double for routine tasks, focusing on the time to leave for appointments rather than the appointment time, and carrying a small notebook as an external brain to jot down tasks and thoughts can be highly effective. Setting small goals and using visual reminders for task prioritization and tracking are additional practical methods that can aid individuals with ADHD in staying organized.