ADHD children often experience additional stress during the exam time.
Tips to help your ADHD child:
- Help your child develop a study timetable – what they must study and when they must study it to ensure that they have enough time to learn before the exam they will be writing. ADHD children often have poor organizational skills and this makes it difficult to know how to set up a schedule.
- Identify how long your child must study (approximately every 35 to 45 min) and during the breaks encourage your child to get up and move around (eg. go fetch a glass of water to drink or walk around the house). Your child must not go sit in front of the television nor play games on the phone.
- Have study goals and encourage your child to work hard to achieve them.
- Chewing, such as biltong or chewing gum actually helps your child to concentrate better.
- Drink a good multivitamin and Omega 3.
- Have a good protein breakfast (eggs or cheese on a toast, spoonful of peanut butter, pronutro)
- Declutter the desk – only the essential must be on the desk or else they will become distracted. Do not sit in front of a window.
- Start a study session off with deep breathes (slowly in through the nose and out by the mouth) to help calm your child should he/she feel stressed.
- Encourage positive self-affirmations (I know my work, I am proud of myself) – the more you believe and have confidence in yourself, the better you can perform.
- Let your child pack their bag the night before to ensure that nothing has been forgotten (pen, pencils, ruler, calculator).
- Practice old exam papers – circle the main points in the question (to ensure that the question is fully understood) and check the mark allocation.
- Enjoy studying – use colour and know his/her learning style (visual, auditory or kinesthetic learner)
Written by Dr. Tanya Boshoff – Clinical Psychologist