Management strategies for parents: AD/HD

By Brian Inglesby, M.A., L.E.P.

Home-school connection

• Regular communication between home and school may be necessary for the first several months of school. A communication plan should be initiated with the teacher during the first month of school. Depending upon your child's age, daily, weekly, or monthly plans can be developed to monitor your child's behavior and schoolwork.
• When designing a behavior plan with the teacher, it's often helpful to estabish consequences and rewards together and agree on how to enforce them. Similar language should be used with your child at home and school for consistency.
• Schedule regular meetings with teachers and school support staff to monitor progress of your child's behavior or action plan. Depending on his age, he should be present during the discussion of the school-based plan. By 5th or 6th grade, he can probably be involved in describing problems affecting his learning and setting his goals
• If your child is on medication, ask the teacher to provide feedback to you about its effectiveness. Consult with your child's doctor regularly, at least twice a year. Share medical reports with school personnel.

AD/HD by other names and acronyms

While attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) is the official term and acronym used by today's mental health care professionals, it is sometimes referred to by other names and abbreviations. For example, it is sometimes called:

ADHD (without the slash in the middle)

Attention deficit disorder (ADD)

Attention disorder