Mild ADD, known as Attention Deficit Disorder, Inattentive Type, is often not noticed until a child starts middle school.
In elementary school these children can do well enough, but once they reach middle school with its greater demands, inattentive kids start to have trouble.
The skills required to do well in middle school - focus in class, concentration during hours of homework, organization and good time management - are all skills lacking in ADD kids.
You have a preteen or young teen who has just been diagnosed with inattentive type ADD.
What can you do as a parent? Helpful parenting tips are: * Stay in close contact with your child's teachers.
Many teachers post homework due dates on their websites.
You can track your child's homework and be sure they hand it in.
* Help your child keep his backpack organized.
This will help him not to misplace homework assignments and keep on top of class projects.
* Use Behavior Modification.
Praise your child for studying and getting work in.
Do this on a daily basis.
Kids can earn points by doing homework.
Points earn rewards and privileges.
Rewards and privileges should be given to the young preteen weekly, because that is the limit of their ability to think ahead.
As your teen gets older you can make rewards bigger, require more points to earn them, and stretch out the time between.
* Avoid criticism.
Praise is much more effective.
Remember, your teen cannot help having attention problems.
He was born that way.
(ADD appears to be hereditary).
If a power struggle develops between parent and child over homework there are several things you can do: * Get a tutor, especially if your child needs help in a subject that you don not know.
Some teens are allergic to getting help from their parents.
(This is because of their adolescent need for autonomy).
If your teen is like this, a power struggle may develop over homework.
In this case, a tutor can be very helpful.
Some kids can much more easily take guidance from a neutral adult.
Remember, power struggles over homework are almost always counter-productive.
* Get Family Therapy, if power struggles persist, and your efforts to help are not working out.
Therapy provides an opportunity for your child to work on self-esteem and social problems, (which are always an issue for a child who is struggling in school).
Family therapy also provides much needed support for the parents.
It allows parents and teen to talk things over in the presence of a neutral third party who can keep a positive focus and help resolve disagreements and work out study agreements.
* Get medication.
Sometimes the preceding interventions will be all that is needed to turn things around.
If your child continues to struggle in school and do much more poorly than his ability level, medication can be very useful.
With some kids, it is the only thing that works.
(Your pediatrician can help with this.
) This all requires a lot of effort on the part of busy parents.
But it pays off.
If you manage his school issues effectively, your child will learn to take responsibility for his own attention issues over time.
Mild ADD, although not as disruptive and difficult to treat as the hyperactive variety, can still cause unnecessary suffering and psychological damage to the teen and great stress to the parents.
It needs to be managed.
With effort, it can be treated, quite successfully.
One more thing to remember.
In the long run, mild ADD is an asset.
Adults with ADD are some of the most creative, intuitive and interesting people you will ever meet.
Some examples are Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein and Whoppie Goldberg.
Many of the "geniuses" who started the dotcom boom in Silicon Valley were ADD guys.
They have a great deal to contribute to society.
Recommended Reading: ADD Success Stories.
by Thom Hartmann You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy? by Kelly and Ramundo Overcoming Underachieving.
by Goldstein and Maten Driven to Distraction.
by Hallowell The Edison Gene; ADHD and the Gift of the Hunter Child.
by Thom Hartmann