8 Simple Strategies for Students With ADHD
I recently found this article and knew that it would be valuable for many young adults between the ages of 16 and 32.
Oftentimes parents think that a neurodiverse person who’s legally aged into adulthood at 18 is ready to take on all the responsibilities that come with being an adult. One of the well-known facts within the community of neurodiverse experts and professionals is that typically a neurodiverse brain emotionally matures later. It also develops later in many of its executive functions.
If you have a young person living with you or headed off to college these are the top five things I know support more success.
1. Don’t overload them.
Oftentimes there are many things in motion as our young adults are launching into the world. There’s housing to figure out, there might be courses, there’s a wide variety of things and it is very common for someone with ADHD or dyslexia to struggle with breaking those projects down into smaller pieces and manageable action steps. Helping them break down one task at a time into action steps and accomplishing that one day at a time or over a shorter amount of time tends to be more manageable and will have greater results.
2. Encourage support.
If we’re talking about a college student, up until now it is likely that a parent and maybe a teacher have been their support system, and they are now possibly leaving both. That’s not a setup for success. A setup for success is helping them find new support systems. What that looks like is creating relationships with the people in the direction that they’re going. That includes counselors/therapists, life coaches, daily money managers, advisors, student counselors, and on-campus resources.
3. Teach them what you know about them.
Typically, as a parent or a teacher, you might be the one person who knows how they learn and work better than they themselves even know. Before they head off into the big world it would be a good idea to talk with them about some of the things you know about how they learn, how they study, how they interact with people, how they react when they’re nervous, and any other insights you have that can help them understand and accommodate themself. This can be really valuable information and it might be even more helpful if it’s written down so they can look at it and review it again.
4. Reward successful actions.
It’s important to remember to reward successful actions big and small. Most young people’s brains are not fully developed until they’re 25. With a neurodiverse person’s brain, their brain and emotional intelligence probably won’t be fully developed until they’re in their 30s. That means at times you might be working with someone who needs more support, encouragement, and praise as they’re trying to navigate into adulthood.
5. Help them find other people who think like they do.
I strongly encourage seeking out other neurodiverse people and people with similar interests, with the young people I coach. If they’re going to a college campus, it’s easier to find that. If they’re moving into a new town or community, there are still ways and resources to find similar thinking and like-minded people. Assistance in building this support system and community can make a world of difference to the outcome and success of their efforts.
I know many times when I’m talking to parents of recently graduated high schoolers, they don’t exactly appreciate it in the moment when I talk to them about these things or share with them that parenting has not ended because their child graduated. Graduating means parenting has shifted into more of an advocacy/ teaching/ support role and that looks different. Helping a young person going off into the world to have realistic expectations brings greater success for them. Realistic expectations and manageable goals also make it easier for parents to support their child’s progress as it happens. It’s important to remember that not all young people are the same. I have seen people at 18 do incredibly independent things and maneuver all of that and get it all lined up. I have also witnessed the impossibleness of filling out forms for scholarships, college entrance, and all the things that need to happen to just get into academia. Even when academia is where a person might belong, the process of getting everything done in order to get there can be a huge obstacle.
If you are a parent reading this, I really want to remind you that you are possibly launching into the world one of the next great inventors, entrepreneurs, writers, designers, or creative geniuses. If you ever watch The Big Bang Theory or Young Sheldon it’s a great reminder that while raising a twice-gifted child is in no way the easiest parenting, it also has many unique rewards. I hope these tips can help parents and young adults navigate adulthood with a little more success and support.