My son was diagnosed in May 2014 with Adhd. His therapist keeps telling me to use charts and visualsee to keep him on track. Does any one know of or have any good sources to find or make charts? She says to keep them simple so what do I put on it, keep in mind he’s only 8. Feeling lost here!
I think you can keep it really simple, mj. I never got very far with charts and incentive systems. It just seemed to take to much energy out of everyone. Maybe just a few signs on the wall where they will be seen? Such as "Brush your teeth when you get up" or "Have you done your homework yet"? Change the colors and positions of the signs often, as it doesn't take long for the mind to adjust to them as part of the decor, and then they become invisible.
I hope others will have other systems that worked for them.
I did the same thing with my kids and it worked for a few weeks then they started drifting away from it. I even set rewards that they would enjoyed. Now that my daughter is older I’m kinda lost for how to make a chart for a teenager. I know how you feel, I hope you can find a way to help your child enjoy the chart…make it a game.
I think the key principle is to catch all of those moments when your kid is doing something right and acknowledge it. Teach your kid the habit of acknowledging each small victory. I read somewhere that ADHD kids rack up around 20,000 more negative feedback messages than non ADHD kids by age 12. Just think how hard that must be. It is worth sharing that information with your kids' teachers and reminding them how important it is for these kids to hear positive feedback. Their sense of themselves is shaped by the feedback they get from others.
Acknowledge the effort, too, even if the results don't pan out. And the same goes for your own parenting -- give yourself some positive feedback, too. There is so such thing as a perfect parent. Effort matters.