The ADHD Grown-Up: Who, Me? Little tricks with big results for grownups who wear sticky notes on their shirts.
“In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul." Psalm 94:19 (KJV)
Every school has at least one. She’s the teacher who’s the last to leave school every day. While learning about shapes in math, her students make construction paper cubes and square pyramids which somehow end up as little taped-up houses, resulting in a 3-D village that takes over the counter. To the untrained eye, it looks like shanty town, but she calls it math. She adds vocabulary words to the mix as the students arrange urban, suburban, and rural territories.
One year when I had a boatload of dream-headed wigglers in my class, I attended a seminar on ADHD. As the speaker ticked off typical traits of ADHD, my head was spinning. “What? Do you mean everyone isn’t like this?” It was a rude awakening, and it was a relief. In a way, it set me free. Here are some techniques I use on myself.
Trip on It as You Leave: Yes, the night before I go anywhere, I put all my necessary items in front of the door to the garage. This includes my purse and car keys, especially the car keys, right on top.
No Flying Cups: When you’re putting things in your car, don’t set your Starbucks cup on the roof. Set it on the hood in front of the driver’s seat. Then when you get in the car, it’s right in front of your face.
No Pockets Today? Just shoot me now. A day without pockets is a day where I set things down all over the place--notes, confiscated toys, and paper clips. No matter how cute those pocketless pants are, don’t be tempted to wear them when you’re teaching. If you do wear them, at the end of the day your students will help you gather your reading glasses and sunglasses and pens and lesson plans . . . . oh, and ask someone to call your phone so you can locate it.
Big Baggy Purse? No, no, no. Don’t spend your precious time fishing for your glasses, your pencil, your keys, your phone, your everything. (Eureka! Here’s my padlock for the gym. No wonder my purse was so heavy!)
Have a Collection Folder: Train your students to turn in hardcopy work to folders that you keep in one specific, permanent place. Have a student checklist on the folder’s cover.
List Your Tasks on a Mounted Whiteboard: Erase items as you complete them. This works better than slips of paper in your pockets or notes that get buried or unnoticed in your phone.
Remind Yourself: If you think of something important when you’re away from home, text it to yourself or call yourself and leave a message.
Say it Aloud: Say things aloud when you do them. For example, "I'm turning off my curling iron" or "I shut the garage door." This will help you later when you wonder if you remembered to do those things.
Don’t forget this: The Psalmist wrote: Your hands have made me and fashioned me. (Psalm 119:73a NKJV)
Yes, don’t forget that God made you. Don’t give up the ship. Keep on building those math 3-D vocabulary villages. Give value to those ideas that pop into your head like bubbles of joy. You are amazing!
“ . . . For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)
I would love to hear from my readers with more tips for ADHD grown-ups. Please email them to wednesdaywinks@yahoo.com.
“In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul." Psalm 94:19 (KJV)
Every school has at least one. She’s the teacher who’s the last to leave school every day. While learning about shapes in math, her students make construction paper cubes and square pyramids which somehow end up as little taped-up houses, resulting in a 3-D village that takes over the counter. To the untrained eye, it looks like shanty town, but she calls it math. She adds vocabulary words to the mix as the students arrange urban, suburban, and rural territories.
One year when I had a boatload of dream-headed wigglers in my class, I attended a seminar on ADHD. As the speaker ticked off typical traits of ADHD, my head was spinning. “What? Do you mean everyone isn’t like this?” It was a rude awakening, and it was a relief. In a way, it set me free. Here are some techniques I use on myself.
Trip on It as You Leave: Yes, the night before I go anywhere, I put all my necessary items in front of the door to the garage. This includes my purse and car keys, especially the car keys, right on top.
- If I need to take something like cookies that are in my refrigerator, I put a note “cookies” on top of the keys.
- In the morning when I’m getting dressed, I set my phone on the floor in front of the bedroom door. Can’t leave without stepping on it--unless it matches the floor surface.
- Counters are dangerous. Do not set things on counters or couches where your phone can slide down into the crevices.
No Flying Cups: When you’re putting things in your car, don’t set your Starbucks cup on the roof. Set it on the hood in front of the driver’s seat. Then when you get in the car, it’s right in front of your face.
No Pockets Today? Just shoot me now. A day without pockets is a day where I set things down all over the place--notes, confiscated toys, and paper clips. No matter how cute those pocketless pants are, don’t be tempted to wear them when you’re teaching. If you do wear them, at the end of the day your students will help you gather your reading glasses and sunglasses and pens and lesson plans . . . . oh, and ask someone to call your phone so you can locate it.
Big Baggy Purse? No, no, no. Don’t spend your precious time fishing for your glasses, your pencil, your keys, your phone, your everything. (Eureka! Here’s my padlock for the gym. No wonder my purse was so heavy!)
- Instead, get a purse with handy compartments that close securely. Assign one compartment for keys, for example, and always put them in there. Always. No hunting required.
- Get a clip-on sunglass case that hangs from your purse strap, and speaking of straps--always get a purse that you can wear. That way you won’t set it down somewhere when you’re shopping.
Have a Collection Folder: Train your students to turn in hardcopy work to folders that you keep in one specific, permanent place. Have a student checklist on the folder’s cover.
List Your Tasks on a Mounted Whiteboard: Erase items as you complete them. This works better than slips of paper in your pockets or notes that get buried or unnoticed in your phone.
Remind Yourself: If you think of something important when you’re away from home, text it to yourself or call yourself and leave a message.
Say it Aloud: Say things aloud when you do them. For example, "I'm turning off my curling iron" or "I shut the garage door." This will help you later when you wonder if you remembered to do those things.
Don’t forget this: The Psalmist wrote: Your hands have made me and fashioned me. (Psalm 119:73a NKJV)
Yes, don’t forget that God made you. Don’t give up the ship. Keep on building those math 3-D vocabulary villages. Give value to those ideas that pop into your head like bubbles of joy. You are amazing!
“ . . . For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)
I would love to hear from my readers with more tips for ADHD grown-ups. Please email them to wednesdaywinks@yahoo.com.