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Help your child thrive with Wunder — a free community app built for parents raising kids with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia.
Tips and strategies
Shira Moskovitz, MA
posted in Ask an expert: Dyslexia, tech, and learning
If your child is having trouble managing their workload, there are tools you can use to help them. Many learners (or adults) find Focus To-Do helpful. It’s a Chrome extension that helps you work for 30 minutes and achieve a short-term goal. During that time, they focus on their work for 25 minutes. They take a 5-minute break when the timer goes off.
- Quick tipGet focused through mindfulness.
Mindfulness exercises and deep breathing are great for focus. They help people keep their thoughts from drifting — before or during a task.
Dr. Kristin J. Carothers
posted in Ask an expert: ADHD and managing emotions
Hello, everyone! When your child is facing a difficult situation, it’s important to go over their concerns, and also remind them of their strengths. Filling out these prompts together can help. [View resources in Wunder.]
- Quick tipPlan “brain breaks.”
Plan to take a break before frustration or lack of focus sets in. For grade-schoolers, that’s typically after 10 to 15 minutes of work. Older students can work for up to 20 to 30 minutes before a break. Set timers for when to start and end each break.
Dr. Ellen Braaten
posted in Ask an expert: Executive function and motivation
Knowing yourself — and thinking of ADHD as something that needs to be embraced as opposed to cured — is an important part of any therapeutic approach.
- Quick tipTry a fidget.
Sometimes kids need a fidget in order to stop fidgeting. Items like squeeze balls, Silly Putty, rubber bands, and even gum, are tools that can provide the movement and sensation kids need without bothering other people.
Podcast
Finding focus for my ADHD with freelance photography
Ryan Walter Wagner has bounced around many jobs with his ADHD. He’s found a home in freelance photography, where he elevates other people’s stories.
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