The Child with ADD and School Communication

Of all the accommodations recommended for the child with ADD, perhaps the most important is an established system of parent teacher communication. We all know of the school disasters and heart breaks that can occur as a result of faulty parent/teacher communications it is best to be proactive and as early as possible in the ADD child's diagnosis formulate a parent/school communication plan.

The best ADD school communication procedures are established every year before school begins. A phone or email exchange is often required to establish how best to pursue ongoing communication throughout the school year but it really never too late in the school year to begin. You may meet with some resistance as some teachers prefer to communicate only as needed but this may not be the best plan of action for children with ADD.

Ongoing communication is required for several reasons. When communication only occurs when there is a problem, teachers dread having to inform the parent of the problems and parents perceive the communication as a reprimand or a failing on their part. With an ongoing communication plan, these emotional exchanges between parent and teacher can be avoided.

Prior to setting up the ongoing communication procedure the parent and teacher should meet to discuss the areas of difficulties that the child has had in past school years. Behavioral, organizational, attention and social issues should be discussed. The parent and teacher should agree on a communication 'form' that addresses all these areas.

In addition the 'update' form should have information regarding the school work and homework that the child will be required to complete and the time frame that the child has to complete each assignment. Many teachers draft an outline of weekly work and the teacher need not redo this outline. Simply attaching the outline to the update form will be sufficient communication.

I feel as though the best communication system involves a preferably short weekly email updating the parent on:

Upcoming Assignments
Progress in ongoing assignment
Behavioral/Attention/Social issues Update
Organizational issues update

The form should be short in order that the teacher can complete it with ease and so that the parent will be continuously informed regarding the ADD child's most pressing school issues.

I have made a form in 'word' that addresses these 'update' issues but you can make one yourself or find forms that are adaptable for this purpose on teacher's sites. The Parent/Teacher communication form can be emailed on printed out.

In some schools the form goes home every Friday in a folder and is due back on Monday. Parents know to look for this form at the end of the school week. Other teachers prefer to send a similar form out at the beginning of the week reporting on issues encountered in the previous week. The latter gives the teacher time over the weekend to reflect on the week and then complete the form. Either method is fine as the important thing is that there is communication.

For the ADD Child, school communication can mean the difference between success and failure. A simple system of communication between parent and teacher is easy to implement and will, in the end, make the parent, teacher, student and school relationship, a much better one.


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