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ADHD Coaching
A professional coach trained to help children with ADHD could help your child succeed in reaching his or her goals and overcome obstacles. A coach can make practical suggestions on how you and your family can help your child define and achieve success on a day-to-day basis. Together you will develop an action plan to best support your child's natural talents and abilities.
A professional ADHD coach can help:
- Determine your child's strengths and weaknesses, where your child stands now and ways to further develop your child's talents and abilities
- Define and set goals, including a set of practical actions to help your child achieve those goals
- Show your child how to organize and prioritize tasks so he or she gets the most important things done first
- Provide tips for getting homework done with more success and consistency
- Improve social skills and reduce impulsivity
- Recommend household chores to help your child develop responsibility and family participation
- Encourage future successes and help your child see his or her progress to build self-confidence
- Provide tips to help other family members support your child's treatment and goals
- Recommend family coping strategies
- Suggest positive parenting skills you may not yet have tried that may help you get results
For more information about professional ADHD coaches visit these sites:
Tips for finding the right ADHD coach for you and your child
- Do you and your child feel comfortable with the coach?
It can be a good idea for your child and the coach to meet or talk on the phone. Will the coach be sensitive to your family's lifestyle? Is he or she able to establish an immediate rapport or easiness with you and your child? Be sure to trust your instincts, and don’t be afraid to interview more than one coach. One person may “click” more with your child than another. Some coaches work exclusively by phone, others in person, and some by combination or Web cam.
- Does the coach have professional experience and meet professional standards?
Ask whether the coach has certifications, licenses, and professional affiliations and specific training in ADHD and especially in working with children with ADHD. Since ADHD coaching is somewhat of an emerging field, there are no formal guidelines just yet for coaching credentials, so be sure to ask about his or her experience coaching children with ADHD. Also, ask how long he or she has been working as a professional coach and be sure to ask for references (and do follow up with the references he or she provides).
- How does the coach propose working with your child, and how often?
Get this in writing. What happens if you need to cancel an appointment? How long are appointments? What happens if you have questions between appointments? How will you measure the coach's success?
- Ask what his or her rates are, and make sure these fit within your budget.
Most coaches work on a monthly basis.
- Does the coach seem to have effective communication skills and style?
Is the coach a good listener? Will the coach work well with you, your child, and your child's support team if needed? Do you understand the points that the coach is making?
- How will the coach help your child succeed?
Ask what organizational tools and strategies he or she might recommend to strengthen your child's talents and abilities. Ask the coach to give you examples of how the major tools and tips that he or she suggests have worked. Do you agree with the coach's general philosophy in coaching children and families with ADHD?
- Try it out and see how it goes.
You can always try another coach if you and your child aren’t pleased with the progress. Coaching is personal, so you need to find the right fit.
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