ADHD
Academic Success for Children with ADHD

Academic Success for Students with ADHD

As adolescents reach middle school and enter high school, they experience an increase in academic demands and expectations (class work and homework load, number of teachers and classes to juggle, and organization of various activities). For adolescents with ADHD, the increase in demands and expectations of higher grade levels and, at times, the loss of academic supports provided in elementary school may lead to a decline in grades or academic failure.

Our Academic Success for Young Adolescents with ADHD group program is designed to meet the needs of adolescents with ADHD who are in Middle School (grades 6 through 8), while our Academic Success for High Schoolers with ADHD group is designed for adolescents with ADHD who are in their freshman and sophomore year of high school. Both group programs teach adolescents and their parents specific strategies targeting academic improvement that work for most adolescents with ADHD. Moreover, parents and adolescents learn how to advocate for appropriate accommodations or other assistance at school.

Both groups are conducted with dyads of parents and their adolescents. Typically, no more than eight sets of parents and adolescents are enrolled at a time. The Academic Success for Young Adolescents with ADHD program consists of seven weekly sessions, 90 minutes each, taught in the late afternoon / early evening, whereas the Academic Success for High Schoolers with ADHD program consists of eight weekly sessions, 90 minutes each.
Yes. The parent will attend all sessions, while the adolescent will attend all but one session (one session is parents-only). In these sessions, parents and adolescents will work together to learn and apply specific strategies to improve the adolescent’s academic success with homework and in the classroom.
The strategies taught in these programs are appropriate for adolescents who have a primary diagnosis of ADHD, who are either in sixth through eighth grades or in their freshman or sophomore year of high school, and who are experiencing academic difficulties.

The following topics are covered in the Academic Success for Young Adolescents with ADHD program:

  • Understanding ADHD and its impact on school performance
  • Behavioral management strategies
  • Improving homework performance
  • Time management
  • Organizational strategies
  • Study skills

The following topics are covered in the Academic Success for High Schoolers with ADHD program:

  • Understanding ADHD and its impact on school performance
  • Improving parent-adolescent communication
  • Improving homework performance
  • Balancing between tasks “I have to do” and tasks “I want to do.”
  • Organizational strategies
  • Reducing stress for both the adolescent and parent
  • Improving the relationship between the adolescent and parent

View the ADHD Group Therapy Schedule (PDF), which includes date, time and location information for these programs on page 2.  To sign up for either group program, call the Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology's Intake Office at 513-636-4336, option #.