Recommended Supplies to Help Your ADHD Student Succeed in School

Students and parents all around the country are making a list and checking it twice to be sure they have all the necessary supplies for going back to school .  Ahhhhh, it’s that time of year.  Have all papers been completed and signed?  Has the summer reading list been finished?  Are all the clothes mended, laundered, and spruced up in every way?  Have tags been clipped off of new clothes and shoes? Is the new backpack all organized and ready to go? Has the new lunch box been cleaned, dried, and loaded to fulfill its purpose in life?

Perhaps more than other students, the young person with ADHD may need some special supplies that will help them function at their best during the school year.  Think of the specific areas of struggle you have noticed in your student in the past, and check to see which suggestions included here can help them to be a better student, more capable and more confident of learning what they need to know in order to have a great life ahead.

Most ADHD/ADD-ers struggle a great deal with organizing, so it’s no surprise that a lot of these special tools are designed to help with organization.

WHY does the ADHD student need this? – Labels printed with this labeler will help remind the student of what belongs where, making the process of cleaning up or tidying up much simpler; and of course it will help them find the necessary object later. This model uses laminated tape available in several widths; labels can be printed in two fonts and on one or two lines. Several pre-set layouts give an opportunity for students to express themselves creatively and also to create a code system, using a specific layout style to help locate a specific application.

WHY are these needed? – ADHD/ADD-ers generally love gadgets of all kind. If your student has many electronic gadgets, they will need many batteries. This organizer keeps up to 66 batteries of many different sizes tidy and in one convenient location. You may wish to buy an additional inexpensive tester to keep on hand. With either battery tester, you can decide quickly whether a battery has enough juice to merit keeping it or if it should simply go in the recycling bin. Think of all the batteries you could save, if you knew easily how much power is left in them!

HOW can this help? – ADHD/ADD-ers may not be able to write fast enough (process verbally) to take notes or to keep up with assignments and important information shared in class. Check the school’s policy (and check with individual teachers) to learn whether this voice recorder is allowed. If your student has an individual study plan, it may be possible to include this as one element in the plan. Even the student who is not allowed to use this recorder at school may find it helpful in completing assignments. If they have trouble writing or keying their thoughts fast enough when writing out assignments, it may be very helpful for them to dictate their thoughts into the recorder for transcribing later. This recorder is one of the best.

And WHY this? – These organizers are designed as places to keep “stuff,” the little odds and ends that we need, that might sit on an end table or coffee table, wherever student is sitting or lying. Here there is room for tissues, glasses, a book, a remote, a pad and pencil, a digital voice recorder, all kinds of small items. The student can put together their “study stuff” and carry it around easily, if needed; the caddy can be simply lifted off of one chair arm and taken to another one. Many ADHD/ADD-ers do their best work when they work in unusual postures – lying on a couch; lying facedown on the floor; stretched out on the bed; half-sitting, half-lying in an arm chair with knees drawn up and head on the arm rest. Any one of these caddies can serve as a place to keep and to find what you need and then to put it back in the right location. ADHD/ADD-ers need convenience and as much help as possible in organizing and putting things away. Some of these organizers even have a flat top where a drink or a snack can sit (but please do be careful – it’s not fool-proof!).

HOW does this help the ADHD student? – Here again is more help with putting things away in clear, but very elegant or at least attractive-looking containers. See-through means that the contents can be recognized quickly, even without labels (but labels will help even here). The acrylic drawer organizer is helpful with small items on desk or counter, like paper clips and perler beads. The removable drawer (seven-drawer craft cart) organizer, designed for hobbyists like scrap-bookers, has the advantage of lidded drawers that can separately be carried around like portfolios! File one project in a drawer, and then remove it to carry by itself to a study session or a group project work session. For students that work best with color-coding, rather than clear organizers, buy the multi-drawer colorful drawer organizer.

WHY does the ADHD student need this? - Well, who doesn't?! - As an electronic gadget, it’s clearly high on list of must-haves for the ADHD/ADD student and everyone else who reads. It’s easier to keep on hand and to read books of all sizes and weights and lengths. Imagine holding 3500 books in the palm of your hand!  Imagine your student having access to all kinds of reference books at their fingertips.  With the Kindle there is less to carry around and lose; and it’s more environmentally friendly, and more posture-friendly, than a backpack full of heavy books.

WHY this? The Encyclopedia Britannica CANNOT be beat as a source of reliable information about practically every subject under the sun. Accessed on the computer, your student will find it to be the perfect source for accurate, trust-worthy information. Easier access than a multi-volume set of hardback books, and incredibly great new features will have your student enjoying research more with each project. Teach these new generations that Wikipedia is not the final answer for research!

HOW can this help the ADHD student? Some studies indicate that physical balancing tasks can be very helpful to ADHD/ADD students, even helping with the development of parts of the brain. My son’s fifth grade class years ago used a similar type of seating for one semester, and it received very high marks for classroom use. All kinds of physical exercise help with focus and concentration, even the exercise of keeping your balance or keeping good posture while sitting.

WHY? All Westerners, and Americans in particular, need more activity in our lives, since we have become so dreadfully sedentary. ADHD/ADD people need physical activity even more than the average person. Better attentiveness, focus, memory and mood are all related to a healthier level of physical activity. And since ADHD/ADD-ers tend to enjoy working in odd or off-beat “postures” – lying in bed, lying on floor or couch, standing or walking – these devices can help in two important ways - providing an alternate posture and providing an opportunity for exercise. Some treadmill desks are designed to work with a treadmill which you already own; some models include the treadmill. The surfshelf treadmill desk and laptop holder is designed as a station for your laptop, to attach to your treadmill, exercise bike, or other exercise equipment.

HOW do these help? The undated notebook planner is great because it can be used well with an irregular schedule; just date and use the days needed – no need to waste unused calendar days. The Emergent Task Planner planning sheets have the advantage of focusing on only a few really important tasks each day – no becoming overwhelmed with a to-do list that’s 100 items long. The ADHD/ADD student’s attention will be more focused because this planning method helps to eliminate the distraction caused by lower priority items.

So there you have it! A handful, and more, of great suggestions to help your ADHD/ADD student to focus better, to work better, to organize better, and to have an all-round better year at school. Here's to making it a great one!

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Disclaimer Notice - Please know that I benefit financially from any purchase you make as a result of clicking on one of the links contained in this article or on this site.

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