How to Achieve Success in School When Spring Fever Sets In

The sun is shining, birds are chirping, days are getting longer, and focus is waning. That’s right, it’s the end of the school year. It’s difficult to maintain focus on those end-of-year tasks like studying for exams or final projects when summer vacation occupies your thoughts. I’m sure most of us can remember these feelings when we were in school, imagine how much worse it is for your neurodivergent student who struggles daily to maintain focus, stay organized and complete tasks. Children with ADHD, for example, become under-stimulated more easily than their non-ADHD peers, so when spring fever hits, there are some strategies that can help your student push through when they would rather be enjoying some summer fun.

Maintain routines

Maintaining a structured homework schedule will help students stay on track and finish out the school year strong. In addition, it will alleviate frustration from both kids and parents if established routines stay in place.

Help your child prioritize end-of-year tasks

Executive functioning is a neurological process that enables us to pay attention to what is most important at the time so we can perform the appropriate behaviors. Additionally, executive functioning is important for planning and initiating tasks, time management, organization, and emotional control. Neurodivergent students with deficits in executive functioning will, for example, struggle with making a schedule to study for a comprehensive final exam, often unable to break down the large task into smaller, more manageable ones. Helping your student make a plan and prioritize end-of-year tasks can help prevent feelings of being overwhelmed and subsequently ignoring the tasks altogether. Remember, it’s important to help your child to set reasonable goals when making the end-of-year plan (e.g., studying five chapters of biology in one night may be too many, but two may be doable). If your child is a visual learner (most neurodivergent students are), then setting up a color-coded calendar may be useful with different colors for different priority levels. Using reminders on digital calendars may also be useful.

Establish accountability

We are all familiar with the phrase, “Misery loves company.” This is especially true for neurodivergent students, like those with ADHD. According to developmental pediatrician Patricia Quinn, “Hard work is simply more fun when someone else is nearby.” Enlisting the help of a body double may increase focus and productivity in kids with ADHD. The body double may sit quietly or participate in the activity with your child (e.g., a study buddy). If you are the body double for your child, you can remind them that help is available and gently re-direct them to the task when you see them getting distracted.

As a college student, my ADHD son likes to meet with friends in a quiet location, away from the distractions of his dorm room, to study. In addition to a study buddy, younger and older students alike can establish accountability by sharing digital calendars with friends or family members.

Use a study aid

Ever since my ADHD son was in elementary school, he has used a white noise generator when doing homework or studying; his favorite sound is the thunderstorm. White noise can help your neurodivergent student tune out distractions (like the birds singing outside on a bright, sunny afternoon great for playing outside), and help them to focus on the necessary (mundane and boring) task at hand. Listening to music can also help with maintaining focus.

Acknowledge achievements

Identifying the small steps your neurodivergent learner takes to complete tasks, and their success, can help them to confidently finish out the school year. Little steps of encouragement can go a long way to overall success. Interestingly, studies have found that providing neurodivergent learners with daily report cards, which focus on positive behaviors, can increase a student’s academic success. Additionally, praising your child for their effort can help them to develop a growth mindset. Children with ADHD often have a fixed mindset and feel frustrated when they struggle to complete a task they believe they are not good at (e.g., I am not good at math, so why should I study for the final exam?). In contrast, individuals with a growth mindset view mistakes as learning opportunities to help them perform better in the future. So, try to remind your child of all they have accomplished already during the school year.

Although neurodivergent students live in the here and now, and rewarding behavior usually doesn’t work, you may be able to provide incentives for students who have goals in mind. I know for my son, his desire to stay at college is a motivator for him to do well academically.

Allow creativity

Neurodivergent students are creative, outside-the-box thinkers with intense interests (hyperfocus). It may be possible to use their creativity to get through difficult school assignments. For example: Can your child write a final paper on a topic they enjoy learning about? Can your son pretend he is an engineer and the math he is reviewing for an exam is important for building a sky scrapper or a rocket? Can your daughter pretend she is a forensic scientist when studying for a biology test?

It may not be time for sun and fun at the beach just yet, but get outdoors and move

Regular exercise can improve focus in children with ADHD, according to John Ratey, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Exercise increases levels of the brain chemicals dopamine and norepinephrine, helping to alleviate the inattention associated with ADHD. Exercise can also help regulate emotional control and fidgetiness. I saw improvement in my son’s focus when he would take homework breaks to go outside and ride his bike around the block. He would come back inside, mood improved, and ready to tackle another homework assignment. Now in college, my son will take breaks to go rock climbing, ride his electric skateboard, or shoot some hockey pucks at the local ice rink (I find it humorous that he didn’t become interested in ice hockey until he went to college in sunny Florida).