Thursday, September 30, 2010

Coaching and Family Dynamics

This week's guest blogger is Jodi Sleeper-Triplett, MCC, SCAC.

How can coaching help the dynamics of families with ADHD?

ADHD impacts all family members and family dynamics can get complicated. The coaching process helps families improve communication, learn time management and organizational strategies, find new ways to stay connected, and much more! Here are some tips for improving family dynamics:

• Make all family members accountable for household tasks. If everyone pitches in the work gets done faster. Decide in advance how the tasks will be divided and post a schedule where everyone can see it to avoid last minute “must-do” tasks.

• Reduce morning chaos by getting everything "ready to go" for work and school the previous night. This includes selecting clothing, setting out homework, book bags, projects, briefcases and preparing lunches.

• Parents—be curious and ask open-ended questions. Instead of “How was school?” ask “What did you do in school today?” to elicit conversation with your children.

• Hold weekly family meetings to review the past week and plan ahead.

Does this sound valuable for you and your family? Join Nancy Ratey and me for an interactive, thought-provoking preconference session on The Positive Impact of Coaching on Family Dynamics, at 1:30 PM on Thursday, November 11. Our session will be one of the dynamic preconference institutes offered by CHADD’s 22nd Annual International Conference on ADHD in Atlanta this year. See you there!


Considered the founder of the movement for ADHD coaching for youth, Jodi Sleeper-Triplett is the cofounder of the Institute for the Advancement of ADHD Coaching and the director of coach training for the Edge Foundation.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for this simple but full of lesson post. I can eventually apply this to my family. Thanks. http://coachestrainingblog.com/becomeacoach

Jennifer said...

Jodi,

I loved your guest blogger entry on the CHADD Leadership Blog, entitled: "Coaching and Family Dynamics".

I had to "laugh" at the Parents section enty where you said: be curious and ask open-ended questions. Instead of "How was school?" ask "What did you do in school today?" As an aunt to my nephew Spencer, even when I ask the open-ended question of "What did you do in school today?" His response is always the same one word "stuff". I then say, "what kind of stuff" Usually, he does not give a response to even this request for further information. And the conversation ends.