As many parents are well aware, the expectations of college require an adjustment period for any teenager. For a teen with ADHD, this adjustment time might be tough, unless they’ve received adequate support in developing their independence skills. If you want to help your teen succeed in college there are things you can do while they are in high school that will help.
Attending class on time, keeping up with school work so as not to get behind, turning in assignments by the due dates, getting enough sleep, eating right, and having good judgment when it comes to parties, alcohol, and drugs, are all habits successful students will need to possess. How difficult your teen’s adjustment to college life will depend on how well you and other stakeholders have prepared your student. As you can see from the list above, the most important factor for adequate preparation will be independent functioning. In essence, does the soon to be college student have the right perspective and necessary habits to succeed in that all-important first semester?
The good news is that you CAN help your teen prepare for and succeed in college by helping her learn how to be independently responsible for herself before she gets there. And while history has shown us that relying on parents, teachers and other stakeholders they’ve engaged with in high school to do the job is often not enough, there is another good option. By hiring a coach to work with your teen beginning in their junior or senior year of high school, and having that coach continue to work with them on a virtual platform during their first semester, the chances of college success increases several-fold. No parent wants their teenager to become part of the statistical average of the ones who don’t make it.
With these ideas in mind, listed below are the Top 3 Tips for parents to keep in mind when helping their teen to decide if he is ready of for college, to prepare for their first semester in college, or to bring up their grades and GPA in any year of college:
Is Your Teen Ready To Be Independent?
Discuss with your teen, and others who know him well, whether or not your teen is truly prepared to function independently on his own based on the ideas previously mentioned. Taking a “gap year” is becoming more and more often a better choice. Don’t forget that it can be wiser to wait a year than to produce poor grades the first semester and spend the rest of a college career trying to bring them up to decent standing.
Help Your Teen Succeed in College with a Plan
Using the ideas above, as well as your own, come up with a plan to begin weaning your teen from the support systems she will not have in college, such as waking up and getting out of bed in the morning, staying with a good daily and weekly routine, balancing her academic schedule so she stays on top of her studies, making healthy choices about eating, sleeping, experimenting with drugs and alcohol, remembering to take her meds, and deciding on the least distracting place to get his work done. This is where an academic coach can make all the difference.
Empower Independent Thought In High School
An important aspect of independent functioning is allowing your teen to begin making their own choices and decisions while they are still in high school. In other words, support them, don’t solve their problems for them. When you do, you take away their opportunity to learn from their mistakes. Most parents would agree that they want their son or daughter to make mistakes with their support while they are still at home rather than away at college without their support or knowledge.
Your teen is leaving the nest and college is an important step between childhood and adulthood. Working together, all partners in your teen’s success can ensure a good result!
Will ADHD Affect Your Teen’s College Success?
College is a completely different world from High School. The level of stress is higher and the level of support can be lower. How well your teen manages ADHD symptoms and behaviors in this new environment can lead to college success, struggle, or failure. Take the ADHD and College Success Quiz to find out whether your teen’s ADHD management is at the level it needs to be to reach college success goals.
