In Which I Share a Simple Tool That Makes ADHD Less Onerous

When you have ADHD, remembering more than a couple details at a time can be really difficult. It's really helpful, as Squirrelboy has transitioned to public school this year, that his school uses a program called Canvas for most of the work the students do. Nearly all assignments are given and submitted through Canvas. It's a million times easier than remembering to write down the homework every day (which apparently isn't a thing anymore, but which I had to do in high school), or even looking up assignments on various teacher websites. However, the program has not advanced to the point where it moves the assignments straight into Squirrelboy's brain, in a place where they won't be forgotten :).

Especially when there's a project that has to be completed over several days, or when a test or quiz is announced several days beforehand, it's hard for Squirrelboy to remember when to submit something, when to study, or when to work on a portion of his project. He has somehow developed the idea, presumably because I was his teacher for 3 years, that I'm the person who should remind him about these things and make sure he's doing them.

Here's the problem: my brain also has a hard time remembering more than a few details at a time. I don't have a clinical diagnosis of ADHD, but, the more I've learned about it through Squirrelboy's experience, the more I realize he inherited this type of brain from me. Since a portion of my brain has been taken up 24/7 with diabetes details for the past 2 1/2 years it has become significantly harder for me to remember other details.

Enter the whiteboard. We put the whiteboard up before I started homeschooling Squirrelboy for 6th grade. Since the kitchen was going to be the main schoolroom, it made sense to put the whiteboard on the kitchen wall, right above the shelf where homeschool books were stored. It did come in handy for various school purposes, but it has come in handy even more for every day life.

When Kittygirl was first diagnosed with T1D, it came in handy for writing down and calculating the number of carbohydrates she was eating. We still use it for writing down some diabetes details, though we no longer feel the need to write down every carb and add it up on the board.

For some reason, it didn't occur to me until this fall that it would be useful for me or Squirrelboy to write the things he wanted me to help him remember on the board. We've started doing that, and it has made a huge difference. Pictured is an example of a reminder on the board from a couple weeks ago. Squirrelboy did indeed remember to submit the stuff for health class that evening when everyone else was out of the house. When your brain isn't up to doing a task on your agenda without assistance, it's time to use that very brain to find a workaround.