It's a question that I get from parents every week and it is a tough one to answer.
There's no magical age that I recommend as a minimum for ADHD coaching but there are some very good indicators that your child may or may not be ready.
Generally speaking, my current style of coaching is more suited to teenagers, young adults and adults. Coaching is more of a partnership rather than a typical mentor/mentee or teacher/student relationship and some children are not ready for this, particularly primary school aged children. If your child is open to help to support their goals then that is a great sign they are ready.
ADHD Coaches work on many areas such as executive functioning skills, organisational skills and study skills. Coaching can help students and families to create study systems and routines that work to the child's strengths and talents, while building an awareness of where their ADHD is creating barriers to reaching their goals.
It is vital that parents and caregivers are involved in the coaching process as much as possible and are in agreement of their goals, as often a child will come along to coaching and Mum or Dad are tearing their hair out over a particular issue that is not a priority for the child. This is where open lines of communication and working as a team is vital to our success.
When is coaching not the right approach?
you haven't told your child that you have organised coaching and are planning on breaking the news in the first session (please don't do that to a coach, no one enjoys the tension)
your child doesn't think that they need help with their ADHD or you haven't told them that they have a diagnosis
you want to 'fix' your child through coaching. They aren't broken and no one needs fixing (if you are concerned that your child requires assistance with their mental health please see your GP)
you need to 'drag them' or bribe them to attend sessions
they suffer from school refusal - this is well out of the scope of a coach and requires specialist treatment through a trained psychologist
you are not prepared to do some coaching yourself and become involved in the process
While sometimes the timing isn't right for your child there are many things you can do as a parent and one thing is ADHD Parent Coaching where we teach you to coach your child. It can be incredibly empowering and rewarding to witness the change in your child that coaching can bring.
