Organizational Skills Training for Children with ADHD An Empirically Supported Treatment

This indispensable manual presents an easy-to-implement intervention with proven effectiveness for children with ADHD in grades 3 to 5. Organizational skills training helps kids develop essential skill sets for organizing school materials, tracking assignments, and completing homework and other tasks successfully. Clinicians are provided with detailed session-by-session instructions and all of the tools needed to implement the program in collaboration with parents and teachers. In a large-size format for easy photocopying, the book includes nearly 100 reproducible handouts and forms. Purchasers also get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials.

See also the related parent guide from Gallagher et al., The Organized Child: An Effective Program to Maximize Your Kid's Potential/m-/in School and in Life.

Richard Gallagher, PhD, is Associate Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and of Psychiatry at New York University (NYU) and Director of Special Projects at the Institute for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity and Behavior Disorders at the Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center. Dr. Gallagher has been treating and evaluating children for over 30 years and has played roles in developing training programs for child and adolescent psychologists and psychiatrists. With Howard B. Abikoff, Dr. Gallagher coauthored the research manual on which this book is based and coauthored the Children's Organizational Skills Scale.

Howard B. Abikoff, PhD, is the Pevaroff Cohn Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Professor of Psychiatry at NYU and Director of the Institute for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity and Behavior Disorders at the Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center. For almost 40 years, much of his work has centered on the development and evaluation of assessment measures and treatments for children with ADHD. Dr. Abikoff has published more than 150 papers, chapters, and reviews, and serves on the editorial boards of five journals. With Richard Gallagher, Dr. Abikoff coauthored the research manual on which this book is based and coauthored the Children's Organizational Skills Scale.

Elana G. Spira, PhD, is a clinical psychologist with advanced training in behavior management for children with ADHD. As a child behavior therapist at the Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, she provided organizational skills training (OST) to children and parents in all five years of the research study that tested the efficacy of OST. Dr. Spira is an Adjunct Lecturer at the NYU Silver School of Social Work. She has published and presented workshops on emergent literacy and behavior problems in early childhood. Currently, she coordinates program evaluation and outcome research for child and youth services at Westchester Jewish Community Services, a large human-service agency in Westchester County, New York.

I. Introduction to the Organizational Skills Training Program
1. The Need for Organizational Skills Training for Children with ADHD
2. The OST Program and Guidelines for Assessment
3. A Guide to Teacher Contacts
II. Session-By-Session Guidelines
Session 1. Introduction: Parent and Child Orientation
Session 2. Introduction: Using Social Learning Strategies to Motivate Skills Building (for Parents Only)
Session 3. Tracking Assignments: Implementing Behavior Management Procedures and Getting It All Down
Session 4. Tracking Assignments: The Daily Assignment Record and the Assignment and Test Calendar
Session 5. Managing Materials: Managing Papers for School
Session 6. Managing Materials: Review of Routines for Tracking Assignments and Managing Papers
Session 7. Managing Materials: Introducing a Backpack Checklist
Session 8. Managing Materials: “Other Stuff” and Other Bags
Session 9. Managing Materials: Getting Work Areas Ready to Go
Session 10. Time Management: Understanding Time and Calendars
Session 11. Time Management: Time Tracking for Homework
Session 11a (Optional). Time Management: Instruction in Telling Time and Calculating the Passage of Time
Session 12. Time Management: Time-Planning Conferences at Home and School
Session 13. Time Management: Time Planning for Longer-Term Assignments and Avoiding Distractions
Session 14. Time Management: Time Planning for Regular Routines
Session 15. Task Planning: Introduction to Task Planning
Session 16. Task Planning: Next Steps--Managing Materials and Time
Session 17. Task Planning: Fitting the Steps into the Schedule
Session 18. Task Planning: Planning for Long-Term Projects
Session 19. Task Planning: Checking It Out and Planning for Graduation
Session 20. Program Summary: Personalized Commercial and Graduation
III. Forms and Handouts
Therapist Forms
Parent and Child Handouts
Teacher Forms