information overload and the organized homeschool
Executive function allows people to analyze, plan, organize, schedule, and complete tasks, but for people people with ADHD and autism, we struggle with executive dysfunction. This makes things like time awareness/management, organization, breaking big tasks down into attainable steps, switching tasks, emotional regulation, sensory-overstimulation, and information intake quite difficult.
If you struggle with executive dysfunction, it can be hard to focus, difficult to absorb information by reading or hearing (this is why people with executive dysfunction find it easiest to learn by doing), or know instinctively how much time simple tasks will take (time blindness).
For me, information overload affects our homeschool in big ways. It is difficult for me to lesson plan, so I don't. My mind sort of freezes up and makes it impossible for me to sift through information to understand what's going on, and I end up misplacing things or becoming emotionally frazzled until I feel almost paralyzed. Often I don't complete tasks on time because I can't even grasp what is required. Combined with my ADHD, something as simple as too many things to look at (visual stimuli) will throw me off and make me feel like I'm losing control.
I liken it to trying to hold armfuls of bouncy balls, but they just keep bouncing all over the place, and I can only grasp onto two or three at a time. Someone else described it as neurotypicals having a mental workspace the size of a desk, while people with ADHD have a mental workspace the size of a plate.
We joined a co-op this year, and information overload took over my life! Suddenly, I had emails from 4-5 teachers every single week, pages upon pages of homework, missing booklists that I realized weeks later I had never received (to the fault of no one), as well as needing to plan my own class (read-aloud with preschoolers, pretty simple, right?) -- I felt like I was going to crack!
If you struggle with executive dysfunction, it can be hard to focus, difficult to absorb information by reading or hearing (this is why people with executive dysfunction find it easiest to learn by doing), or know instinctively how much time simple tasks will take (time blindness).
For me, information overload affects our homeschool in big ways. It is difficult for me to lesson plan, so I don't. My mind sort of freezes up and makes it impossible for me to sift through information to understand what's going on, and I end up misplacing things or becoming emotionally frazzled until I feel almost paralyzed. Often I don't complete tasks on time because I can't even grasp what is required. Combined with my ADHD, something as simple as too many things to look at (visual stimuli) will throw me off and make me feel like I'm losing control.
I liken it to trying to hold armfuls of bouncy balls, but they just keep bouncing all over the place, and I can only grasp onto two or three at a time. Someone else described it as neurotypicals having a mental workspace the size of a desk, while people with ADHD have a mental workspace the size of a plate.
We joined a co-op this year, and information overload took over my life! Suddenly, I had emails from 4-5 teachers every single week, pages upon pages of homework, missing booklists that I realized weeks later I had never received (to the fault of no one), as well as needing to plan my own class (read-aloud with preschoolers, pretty simple, right?) -- I felt like I was going to crack!
Two weeks ago, I finally got a hold of everything (I think!) and figured out how to make all this information work for me.
1) I needed all INFORMATION to be physically available and in ONE PLACE; not in a series of emails, take-home instruction pages, homework sheets, and digital teacher's manuals. I realized I needed to print the manuals and write down information from emails immediately, then keep everything in one location. Having it all over the house, on the computer, and on the internet was way too much for my brain to keep up with.
2) Finding a way to SORT this information was the next important step. I had folders for each subject, and tried putting finished homework on the left and unfinished homework on the right, but every time I pulled them out, I became overwhelmed with the amount of paper and felt like I had to sift through everything to remember where we'd left off. Executive dysfunction makes it hard to make decisions when there are too many options, and even six folders (12 different slots for paper) was too much for me.
The answer to this was simple: paper clamps! Not the wire clips, but the ones with jaws that open and close. With paper clamps doing the job of keeping homework together, while keeping it easily available, I sorted each stack into four simple categories: one stack of my 2nd grader's work (every subject, since her workload was a lot lighter and more "play"), one stack of my 4th grader's science work, one stack 4th grade language arts/history/geography, and one stack which is the teacher's manual.
3) Now I needed a FLOW that worked with our natural physical movements. It might sound trivial, but a natural physical flow is important because switching tasks is difficult for us. Lugging two heavy backpacks to the table for school every day, sifting through to find the right folders and books, and then back to the coat rack was not working. Once a worksheet was complete, what needed to happen to it?
One day an idea dawned on me. I have a 3-tier rolling cart that I love, but have never found a great use for. I cleaned it out and stored student books on the top, teacher manuals in the middle, and homework sheets on the bottom. It's right there, in the middle of our school room and easily accessible. Once a single sheet of homework is complete, the sheet goes into the folder which lives in the backpack. This is important to note, because all of the paper was information overload to me. Now I know it's complete, and it's out of sight, out of mind. I only have to focus on what's left in the rolling cart.
It can be hard to figure out what works for me, but what I've realized is there is a way... I just have to try a few things out, not be afraid to switch things up and then change it again if it doesn't work. It's trial and error, and once something works it just clicks, and then thing magically become smoother. The stress of this one thing in my life has pretty much disappeared, all thanks to a few simple changes!
1) I needed all INFORMATION to be physically available and in ONE PLACE; not in a series of emails, take-home instruction pages, homework sheets, and digital teacher's manuals. I realized I needed to print the manuals and write down information from emails immediately, then keep everything in one location. Having it all over the house, on the computer, and on the internet was way too much for my brain to keep up with.
2) Finding a way to SORT this information was the next important step. I had folders for each subject, and tried putting finished homework on the left and unfinished homework on the right, but every time I pulled them out, I became overwhelmed with the amount of paper and felt like I had to sift through everything to remember where we'd left off. Executive dysfunction makes it hard to make decisions when there are too many options, and even six folders (12 different slots for paper) was too much for me.
The answer to this was simple: paper clamps! Not the wire clips, but the ones with jaws that open and close. With paper clamps doing the job of keeping homework together, while keeping it easily available, I sorted each stack into four simple categories: one stack of my 2nd grader's work (every subject, since her workload was a lot lighter and more "play"), one stack of my 4th grader's science work, one stack 4th grade language arts/history/geography, and one stack which is the teacher's manual.
3) Now I needed a FLOW that worked with our natural physical movements. It might sound trivial, but a natural physical flow is important because switching tasks is difficult for us. Lugging two heavy backpacks to the table for school every day, sifting through to find the right folders and books, and then back to the coat rack was not working. Once a worksheet was complete, what needed to happen to it?
One day an idea dawned on me. I have a 3-tier rolling cart that I love, but have never found a great use for. I cleaned it out and stored student books on the top, teacher manuals in the middle, and homework sheets on the bottom. It's right there, in the middle of our school room and easily accessible. Once a single sheet of homework is complete, the sheet goes into the folder which lives in the backpack. This is important to note, because all of the paper was information overload to me. Now I know it's complete, and it's out of sight, out of mind. I only have to focus on what's left in the rolling cart.
It can be hard to figure out what works for me, but what I've realized is there is a way... I just have to try a few things out, not be afraid to switch things up and then change it again if it doesn't work. It's trial and error, and once something works it just clicks, and then thing magically become smoother. The stress of this one thing in my life has pretty much disappeared, all thanks to a few simple changes!
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