October is ADHD awareness month, and here at LW4K, we’ll be discussing ways for parents to put digital media to good use for children with ADHD, all month long. We’ll be offering up some of our favorite games and apps for ADHD, as well as be giving parents tips for how best to implement them into their children’s Play Diet.
The recommended apps below offer ways to improve or support key cognitive skills such as Focus, Organization and Working Memory — common problem areas for kids with ADHD — with free and paid options alike. The apps range in purpose and functionality, providing a variety of ways for kids to be more organized, attentive and productive in academic and everyday tasks.
7 Awesome Apps for ADHD Children:
inClass can be an essential tool for children who wish to keep a detailed list of important class material and create a clear schedule for managing their work. Being prepared for individual classes eventually will help children with ADHD become more organized learners. inClass is most effective when tasks are broken down daily and hourly, allotting dedicated slots of time long enough for assignments to be thoroughly attended to and conveniently worked into users’ schedules.
It can sometimes seem that children with ADHD have an innate aversion to reading. Due to difficulties with attention and focus, it can be hard for them to tackle traditional reading activities. That’s why an app like Audiobooks is such an effective tool for these children, as it can be used to supplement traditional reading or peak an interest in books. By listening to Audiobooks while reading along with a text version, children will can internalize important skills in phonics, phonemic awareness, and overall comprehension.
Inspiration Maps offers a range of strategies for helping students do everything from writing an essay, to planning out a lab report or researching a paper. Children can organize their existing notes simply by uploading them into the app. They can also create original sets of notes, properly categorized into one of the app’s 30 templates. Report outlines, compare and contrast analysis, Venn diagrams, and linear thinking charts like the KWHL help users visually present their thoughts and ideas with clarity. Because Inspiration Maps is a limitless graphic organizer and a great study tool, we believe it is one of the top apps for ADHD.
Kids with ADHD will often waste time if they are not given direction — especially when it comes to searching the web. Diigo is a web-searching tool that allows kids to highlight, paste sticky notes, and make annotations on a page while browsing. Referred to as a “social bookmarking website,” Diigo allows children to organize favorite sites with bookmarks and tags, making it extremely useful for writing research papers that require multiple sources, as it helps to synthesize and organize large amounts of content. Essentially, Diigo has hastened that research process, making it easier to retrieve information.
It’s extremely important that kids who have been diagnosed with ADHD keep track of things that are important to their lives, and iCloud can help with that. School work, notes, books, music, and calendars can be backed up and stored. Kids with ADHD can rest assured that nothing important to them will be lost — and all content can be accessed remotely. Apple offers 5 GB of free space, with annual subscriptions available for purchase. It’s the perfect platform for organizing photos, documents and other media. More importantly kids who have ADHD can manage calenders, set reminders, and create events, keeping them from avoiding oversight.
Idea Bucket is an app that makes it easy to weigh options before making a decision, helping users to lay out their ideas in an organized fashion and make thoughtful, well-informed decisions. Using Idea Bucket requires users to stop and think about their choices before making a decision. This can be an especially helpful strategy for children with ADHD, who tend to make impulsive decisions without considering all of the options and consequences.
Cogmed Working Memory Training is a research-based, clinically proven computer-based program designed to improve memory capacity through targeted, regimented exercises. Children with ADHD often have difficulties with Working Memory skills. This very common phenomena can impact their ability to follow directions, recall simple daily routines, and retain academic information. Many of the more than fifty peer-reviewed published studies of Cogmed Working Memory Training have demonstrated its utility in helping children with ADHD.
