Getting Your ADD or ADHD Child to Clean Their Bedroom

You know your attention deficit/hyperactive child often has difficulty performing even the smallest of tasks. Asking your ADD/ADHD child to do something as simple as brushing teeth can involve thirty minutes and complex parental frustration. So what do you do when faced with the Herculean task of having an ADD/ADHD child clean their messy bedroom? Do not lose all hope. It is possible for your ADD or ADHD child to clean their own room by themself. Well, mostly by themself...

First, put on your happy face. Or your fake happy face. Not all of these tips and tricks will work for you, but trying these suggestions are better than cleaning a destroyed bedroom yourself, right? You have nothing to lose. After affixing a cheerful, enthusiastic smile upon your face and announcing to your ADD or ADHD child that it's ROOM CLEANING TIME!!!, jump right into it.

- Assign small, discrete tasks. "Let's start out by just picking up stuffed animals!" Pick something small to start out with. Be specific. "Take the stuffed animals and put them in this box." Starting with a small, easily-accomplished assignment makes the overall task seem less daunting. Do not assign multiple tasks. One thing at a time.

- Utilize boxes. Assuming your child is of reading age, label these boxes. Box for shoes. Box for dirty laundry. Box for Barbies. Box for toy cars. And bags for trash. So, so many bags for trash.

- Assign a number of items to pick up. I don't know why or how this works, but it does. Assigning a specific number of items to pick up creates both a challenge and an attainable goal for your child. Start out with small numbers and watch your child grow disdainful of anything less than a double-digit number. Pretty soon, your child will come to you and say, "I didn't pick up twelve things. I picked up twenty-eight things." You will react with suitable awe.

- Use a kitchen timer. I don't know why my ADD/ADHD kid performs better under pressure, but more room gets cleaned in five minutes using a kitchen timer than in an hour without a kitchen timer.

- It goes without saying that you should utilize positive reinforcement. Make a big deal out of small accomplishments. If you can see a portion of the floor that you haven't seen in weeks (months? years?), express your amazement. Remark on how great the improvement is. And if they come to find you to show you how remarkable the change in their room, get up from whatever you're doing to go take a look and admire. Resist the urge to nitpick, offer instruction, or express disdain for the lack of progress. Take every little victory.

- Give your child regular breaks. Even kids who don't face the limitations and difficulties of ADD or ADHD can't perform tasks for great periods of time. A change of scenery is needed every so often. Offer a snack break. Ask your child if they'd like to come check the mail with you. Stop by their room for a not-related-to-cleaning chat.

- Let the small stuff go. That room may not be perfectly clean in the end. Stuff will be hidden under the bed. The closet door will be closed, concealing several cubic yards of dirty laundry. Just... let it go.

Tomorrow is another day.