Strategies for Managing Academic Frustrations

To support academic success using strategies, such as cues, prompting, coaching, providing positive incentives and breaking down tasks can be helpful.

Some clients you work with may benefit from having tools to help them manage their frustration and participate more fully in learning activities. It may be helpful to increase their understanding about what frustration is through discussion.

Help them identify potential situations that can cause frustration and things that they can do when they encounter these situations (e.g., ask for help, take a break). 

Additional Suggestions

• Provide your client with opportunities to experience success and incorporate their interests and areas of strength into activities that are more challenging for them. 

• Encourage your client to ask for help when needed. Provide him with positive praise for asking for help from adults to encourage and increase the frequency of this behaviour. 

The following academic accommodations may help minimize frustration and encourage success:

• Provide clear examples of what each step of a task will require in order to complete it successfully. It may be helpful to verbally review the steps with your client or model the sequence of steps. 

• Break down assignments for your client.
  • Provide them with small, frequent and attainable goals. This may help make larger tasks look more manageable and feasible.
  • It will also help them focus on the task at hand and prevent them from becoming discouraged by the quantity of work before they begins. 

• Intersperse activities in which your client experiences success with activities that are more frustrating for them. 

• Provide your client with task-related choices.
  • For example, provide them with a variety of tasks in a particular subject that they can choose from.