In today's article, we're exploring the responsibility that teachers and schools should bear for students with ADHD. Managing ADHD symptoms can pose significant challenges, as merely offering children tips for learning is insufficient. What's required is a fundamental restructuring of our educational approach. Schools must guarantee the implementation of accessibility measures to promote the academic and social well-being of students. If there's one crucial takeaway from our previous article, it's the indispensable importance of having support.
Our schools, our teachers and our parents should be a part of that support system.
Let's look at some interventions our schools should make
It is not always enough to teach a class of 20+ students and expect the student with ADHD to have learned anything.
It is common to have double period classes or back to back 1 hour classes in schools. Break classes into 30 mins chunks and allow students release excess energy.
For example, instead of saying :
“No messing around when you come into class”, Say something like “When you come into class, sit straight down.”
Tip: Sit the child close to a pencil sharpener and a bin. When they need to expend some energy, they can get up to sharpen their pencil as much as they like.
It also helps to sit children with ADHD at the front of the class.
Education does not begin and end and the walls of a school. Allow parents be an active part of their child's education.
To aid support services, the classroom should also create a Quiet Area.
The students can use it if they feel overwhelmed by the activity in the classroom. Make this area multi-functional: it can be used to sit down and have some quiet time, or an area to move around in for a while if they are struggling to sit still.
Extended time holds significant value. While serving as an EDI student ambassador for Medical and dental school, a big project revolved around ensuring that all students, whenever needed, could establish RAPs ( Reasonable Adjustment Plans) for their exams. This initiative aims to provide them with additional time to complete their exams. This helps them manage being distracted.
If a recommended strategy for individuals with ADHD is to grant themselves extra time, shouldn't our schools and educators adopt a similar approach?
How parents can help
To keep a child engaged, you have to make it fun and interactive. Do things to get their attention.
Here are some tips to improve listening:
Tip 1: Give several simple, clear instructions, one at a time.
After each instruction, praise them when they listen and do what is asked.
Make it encouraging and enjoyable.
Your comments will be something like this:
Please put the T-shirt in the laundry basket.
Thank you, you’re a good listener.
Now please sharpen this pencil.
What a great listener.
Next, I’d like you to put the pencil in your pencil case.
You’re a fantastic listener.
Tip 2 – The Listening Shell
If you have a problem with your child interrupting, introduce a seashell. At dinner time, or whenever you sit together as a family, when one person is speaking they could hold this listening shell, which means that everyone else (including the adults) must listen to what they say.
Tip 3 – Sabotage…
Play "Champion Distractor." This is an enjoyable competitive game. One person has to focus on completing a task, while the person playing Distractor does everything possible to distract the other person and disrupt the task. To win, a person must work hard to be a good Distractor and also work hard at not being distracted by the other Distractors. Another fun listening practice is to play a family round of ‘Simon Says’. This game teaches children to listen carefully for specific instructions and then do the actions.
Tip 4 - Bingo!
Another fun way of improving listening skills is to play sound bingo. Make a bingo card with sounds you would make when preparing an evening meal. The tap running, chopping onions, opening a tin, putting something in the oven, for example. Get your child to sit in the kitchen while you cook but facing away from you. Every time they hear a sound on the card, they cross it off, just like real bingo. It's best if you play with more than one child, as there’s nothing like a bit of competition to help them raise their game.
Other Tips:
Build healthy routines:
Plan the day so your child knows what to expect. Maintaining regular sleep patterns, physical activity and mealtimes can help your child.
Recognise strengths:
Help your child identify their strengths and celebrate them. Recognise that ADHD can bring positives too, such as extra enthusiasm for a hobby, or creativity.
Allow physical activity
Children and young people with ADHD often have hyperactive and impulsive behaviours. We recommend allowing them to effectively stretch their limbs at regular intervals. Ideally, regular breaks should be provided during lessons, allowing the student to leave the classroom and have a few minutes to stretch their arms and legs.
Please remember that these behaviours make it very difficult for the student to sit at a desk for long periods. Try to be sympathetic to this and make the appropriate adjustments. How often the child or young person needs a break will vary according to their needs.
I hope these are tips educators and schools start to consider in their institutions. They are life-changing to the learning experience of students with ADHD.
See you soon!
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