How To Help Children With ADHD Thrive In Your Classroom
By Leanne Maskell
An estimated 5% of children have ADHD. Here are some handy tips to help you support them in your classroom.
As ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition, it means that these children literally think differently to others. ADHD can be a disability, due to the substantial challenges people may experience and is related to a 30% developmental delay in executive functioning skills, including self-awareness, memory, emotional regulation, impulsivity, problem solving and motivation.
However, research has also linked many strengths with ADHD, such as innovation, creativity, and authenticity. It’s highly situational, and symptoms can manifest differently in everybody.
Just as we don’t throw out a plant that’s not thriving, but change its environment, simple adaptions in educational approaches can make a huge difference in helping children with ADHD to thrive.
As they have limited control over their school environments, you play a pivotal role in supporting these children to work with their ADHD, instead of against it.
Here’s how:
- Learn about neurodiversity
Matt Hancock’s recently introduced Bill calls for teacher training and screening of neurodivergent conditions in schools. However, official training isn’t the only option – you can learn more about conditions like ADHD by reading books such as ADHD: an A to Z and doing online research from credible sources.
Even having a conversation with your SENCO or a child’s parents about a certain condition can provide invaluable insights. Research into ADHD has progressed dramatically over the last few years, showing how it doesn’t just affect ‘naughty little boys’, but also children who are struggling with internal hyperactivity, disrupting only themselves.
Learning to spot the signs and how to adapt your teaching methods to the individual can make a huge difference to their engagement with education. ADHD isn’t something to be fixed, it’s just part of who a person is, and they should be supported and accepted as they are.
- Take an individual approach
If you’ve met one person with ADHD, you’ve met one person with ADHD. Remembering that this can manifest differently in everyone, from seemingly high-achieving children to those unable to sit still, is important for ensuring everybody accesses support.
As children with ADHD can struggle with self-awareness, they may be unaware of what they struggle with. Noticing how each child engages with education, especially those diagnosed with ADHD, enables you to collaborate with them to identify challenges and support.
Having conversations with children through an ADHD informed lens means you can take a curious approach to their challenges, understanding that they are trying their best. What seems like signs of naughtiness or laziness in children are in reality, more likely to be symptoms that they need help. Nobody wants to fail!
Understanding which children need which approaches can also open up further conversations with their parents about additional support without judgement.
- Embrace reasonable adjustments
As ADHD can be a disability, schools may be required under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments to remove or reduce substantial disadvantages they experience because of their ADHD.
Adjustments can be anything, and are often very simple to implement. For example, I concentrate best when listening to music, so I used to hide my headphones under my hair! Remembering that just because you can’t understand how this could work, doesn’t mean it can’t – trust the individual.
Other adjustments that can help children with ADHD include providing set seating (such as at the front of the class), using fidget toys or noise-cancelling headphones in class, or allowing them to access areas or breaks to decompress.
They may also benefit from extra 1:1 support, adjustable deadlines, having notes with them in exams (where possible), or using certain software such as dictation tools.
Having ADHD can be extremely stressful internally, even if it doesn’t appear this way on the outside. These simple adjustments can enable a child to access education in the same way as their peers without ADHD are able to.
- Boost their self-esteem
The best teacher I ever had was kind to me. She highlighted my strengths, instead of my weaknesses, and I achieved 100% in exams for her subject.
This was a huge difference from all of my other teachers, who ranged from asking the class if I’d cheated when I achieved good marks, to telling people not to be friends with me as I was a bad influence! I internalised this narrative to believe that I was stupid and lazy, not finding out I had ADHD until age 25.
People with ADHD may struggle with ‘Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria’, which is extreme emotional pain at real or perceived rejection. This can be very dangerous when combined with symptoms of impulsivity, with an increased risk of suicide linked with ADHD.
Children with ADHD receive 20,000 more negative comments than their peers by age 12, and are far more likely to experience mental health challenges, so teachers can play a crucial role in helping to build their self-esteem and confidence. This could look like providing positive feedback and reinforcement, highlighting what’s gone right instead of mistakes, and identifying opportunities for them to use their strengths. It’s as simple as remembering that these children are struggling and deserve compassion instead of judgement.
- Adopt ADHD-friendly teaching styles
Not everybody has ADHD, but we are all living in an attention economy. Children have experienced immense challenges during the pandemic, with disrupted education routines and schedules.
As people with ADHD have an ‘interest based nervous system’, they are energised by interest, novelty, and adrenaline. Providing variety within your teaching styles, incorporating different elements such as quizzes, videos, images, and questions, can help everyone, not just those with ADHD.
Ensuring regular breaks is important for all children to be able to process their learning and refocus. For those with ADHD, it can be extremely helpful to ‘break marathons into sprints’, breaking down tasks into chunks and setting clear expectations and instructions. Providing these in both verbal and written formats ensures everybody is on the same page – literally!
- Ensure extra safeguarding
Neurodivergent children are likely to experience bullying as a result of being ‘different’ to their peers. This also makes them more vulnerable to abuse and safeguarding issues. For example, children with ADHD may be more impulsive and more likely to trust strangers than their peers.
As a teacher, you can help to provide much needed safeguarding for these children by taking any concerns seriously and escalating these quickly. If you notice a child is being bullied, for example, take action immediately, speaking to the children and parents involved to ensure this stops.
I didn’t realise I was being bullied for months until a girl bit me and I told the teacher because it hurt – luckily she was suspended and the bullying stopped immediately. Acting on signs early is extremely important to ensure these children are safe.
Encouraging peer support and understanding neurodiversity in general is a great way of upholding an inclusive and accessible learning environment for everyone, reducing stigma. Sharing education about ADHD and other neurodivergent differences can help children to take an empathetic and compassionate approach to one another.
- Stay patient and flexible
As ADHD symptoms may be significantly impacted by a child’s environment and life circumstances, it’s important to remember there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach. What works for one child may not work for another, and strategies that seem to work one month may not work the next.
As a teacher, remaining calm, flexible and responsive to children’s evolving needs enables you to adjust strategies as necessary to support their growth and development.
These approaches will enable you to help children thrive because of their ADHD, not in spite of it. With the right environment and support network, children with ADHD can achieve extraordinary results – being different isn’t a bad thing.
Leanne Maskell is an ADHD Coach, Director of ADHD Works and author of ADHD an A-Z and ADHD Works at Work.
