ADHD: What Teachers Should Know

1. ADHD: What Teachers Should Know By Yvonne Johnston Brynton Lett Andrea Walker

2. Learning Styles of Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Who Are They and How Can We Teach Them? • The conditions of ADHD cause many learning, social, and emotional problems and affect an estimated 3 to 5 percent of school age children. • Children with ADHD are repeatedly reprimanded by their teachers and develop a low self esteem, compounded by a lack of school success. • Teachers should identify the learning styles of all students, specifically ADHD students after they are diagnosed. • Individualized Educational Plan should contain strategies that are :outside of the box. • To best work with children with ADHD, teachers should monitor what happens when children are taught in the following conditions • Afternoon versus morning • With tactile and kinesthetic structured resources as opposed to lecturing and reading • In soft illumination rather than fluorescent lighting • With parental supervision (for elementary school students) rather than supervision of a teacher

3. Managing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Students’ Behaviors within Classroom Environment • Respectful and consistent positive relationships between students and teachers assist teachers with understanding ADHD students’ behaviors • Medications and behavior management interventions (reward system and constant monitoring) are an effective combination • Non-verbal teaching strategies • Gentle touching • Pointing out specific information during class to get the student’s attention • Words and strategies used by teachers affect their students. Students benefitted from calm verbal strategies • Voice control (low to loud volume, firmness, tone, and pace) • Short phrases • Repeated instructions • Use of a student’s name with a combination of visual cues and verbal instructions

4. Symptoms of ADHD

5. ADHD Consensus Statement: “ADHD is a valid disorder with measurable and significant impairment in functioning caused by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity” According to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) ADHD has attracted controversy from many people. The criticisms include: how it is diagnosed, negative stereotyping of children, risks of other conditions being misdiagnosed as ADHD, alarming concern with evidence that ADHD over-diagnosis is obscured without respect to geographic location, race, gender, and age. Treating children for behavior problems with medication is a growing epidemic

6. As a teacher, make sure what you are dealing with is really ADHD. Raise questions; specifically, make sure the child's hearing and vision has been tested recently, and make sure other medical problems have been ruled out. Make sure a thorough evaluation has been done.  Keep questioning until you are convinced. The responsibility for seeing to all of this is the parents, not the teacher's but the teacher can support the process. Teacher’s Role in Helping Students with ADHD

7. Treating ADHD in the Classroom – Academic Intervention Strategies • Peer and parent tutoring • Benefits of one-on-one instruction • Task/Instructional Modifications • Reduced task length, modifying delivery • Classroom functional assessment procedures • Developing intervention specific to the child • Self-monitoring • Set goals for completion, monitor goals, and administer rewards • Strategy training • Teaching specific skills to help improve performance • Homework-focused interventions

8. Conclusion - Teacher Considerations • Anxiety and uncertainty are expected when dealing with students with difficulties (esp. ADHD) • Consider the classroom as a whole, but also the individual needs of each student • Differentiation in the teaching process • Develop individualized education programs • Set realistic goals according to capacities and potentialities • Implement innovations • Support = treatment

9. References • Antonuccio, D., Danton, W., DeNelsky, G. Y., Greenberg, R., & Gordon, J. (1999). Raising questions about antidepressants. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 68, 3-14. • Brand, S., Dunn, R., Greb, F. 2002. Learning Styles of Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Who Are They and How Can We Teach Them? Clearing House Journal, 75 (5):258-273. • Daley, D., & Birchwood, J. (2010). ADHD and Academic Performance: Why Does ADHD Impact on Academic Performance and What Can be Done to Support ADHD children in the classroom?. Child: Care, Health & Development, 36(4), 455-456, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2009.01046.x • Gretchen, G. (2011). Investigation of Teachers’ Verbal and Non-verbal Strategies for Managing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Students’ Behaviours within Classroom Environment. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 36 (7):17-30. • LeFever, G. B., Dawson, K. V., Morrow, A. L. (1999). The extent of drug therapy for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder among children in public schools. American Journal of Public Health, 89, 1359-1364. • National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Statement on the Diagnosis and Treatment of ADHD.NIH Consensus Statement. 1998;16:1-37. • Opic, S., & Mirosevic, J. (2011). Handling Students with ADHD Syndrome in Regular Elementary Schools. Napredak, 152(1), 75-92