Teaching Children Who Have ADHD
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Loading... - Owen Graham
- 21 Jun 2022
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For children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), restlessness and inattention can make school, home, and community life challenging.
Tasks or behaviors such as organizing binders or completing assignments may not come naturally to kids with ADHD.
If you, as a teacher, coach, or parent, think a child in your care has ADHD, you can refer or take the child to talk with a medical professional. Before giving an ADHD diagnosis, they’ll rule out other causes and evaluate the type and severity of symptoms.
Treatment for ADHD often includes medication. Behavioral interventions at school, in sports, and at home are also recommended.
Research suggests that when caring adults meet the child where they are — beyond the ADHD symptoms — that child will more likely stay engaged with learning.
Engaging a child with ADHD symptoms
A 2019 research review suggested students with ADHD often feel disconnected from their teachers and vice versa. Less emotional closeness leads to decreased student buy-in and more teacher-student conflicts.
Ways to develop positive relationships include:
- positive communication
- clear expectations
- accommodations, rewards, and consequences, not punishments
Positive teacher-student relationships can mitigate the risks of ADHD. For coaches and parents too, focusing on strengths and goals rather than symptoms helps build rapport and can minimize frustration.
Immaturity, anxiety, or trauma can result in distraction and restlessness that mirror ADHD and present similar challenges for the kids and adults.
As a parent, teacher, or coach — while you can’t diagnose ADHD — being alert to its potential presence can aid positive interactions.
Common symptoms in children
The
- interrupting
- talking a lot
- hyperfocusing on “interesting” activities
- moving constantly
- acting impulsively
- attending to random stimuli
- daydreaming
In particular, girls with ADHD sometimes hide their symptoms or manifest them quietly (as in daydreaming rather than constant movement). This can lead to anxiety or perfectionism if they feel that they never quite measure up.
The Academy of Pediatrics designates three primary types of ADHD, based on predominant symptoms.
Inattention
Children with this type of ADHD may appear not to be listening. Adults may think they don’t really care about school or sports. Challenges may include:
- missing instructions
- not completing homework
- not seeming to catch the play or strategy from a coach or team captain
- not following rules of lunchrooms, sports games, and more
Hyperactivity
Symptoms of hyperactivity may involve doing disruptive things, such as:
- getting up from a seat at inopportune moments
- bursting out with emotions
- seeming to “go rogue” from a team’s designated play(s) or strategy during a game
- risky climbing or jumping. Read More...
