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The good news is that there are many coping
strategies out there to help you deal with an ADHD child. Medication helps, but you must modify other
things such as environment, schedule, and attitude in order to effectively deal
with ADHD.
This book will examine more closely those coping
strategies. We’ll give you advice on how
to maintain peace in your family and suggestions you can make to allow your
child to help themselves.
So, how do you recognize ADHD? The symptoms fall into two quite broad categories.
The first category is inattention. Symptoms include:
1. Failing to pay close attention to details or making
careless mistakes when doing schoolwork or other activities
2. Trouble keeping attention focused during play or tasks
3. Appearing not to listen when spoken to
4. Failing to follow instructions or finish tasks
5. Avoiding tasks that require a high amount of mental
effort and organization such as school projects
6. Frequently losing items required to facilitate tasks or
activities such as school supplies
7. Excessive distractibility
8. Forgetfulness
9. Procrastination or inability to begin an activity
The second is Hyperactivity-Impulsive Behavior. Symptoms include:
1. Fidgeting with hands or feet
2. Squirming in a seat
3. Leaving a seat often even at inappropriate times
4. Running or climbing at inappropriate times
5. Difficulty during quiet play
6. Frequently feeling restless
7. Excessive talking
8. Answering a question before the speaker has finished or
interrupting the activities of others at inappropriate times.
9. Failing to wait for one’s turn
A positive diagnosis is usually
made if the person exhibits six or more of the above-named symptoms for at
least three months. Symptoms must appear
consistently in varied environments (home, school, etc.) and interfere with
normal functioning.
Impulsive
people don’t think before they act or speak.
As
a result of the disorder, children with ADHD often engage in disruptive
activities and antisocial behavior that alienates their peers and other people
around them. In addition, their academic performance tends to suffer because of
their inattention and easy distractibility.
When you have a child who is diagnosed with ADHD or
you, as an adult have been told that you have Adult ADHD, keep in mind that you
are in the company of some pretty famous people who have, or still do, struggle
with this disorder.
Consider the following list:
·
Alexander
Graham Bell – Inventor of the telephone
·
Hans
Christian Andersen – Author
·
Beethoven
– Composer
·
Harry
Belafonte – Actor, Composer
·
Terry
Bradshaw – Retired NFL Quarterback and Sports Commentator
·
George
Burns – Actor
·
Admiral
Richard Byrd – Navy Aviator
·
Andrew
Carnegie – Industrialist and Philanthropist
·
Lewis
Carroll – Author
·
Prince
Charles – Future King of
·
·
Winston
Churchill – Statesman
·
Bill
Cosby – Actor
·
Leonardo
Da Vinci – Sculptor and Artist
·
Thomas
Edison – Inventor
·
Albert
Einstein – Inventor
·
Dwight
D. Eisenhower – Former President of the
·
Benjamin
Franklin – Politician, Inventor
·
Michael
Jordan – Basketball Player
·
Abraham
Lincoln – Former President of the
·
Stephen
Spielberg – Director, Film Maker
The list literally goes on and on and on. These people achieved notoriety for their
achievements despite their shortcomings.
They suffered from ADHD and overcame the diagnosis to become not only
rich and famous, but remembered and revered for their creativity and
leadership.
This could be you or your child. Don’t give up. Don’t blame yourself. Take control and take charge. ADHD can be controlled and sufferers can live
normal, productive lives.
basic principles of treatment – for adults and children both
– are structure, lifestyle changes and finding and developing talent.
Start by helping children find and develop their
talents. That is very important and is
often overlooked.
What many people who suffer from
ADHD lack is structure. Planning out the
steps it takes to accomplish daily tasks – for instance, getting ready for
school or completing homework – lets everyone know what expectations are.
A hugely effective tool is to emphasize the positive
and downplay the negative whenever you possibly can. These kids hear ‘no’ 50 times a day. Perhaps the biggest challenge is pulling out
what the child is doing right and focusing on those things.
Try using “labeled praise”. Labeled praise clearly defines what is
positive about a child’s actions. For instance, “You did a great job of
cleaning up” would be more effective than simply saying “Thank you for helping
me.”
Work as a team with everyone involved. This means home, school, doctor, etc. Collaboration between home and school is
essential. It’s important to have
everybody on the same page. This could
be accomplished in various ways.
One especially effective one is
to keep a daily diary that the child carries back and forth between home and
school.
Setting up a system to use in the classroom and at home
for children to earn points they can exchange for other rewards or privileges –
such as computer time or an activity – can provide kids with great incentive to
adjust behavior. You should also involve the child by allowing him or her to
develop a menu of rewards.
Children have a naturally short attention span. It is for this very reason that you should
give immediate feedback along with consequences for behavior and
activities. Feedback must be clear,
specific, and occur as close to the time after the behavior that it refers to.
This feedback should be given often. Parents need to tell ADHD children how they are
faring in whatever activity they are involved in or how well they are
conducting themselves at very short intervals.
Feedback
can be in the form of praise or compliments but should specify exactly what the
child has done to earn it. It can also be in the form of physical affection
like a hug, extra privileges or occasionally a food treat.
ADHD children have reduced sensitivity to rewards
and other consequences. Hence, larger and more important rewards are needed to
motivate them to perform, follow rules or behave well. Make the
consequences powerful and worth avoiding or earning.
Dole out the positive comments before the negative
ones. Try not to make punishment the
first step in suppressing undesirable behavior. They should attempt to glean
some positive aspect from the child’s behavior and reward
that aspect. Punishment when given should be mild and specific to a particular
behavior.
Above all, be consistent. As parents of a troubled child, it’s easy to
give in more often than we should, but this is the exact time when we can’t do
so. Parents should strive to react in
the same manner over a period of time to the child’s behavior whenever it
occurs.
In addition,
they will need to be persistent when dealing with a
ADHD child, as they are not exactly the most obedient kind. Even if parents
feel that their efforts are going to waste, they need to stick to the
disciplinary program or they will not see the fruits of their hard work.
Respond in the same way whether it be
at home, at school, or anywhere else. Parents of ADHD children
often tend to respond to the same behavior differently at home and in public.
They must avoid this as it puts a spoke in all the wheel of all their
disciplinary efforts. The ADHD child needs to know that the rules and
consequences expected to occur at home will also apply away from home.
Do not in any way contradict another parent or
authority figure when the child can observe this behavior. Cohesiveness is important. If the child knows that they have one person
who they can go to who will let the rules slide, they win. ADHD kids need consistency. If you undermine each other’s behavior, you
are taking steps back and not helping your child at all.
You must be equipped to handle problem situations. ADHD children can be difficult and disruptive in the
most public of places and parents tend to get caught on the wrong foot every
time. Most parents can anticipate a problem situation. What they have to do is
devise a strategy to deal with it in advance so that they are prepared when it
happens. They will need to make all the rules clear to their children in
advance too. Thus, when the problem occurs, both parent and child know the
routine.
Make sure you have everything in perspective. Well, maybe not everything. That might be impossible, but you at least
have to have perspective when it comes to your child and his or her illness.
Dealing with
an ADHD child is no joke. Parents of such children often find that they are
frustrated, enraged, and embarrassed. However, they must remember at all times
that they are the adults and cannot afford to lose control. If both parent and
child were to lose their cool, the situation would deteriorate rapidly. In any
case, ADHD children are victims of a disorder and often cannot help the way
they behave.
Make lists.
Seriously – as many lists as you can.
And teach your child to do the same.
These lists should include tasks that need completed, dates to be
remembered, and activities that need to be attended.
Provide them with a reward for completing their tasks,
checking things off their lists, and remembering important dates. Keep in mind that these kids tend to brush
off anything and everything in favor of whatever is in front of them at the
time. When they are able to complete
tasks and remember important dates, they will eventually modify their behavior
to make it commonplace.
These kids have excess energy. It’s a fact.
It is for that very reason that you need to provide some type of outlet
for this energy. Encourage your child to
participate in a hobby or activity that allows them to blow off the steam that
naturally occurs in their body.
Accept their limitations. This could be one of the most important
coping strategies we can mention.
Whether you like it or not, your child has limitations. An ADHD child is never going to
be a model child. So don’t hit your head against a brick
wall trying to make him one. Try to see the virtues in your child and help him
make the most of them.
Remember
that you are the expert on your child. ADHD is just one of those controversial subjects that
everybody and his brother has an opinion on. Tune out what’s uninformed. Trusting your
instincts and keeping open communication with your child about how he’s doing
and really being observant is invaluable because you’re really a case manager.
Stay away
from labeling. Remember
that you have to look at the whole child – he’s got his own temperament, his
own talents and interests. It’s easy to
let the label overshadow everything.
And beware, too, of lumping in other problems that
often occur in children with ADHD – including depression, anxiety and learning
difficulties – under the single diagnosis of ADHD.
Experts are getting better at understanding the
differences between learning disabilities and ADHD. Sometimes they can overlap and that can be
tricky and complicated to dissect.
ADHD is different for every child. It’s important to understand which problems are truly part of ADHD and which are not, so that each
problem can be dealt with appropriately.
Above all, try your very best to stay calm when dealing
with an ADHD child. It’s easy to lose
your cool when the child is out of control.
Speak slowly and precisely. Show
them that even though you are frustrated, you are still able to stay in
control. Try to talk to them about your
feelings and how you are trying to cope with your own frustration.
Often, children learn by watching. When you talk to them and bring them into
your mindset, you could very well be teaching them the tools they need to
control their own frustration.
FAMILIES AND ADHD
They
don’t mean to do damage and are upset when they hurt people or break things,
but they’ll still do exactly the same thing next time round!
ADHD
children are untidy and disorganized, which will irritate people who like tidy
houses and regimented behavior.
They
can be unpopular with other children, teachers, friends and even family
members. This can cause problems with both family and friends.
Parents can feel
overwhelmed and unable to cope with their child’s behavior. They may avoid social situations in the hope
of avoiding problem behavior and then start to feel isolated.
Friends, relatives and
neighbors may feel entitled to comment and give negative judgments, which can
strain relationships.
Your child may hurt other
family members or damage their belongings, to the point where relationships are
very strained. Your child can feel like a scapegoat and may start ignoring what
he feels is constant nagging from you.
There's also a danger of spending so much time on your
child that you don’t spend any time on your relationship as a couple.
Use routines and give clear
rules: explain how you expect your child to behave in situations and teach him
what to do when he feels he’s heading for trouble.
1.
Watch for trigger behaviors
and step in to avert the problem before it starts.
2.
Negotiate rules with older
children.
3.
Criticize the behavior, not
the child. Instead of: ‘You’re so spaced-out, it drives me crazy,’ say ‘It
makes me unhappy when you forget things.'
4.
Get everyone to cool off.
Don’t escalate arguments or inflame them.
5.
When boundaries are broken,
make other family members realize it isn’t personal.
6.
Try to stay positive. Avoid
sounding disappointed in your child, which will lead to low self-esteem, and
praise, praise, praise good behavior - for siblings, too.
7.
Make sure relatives and
friends understand it’s important for your child to feel accepted by them.
Older relatives may have less patience with a busy child, in which case it can
help to make visits short and sweet.
PARENTING AN ADHD CHILD
Parenting
a child with ADHD has more pitfalls than parenting the average child.
You'll
need to experiment to find out what works best for your child.
Just as good habits can be learnt, there
are things that can increase the likelihood of misbehavior. They include:
1.
Your experience as a child.
2.
Parents disagreeing on rules.
Lack of
energy.
Set
up special times to spend with your child doing things you enjoy together and
just playing.
Rules and boundaries are important because they help us
get on with other people.
For children with ADHD, it's better to praise the good
behavior
Negotiate rules with older
children so they'll have a say in what happens.
When
it comes to rules, you need to be consistent in your approach.
·
State the rule: homework
before TV.
·
Remind your child of the
rule when he challenges it, and what the consequences will be: homework first
or no TV for the rest of the evening.
·
Enforce it: take the fuse
out of the plug, if you have to!
Let
your child make choices for themselves
YOUR ADHD CHILD’S SELF-ESTEEM
Self-esteem
is about self-value. It's not about being bigheaded or bragging. It is about
how we see ourselves, our personal achievements and our sense of worth.
Your child's self-esteem is
shaped by:
·
how he/she thinks
·
what he/she expects of
herself
·
how other people (family,
friends, teachers) think and feel about him/her
All this means children with ADHD often feel badly
about themselves. They might think they're stupid, naughty, bad or a failure.
Not surprisingly, their self-esteem takes a battering and they find it hard to
think anything positive or good about themselves.
Birthday
parties and social events are a natural part of growing up, but other parents
may not want to invite a child who is known to have bad behavior. Again, this
can lead to a child with ADHD being excluded. Exclusion
only adds to your child's negative feelings and reinforces the idea that she's
naughty.
So how can you help your child with his or her self-esteem?
·
Praise and
reward:
·
Love and
trust:
·
Goals:
·
Sports and
hobbies:
·
Focus on
the positive:
Part of
self-esteem has to do with criticism.
You have to teach your child the best way to deal with that criticism.
Tell them
the following and then reinforce it:
1.
Listen to what's being said. Don't interrupt
to contradict or make excuses.
2.
Agree with it, where possible.
3.
Ask questions if they are unsure about anything.
4.
Admit mistakes and apologize.
5.
Calmly disagree if it's
unfair. For example, they can politely
say, 'I don't agree with you'.
Anger is a natural part
of childhood. Heck, it’s a natural part
of adulthood. But, an ADHD child has an
especially difficult time dealing with and controlling anger.
Put
simply, there are two parts to tackling any behavioral problem:
1.
Encouraging the behavior
you want through rewards, praise, or
attention and
2.
Reducing the behavior you don't
with clear, consistent rules and quick punishments.
Children with ADHD thrive on consistency and routines, so to
improve the chances of good behavior, let them keep to their routine, such as
getting up, eating or leaving for school at the same time each day.
The most effective way of
enforcing rules is to decide on them together with your child - so agree in
advance things such as bedtimes, how long friends can come over and play for,
etc.
Where
possible, make sure you give your child a good reason for the behavior you
want. For example, tidying up your room will mean you'll find things more
easily.
·
Get your child's attention. Address him/her
by name and speak clearly.
·
Keep commands short and simple.
·
Give quick punishments that can be enforced
now.
It's
not always possible to ignore bad behavior and focus on the good. Instant, mild
punishments - sometimes called 'negative consequences' - can reduce aggressive
and angry behavior.
Bad
behavior often decreases when it costs your child something. The three main
costs are time, money and undesirable consequences.
The main
reasons a punishment fails are because it’s too severe, it’s given too late, or
it’s inconsistent.
Punishments
can take various forms.
1.
Natural
consequences
2.
Time-out
3.
Losing
privileges
4.
Avoid punishments that have
the potential to harm your child either physically or psychologically. For example, keep from insulting your child
publicly.
Be careful not to reward bad behavior.
When
your child has calmed down and returned to his/her normal self, talk to him/her
and be clear about what was wrong and what you'd like to see changed.
Over
the next few days look out for signs that your child has listened to what
you've said. If she has, tell her you're pleased she's listened and taken note.
ADULT ADHD
Treatment of adults often includes rebuilding one’s
self-image, and learning to express and deal with pent-up anger and guilt.
Individual or family therapy, as well as support groups can be helpful, as can
learning to say no,
First,
restructure your life.
- Encourage loved ones to assist by give you extra
reminders, while taking the ultimate responsibility.
- Lists should become your best friend. Make lists
for everything – things to do, things to remember, things to forget. You may want to utilize Post-It notes as they
can be placed anywhere and can help you remember what it is you need to
remember.
We feel we need to include a note here on
lists. When making a to-do list, don’t
include things that you know you won’t be able to accomplish in a day. For example, if you need to paint the shutters,
don’t put “Paint the shutters” on your to-do list for Monday. Instead write “Start painting the shutters”.
People with ADHD tend to get overwhelmed quite
easily and having too much on a list can cause you to procrastinate and not do
the tasks at all. Take great joy in
crossing something off of your daily list!
- Pace yourself
- Your work space should be of sufficient space but
free of excess distractions
- Experiment with background sound to cover other
distractions
- Always have a specific plan. You should budget in
some specific time for distractions. In other words, allow yourself to
procrastinate.
- Try to master distractions. If you can’t see a
reason to do something, don’t do it, unless it is a responsibility that cannot
be shunned. Pay someone, trade off with a spouse–there has to be an inner
willingness or distraction will likely be a problem.
Second,
learn to negotiate.
- Get your temper under
control. Never try to make a deal or compromise when your temper is active.
Don’t blame others. Your reactions to what anyone does are still your
responsibility. Identify the underlying
anger and use words to express it.
- Learn not to blame. Remember that it doesn’t
matter WHY something happened. But it does matter WHAT happened. Come up with a
plan to solve the problem rather than worrying how the problem got there. Be
specific. Set the plan in motion, and stick to it.
Third,
don’t forget to focus on your relationship with your spouse or significant
other.
- Guard against co-dependent behaviors. In
codependency, we focus attention on each other rather than taking
responsibility for ourselves. A person with ADHD often blames others for
problems, and significant others often end up taking responsibility.
- A partner can help break a task down, or
facilitate communication with direct questions.
TEACHING AN ADHD CHILD
Perhaps the most
difficult place to cope with an ADHD child is at school. The next section can be used by educators or
by parents who would like to make suggestions to their child’s teacher.
Aside from an IEP, what else can you do in the
classroom? These children are very
easily distracted, and the classroom is the worst place for them since there
can be so much going on all at the same time.
Consider your seating plan.
·
Move your ADD ADHD student's desk to where there are
fewer distractions, close to the teacher to monitor and encourage, or near a
well-focused child.
·
It is usually better to use rows for seating
arrangement and to try to avoid tables with groups of students. Often the
groups are too distracting for the ADHD child.
·
In the ideal setting, provide tables for specific
group projects, and traditional rows for independent work. Of course, we are
rarely in an ideal setting.
·
Every once in a while, try arranging desks in a
horseshoe shape to allow for appropriate discussion while permitting
independent work.
·
Your ADD ADHD student's desk should be near the
teacher (for prompting and redirection), away from other challenging students,
and not touching others' desks.
However, if you notice that your attention deficit student looks around a lot
to see where noises are coming from, because he is very auditorily
distractible, he may benefit from being seated near the rear of the classroom.
·
Experiment with seat location in the front of the
classroom (near the board) and instructional area if your student is more
visually distracted.
·
It is important for the teacher to be able to move
about the entire room and to have access to all students. Practice
"Management by Walking Around" in the classroom. The more personal
interaction, the better.
·
Have all of the distractible ADD ADHD students
seated nearest to place in the class where you will give directions or
lectures. At least as close as possible without being punitive.
·
To minimize distractions, seat the ADD ADHD student
away from both the hallway and windows.
·
Keep a portion of the room free of obvious visual
and auditory distractions. Have at least a part of the room free from bright,
loud, or distracting objects.
·
Use desk dividers and/or study carrels carefully.
Make sure they are used as a "study area option" rather than as a
punishment.
·
Seat those really smart and quiet girls next to the
ADHD child.
·
Stand near the attention deficit student when giving
directions or presenting the lesson.
Right from day one, make the classroom rules clear
and post them where they are visible every moment of every day. Be sure all students know the consequences
for violating the rules and be consistent.
There are certain times of the day when extra
concentration will be necessary. It may
help to post a daily schedule showing what will be studied and when for the
children to refer to. This also reinforces
the routine of school and allows the child to know what to expect from one
moment to the next.
When you give assignments to the ADHD child, break
them up into small, manageable pieces.
By doing this, you are acknowledging that their attention span is a
hindrance to them and they can complete the smaller parts of an assignment
without losing their train of thought.
It might also help to provide these kids with
step-by-step instructions on how to complete an assignment. Give them a checklist that allows them to
cross off a step once they complete it.
This will give them a sense of success also which is good for all
students!
When presenting a lesson, there are also some things
you can do to minimize distraction and help the ADHD student gain as much as
possible from your instruction.
·
Provide an outline to ADHD students with key
concepts or vocabulary prior to lesson presentation.
·
ADHD kids are easily bored, even by you. Try to
increase the pace of lesson presentation. Include a variety of activities
during each lesson appropriate to elementary school.
·
Use multi-sensory presentations, but be careful with
audio-visual aids to be sure that distractions are kept to a minimum. For
example, be sure interesting pictures and or sounds relate directly to the
material to be learned.
·
Make lessons brief or break longer presentations
into discrete segments.
·
Actively involve the attention deficit student
during the lesson presentation. Have the elementary school age ADHD student be
the instructional aid who is to write key words or ideas on the board.
·
Encourage the ADD ADHD students to develop mental
images of the concepts or information being presented. Ask them about their
images to be sure they are visualizing the key material to be learned.
·
Allow your elementary school students to make
frequent responses throughout the lesson by using choral responding, frequently
calling on many individuals, having the class respond with hand signals.
·
Try role-playing activities to act out key concepts,
historical events, etc. I have taught ADD ADHD students the history of the
Revolutionary War in the parking lot of the school, using cars, trees, and
other objects to represent events and places in history. This can work well.
·
Be creative! Yes, it is possible for even you to
bore a student. Work at teaching, motivating, and entertaining. The more
exciting a subject is to a child, the better he will learn. Be excited about
what you are teaching!
·
Your attention deficit student will respond better
to situations that he finds stimulating and engaging. Varying the instructional
medium and pace will help sustain his interest.
·
Your ADD ADHD elementary school aged student would
probably find lessons that emphasize "hands-on" activities highly
engaging.
·
Keeping the time required for sustained attention on
task balanced with more active learning will improve his performance.
·
Use cooperative learning activities, particularly
those that assign each child in a group a specific role or piece of information
that must be shared with the group.
·
Develop learning stations and clear signals and
procedures for how students transition from one center to another.
·
Use game-like activities, such as "dictionary
scavenger hunts," to teach appropriate use of reference/resource
materials.
·
Interact frequently (verbally and physically) with
your attention deficit student. Use the ADD ADHD student's name in your lesson
presentation. Write personal notes to the student about key elements of the
lesson.
·
Pair students to check work.
·
Provide peer tutoring to help ADD ADHD student's
review concepts. Let ADHD students share recently learned concepts with
struggling peer.
ADHD students have a horrible problem with
organization. Even when they are shown
how to become more organized, the whole concept still seems quite foreign to
them. Try a couple of these ideas:
·
Use dividers and folders in his desk so he can
easily find things.
·
Model an organized classroom and model the
strategies you use to cope with disorganization.
·
Show that you value organization by following 5
minutes each day for the children to organize their desks, folders, etc.
·
Reinforce organization by having a "desk
fairy" that gives a daily award for the most organized row of desks.
·
Develop a clear system for keeping track of
completed and uncompleted work such as having individual hanging files in which
each child can place completed work and a special folder for uncompleted work.
·
Develop a color coding method for your room in which
each subject is associated with a certain color.
·
It’s not difficult to spot the ADHD child in a
classroom. Likewise, the backpack
becomes less of a way to transport homework and important papers and more of a
place to stash anything and everything.
You must check to make sure that they are actually turning in their work. It is
strange but true. They have probably done the homework, but just are not paying
attention when you ask them to turn it in.
·
You may also want to try getting a large manila
envelope – as large as you can find. Try the kind of envelope that businesses
use to use to deliver documents from one department to another with a signature
section printed right on the front.
Duct-tape the folder to the child's backpack. Tell your child's teacher that
you will insert the homework, and then sign the folder. Have the teacher remove
the homework and sign the receipt.
Minimize opportunities for your child to lose the homework. You have invested
too much time in getting the homework done to let your child lose it now.
·
An organizing time at the end of each day can be
helpful to gather the necessary materials for the assignments and develop a
plan of action for completion. This will greatly aid the development of the
"executive processes".
Many times the social aspect of school can be of
particularly great concern for the ADHD student. Peers view these kids as weird and have
problems coping with their erratic behaviors.
The other kids will often exclude the ADHD child which can cause some
real problems with self-esteem. What can
you do to enhance social skills at school?
·
Provide a safe environment for the child with ADD
ADHD. Make sure the child knows you are his friend and you are there to help
him.
·
Treat him with respect. Never belittle him in front
of his peers. Both he and the other children know that he stands out, and if
the teacher belittles the child, then the rest of the children will see that as
permission from the teacher to belittle the child as well. Children can be
cruel.
·
Students with attention deficit disorder can
experience many difficulties in the social area, especially with peer relationships.
They tend to have trouble picking up social cues, they act impulsively, have
limited self-awareness of their effect on others, display delayed role-taking
ability, and over-personalize other's actions as being criticism, and tend not
to recognize positive feedback.
·
ADD ADHD students tend to play better with younger
or older children when their roles are clearly defined.
·
These attention deficit students tend to repeat
self-defeating social behavior patterns and not learn from experience.
·
Conversationally, they may ramble and say
embarrassing things to peers.
·
Areas and time-periods with less structure and less
supervision, such as the playground and class parties, can be a problem.
Students with good social awareness and who like to be helpful can be paired
with the ADD ADHD child to help. This pairing can take the form of being a
"study buddy", doing activities/projects, or playing on the
playground.
·
Cross-age tutoring with older or younger students
can also have social benefits. Most successful pairing is done with adequate
preparation of the paired student, planning meetings with the pair to set
expectations, and with parental permission. Pairing expectations and
time-commitments should be fairly limited in scope to increase the opportunity
for success and lessen the constraints on the paired students.
Many Attention Deficit
students lack friends to be with outside of the school-setting. It can be
beneficial to strategize with your ADD ADHD student and his parent on
developing a "friendship plan" for the home setting.
Introducing Lessons: Students with ADD learn best with
a carefully structured academic lesson—one where the teacher explains what he
or she wants children to learn in the current lesson and places these skills
and knowledge in the context of previous lessons. Effective school teachers
preview their expectations about what students will learn and how they should
behave during the lesson. A number of teaching-related practices have been
found especially useful in facilitating this process:
·
Provide an advance organizer: Prepare students for
the day’s school lesson by quickly summarizing the order of various activities
planned. Explain, for example, that a review of the previous lesson will be
followed by new information and that both group and independent work will be
expected.
·
Review previous school lessons: Review information
about previous lessons on this topic. For example, remind children that
yesterday’s lesson focused on learning how to regroup in subtraction. Review
several problems before describing the current lesson.
·
Set learning expectations: State what students are
expected to learn during the lesson. For example, explain to students that a
language arts lesson will involve reading a story about Paul Bunyan and identifying
new vocabulary words in the story.
·
Set behavioral expectations: Describe how students
are expected to behave during the lesson. For example, tell children that they
may talk quietly to their neighbors as they do their work or they may raise
their hands to get your attention.
·
State needed school materials: Identify all materials
that the children will need during the lesson, rather than leaving them to
figure out on their own the materials required. For example, specify that
children need their journals and pencils for journal writing or their crayons,
scissors, and colored paper for an art project.
·
Explain additional resources: Tell students how to
obtain help in mastering the lesson. For example, refer children to a
particular page in the textbook for guidance on completing a worksheet.
·
Simplify instructions, choices, and scheduling: The
simpler the expectations communicated to an ADD school student, the more likely
it is that he or she will comprehend and complete them in a timely and
productive manner.
Concluding Lessons: Effective teachers conclude their lessons by providing
advance warning that the lesson is about to end, checking the completed
assignments of at least some of the students with ADD, and instructing students
how to begin preparing for the next activity.
·
Provide advance warnings: Provide advance warning
that a school lesson is about to end. Announce 5 or 10 minutes before the end
of the lesson (particularly for seatwork and group projects) how much time
remains. You may also want to tell students at the beginning of the lesson how
much time they will have to complete it.
·
Check assignments: Check completed assignments for at
least some students. Review what they have learned during the lesson to get a
sense of how ready the class was for the lesson and how to plan the next
lesson.
·
Preview the next lesson: Instruct students on how to
begin preparing for the next lesson. For example, inform children that they
need to put away their textbooks and come to the front of the room for a large-group
spelling lesson.
Teaching the ADHD Child:
Conducting Lessons
Teachers can help prepare the ADHD child to achieve by applying the principles
of effective teaching when they introduce, conduct, and conclude each lesson
during the school day. The following set of strategies to assist in conducting
effective lessons when teaching the ADHD child:
·
Be predictable: Structure and consistency are very
important when teaching the ADHD child. Many do not deal well with change.
Minimal rules and minimal choices are best when teaching the ADHD child. They
need to understand clearly what is expected of them, as well as the
consequences for not adhering to expectations.
·
Support the student’s education participation in the
classroom. Provide the ADHD child with private, discreet cues to stay on task
and advance warning that they will be called upon shortly. Avoid bringing
attention to differences between the ADHD child and their classmates. At all
times, avoid the use of sarcasm and criticism when teaching the ADHD child.
·
Use audiovisual materials: Use a variety of
audiovisual materials to present academic lessons. For example, use an overhead
projector to demonstrate how to solve an addition problem requiring regrouping.
The students can work on the problem at their desks while you manipulate
counters on the projector screen.
·
Check student performance: Question individual
students to assess their mastery of the lesson. For example, you can ask
students to demonstrate how they arrived at the answer to a problem, or you can
ask individual students to state, in their own words, how the main character
felt at the end of the story.
·
Ask probing questions: Probe for the correct answer
after allowing the ADHD child sufficient time to work out the answer to a
question. Count at least 15 seconds before giving the answer or calling on
another student. Ask followup questions that give
children an opportunity to demonstrate what they know.
·
Perform ongoing student evaluation: Identify students
who need additional assistance. Watch for signs of lack of comprehension, such
as daydreaming or visual or verbal indications of frustration. Provide these
children with extra explanations, or ask another student to serve as a peer
tutor for the lesson.
·
Help students correct their own mistakes: Describe
how students can identify and correct their own mistakes. For example, remind
students that they should check their calculations in math problems and
reiterate how they can check their calculations; remind students of
particularly difficult spelling rules and how students can watch out for
easy-to-make errors.
·
Help students focus: When teaching, remind the ADHD
child to keep working and to focus on the assigned task. For example, you can
provide follow-up directions or assign learning partners. These practices can
be directed at individual children or at the entire class.
·
Follow-up directions: Effective teachers of children
with ADHD also guide them with follow-up directions:
·
Oral directions: After giving directions to the class
as a whole, provide additional oral directions for a child with ADHD. For
example, ask the child if he or she understood
the directions and repeat the directions together.
·
Written directions: When teaching the ADHD child,
provide follow-up directions in writing. For example, write the page number for
an assignment on the chalkboard and remind the child to look at the chalkboard
if he or she forgets the assignment.
·
Lower noise level: Monitor the noise level in the
classroom, and provide corrective feedback, as needed when teaching the ADHD
child. If the noise level exceeds the level appropriate for the type of lesson,
remind all students—or individual students—about the behavioral rules stated at
the beginning of the lesson.
·
Divide work into smaller units: Break down assignments
into smaller, less complex tasks. For example, allow students to complete five
math problems before presenting them with the remaining five problems.
·
Highlight key points: Highlight key words in the
instructions on worksheets to help the ADHD child focus on the directions.
Prepare the worksheet before the lesson begins, or underline key words as you
and the child read the directions together. When reading, show children how to
identify and highlight a key sentence, or have them write it on a separate piece
of paper, before asking for a summary of the entire book. In math, show
children how to underline the important facts and operations; in “Mary has two
apples, and John has three,” underline “two,” “and,” and “three.”
·
Eliminate or reduce frequency of timed tests. Tests
that are timed may not allow the ADHD child to demonstrate what they truly know
due to their potential preoccupation with elapsed time. Allow the ADHD child
more time to complete quizzes and tests in order to eliminate “test anxiety,” and
provide them with other opportunities, methods, or test formats to demonstrate
their knowledge.
·
Use cooperative learning strategies when
teaching the ADHD child: Have students work together in small groups to
maximize their own and each other’s learning. Use strategies such as
Think-Pair-Share where teachers ask students to think about a topic, pair with
a partner to discuss it, and share ideas with the group.
·
Use assistive technology: All students, and those
with ADHD in particular, can benefit from the use of technology (such as
computers and projector screens), which makes instruction more visual and
allows students to participate actively
Math Computation: Numerous individualized
instructional practices can help children with ADHD improve their basic
computation skills. The following are just a few ADD education practices;
·
Patterns in math: Teach the student to recognize
patterns when adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing whole numbers.
(e.g., the digits of numbers which are multiples of 9 [18, 27, 36 . . . ] add up to 9).
·
Partnering for math activities: Pair a child with ADD
with another student and provide opportunities for the partners to quiz each
other about basic education computation skills.
·
Mastery of math symbols: If children do not
understand the symbols used in math, they will not be able to do the work. For
instance, do they understand that the “plus” in 1 + 3 means to add and that the
“minus” in 5 – 3 means to take away?
·
Mnemonics for basic computation: Teach the child
mnemonics that describe basic steps in computing whole numbers. For example,
“Don't Miss Susie’s Boat” can be used to help the student recall the basic
steps in long division (i.e., divide, multiply, subtract, and bring down).
·
Real-life examples of money skills: For ADD
education, provide students with real-life opportunities to practice target
money skills. For example, ask the child to calculate his or her change when
paying for lunch in the school cafeteria, or set up a class store where
children can practice calculating change.
·
Color coding arithmetic symbols: Color code basic
arithmetic symbols, such as +, –, and =, to provide visual cues for children
when they are computing whole numbers.
·
Calculators to check basic computation: Ask the ADD
child to use a calculator to check addition, subtraction, multiplication, or
division.
·
Board games for basic computation: Ask the ADD child
to play board games to practice adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing
whole numbers.
·
Computer games for basic computation: Schedule
computer time for the ADD child to drill and practice basic computations, using
appropriate games.
·
“Magic minute” drills. Have students perform a quick (60-second) drill every day to practice
basic computation of math facts, and have children track their own performance.
Solving Math Word Problems: To help ADD children improve their education skill
in solving word problems in mathematics, try the following;
·
Reread the problem: Teach the ADD student to read a
word problem two times before beginning to compute the answer.
·
Clue words: Teach the ADD child clue words that
identify which operation to use when solving word problems. For example, words
such as “sum,” “total,” or “all together” may indicate an addition operation.
·
Guiding questions for word problems: Teach ADD
students to ask guiding questions in solving word problems. For example: What
is the question asked in the problem? What information do you need to figure
out the answer? What operation should you use to compute the answer?
·
Real-life examples of word problems: Ask the student
to create and solve word problems that provide practice with specific target
operations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. These
problems can be based on recent, real-life events in the child’s life.
·
Calculators to check word problems: Ask the ADD
student to use a calculator to check computations made in answering assigned
word problems.