ADHD
- Posted by Karen Goode
- Categories Blog
- Date October 14, 2021
- Comments 0 comment
October is ADHD Awareness Month. So, what is ADHD?
According to the NHS:
“Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that affects people’s behaviour. People with ADHD can seem restless, may have trouble concentrating and may act on impulse.”
Symptoms are often noticed at an early age but may become more problematic as a child starts school.
Recent research has shown that girls may show different symptoms than boys. For more details follow this link. More about girls later.
If a child is restless, then sitting still for lessons could be a difficulty. The child might fidget or feel the need to fiddle with any classroom equipment on the table. This has the potential to be disruptive to the rest of the class, especially if the child is tapping or banging equipment (as can often happen).
As a teacher, dealing with a child like this in the classroom can be tricky. You don’t want to squash a child’s natural attributes, but on the other hand you have to think about enabling the education of the rest of the class.
Things I have found that have helped are:
1. Negotiating with the child. Every child is different, but it is often possible to work through possible solutions together. If they are involved in working out how to modify their behaviour to reduce disruption, then they’re more likely to comply.
2. Allowing them to fiddle. For some children having something soft and quiet to play with during the lesson can help. For example, plasticine and playdough can keep the child’s hands occupied and cause minimum disruption to others.
3. Allowing them to move. It is possible to adapt classroom lessons to make them more active. Lots of children struggle to sit still, not just those with ADHD. It can benefit all children to spend part of the lesson standing up, rather than sitting down. Some children prefer to have their own space where they can move without impacting on others.
4. Many children struggle with concentration, not just those with ADHD. Short, simple instructions are the key. Some children can only cope with one instruction at a time.
5. Impulsive behaviour can be trickier to manage. In some cases, it is relatively harmless and not too disruptive. However, in others it can be quite dangerous. In some children their impulse can be stronger than their sense of danger. This means that the adults looking after them must be constantly vigilant. Over time, children can learn to control their impulses. Rather than trying to tackle them all at once, it is better to concentrate on one or two at a time. For example, an impulsive child might jump out of their seat, shout out or crawl under the table. Out of all these behaviours, the shouting out is likely to be the most disruptive to the rest of the class (most children can learn to ignore the other two). Therefore, focusing on reducing shouting out might be the only target the child can cope with.
I have taught children who would get so overwrought that they would need to just calm down. We would have a designated safe, quiet place they would go to wind down. Sometimes an egg timer was used. The child would watch the sand run down and this seemed to sooth them. Once the sand had run down, they were usually calm enough to join the lesson. Certain executive toys, like liquid timers can also be effective.
6. In the end, most children don’t want to stand out or be different. So, they will want to ‘fit in’ with the rest of the class. Since most children will spend at least ten years of their lives in the school environment, adapting to the classroom will be important to them. Simple targets, with a reward system in place can help children in the adaption process.
As mentioned above, it has been shown that girls with ADHD can exhibit different symptoms to boys. More details here. These symptoms can be more subtle and, as a result, girls with ADHD may fall under the radar. For example, appearing to be shy, is quite common and not necessarily something to worry about. A girl who daydreams and struggles to focus on a lesson, may not necessarily have ADHD. A girl who is highly emotional does not necessarily have ADHD. Therefore, diagnosing ADHD in girls can be so much more complex than in boys. It seems that girls can be good at masking their difficulties and as a result can suffer unfair blame for their behaviour. You, as a parent, will know your child best. If your daughter has a combination of the symptoms listed, and you are worried about her, it might be worth seeking medical advice.
For those living with ADHD it can be tough. However, there are a great deal of positive aspects to this condition, and it is important we recognise these. Here are some examples:
People with ADHD can be:
- excellent at problem solving
- highly imaginative
- highly creative
- very compassionate
- very observant
- good at recalling information
- good at multitasking
- full of a zest for life
- very resilient
These are attributes to be encouraged and nurtured. It is important that in our quest to help children to conform to classroom norms we allow room for their natural qualities to flourish.