Introduction: Characteristics Associated with ADHD
ADHD is an abbreviation for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. A person suffering from ADHD experiences challenges in managing high levels of energy, controlling impulses, and maintaining attention. An ADHD patient can rarely sit still even for a few minutes. He or she may become distracted easily and act quickly on impulses. Although children are prone to experience impulsiveness and distraction at any age, such traits are common among those suffering from ADHD. A person with ADHD can be predominantly impulsive and hyperactive or principally inattentive or both (Nall, 2020). Therefore, the most common characteristics of ADHD people are impulsivity, inattention, and hyperactivity. However, these features appear in varying degrees to their victims.
Inattention behaviors among ADHD people include daydreaming, making reckless mistakes, having difficulty following instructions, evading tasks that require prolonged thought and focus. Inattentive people also experience difficulty and distractions in focusing on tasks, are prone to losing items, are disorganized and poor time managers, and also appear to be attentive when others are conversing. Meanwhile, the behaviors associated with hyperactivity and impulsivity ADHD persons include the inability to sit still, always attempting to climb or run, and having difficulty following activities and conversations.
They are also prone to making excessive noises, taking risks that are not necessary, and always tapping or fidgeting their feet and hands. It is easier to spot hyperactivity than inattention due to its distinguishing characteristics. In addition, men are more prone to hyperactivity while women are more disposed to inattention.
How ADHD Characteristics May Impact a Student in a School Setting
Students with ADHD experience more hurdles in a school setting as compared to ordinary students. Specifically, such ADHD characteristics as difficulty to sit still for extended periods of time, challenges in controlling impulses, and inability to pay attention make it so hard for ADHD students to do well in school. ADHD students have a hard time when it comes to regulating their body movements. Subsequently, they cannot sit still in class for long. As a result, they will always seek excuses to move out of classrooms(Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Children, n.d). This implies that they miss out on vital lessons and instructions that might help them excel in their respective subjects.
In a classroom setting, a single room has too many students, a factor that increases the number of external stimuli for an ADHD student. Since a student with ADHD is distracted easily, the constant voices from classmates, tapping of fingers, or squeaking and pulling of desks and chairs make it harder to hold undivided attention towards any task. This implies that a school setting has too many distractions that negatively affect an ADHD student’s concentration. For an ADHD student, his body is outrun by his thoughts. Thus, this student experiences a gap in his ability to transfer what he understands to his schoolwork. As a result, the student may experience trouble writing his assignment or completing his homework, or be unable to turn in his assignments in time.
Students who are ADHD hyperactive or impulsive are prone to blurting out their thoughts as others are speaking. This might not go down well with other students particularly if it is a group assignment. The student might also interrupt the teacher while she is delivering important instructions to students. Unfortunately, students would resort to staying away from such a child, and this negatively affects their social lives. ADHD hinders learning by impeding the ability of the learner to stay focused. Inability to stay attention might work against the child especially when it comes to remembering assignments, due dates, and lessons (Moore et al., 2017). Hence, the ability of the child to complete homework and learn materials could suffer greatly.
Accommodations, Modifications, Strategies, and Technology to Help an ADHD Student
Accommodation
Students with ADHD should be accommodated within the school setting. Accommodation plans include offering them extra time during tests, providing them with assignments and instructions that are tailored to their specific needs, feedback, and positive reinforcement. The students should also be allowed time and breaks to move around. It will also be helpful to change the learning environment to eliminate distractions. Moreover, extra help from the teacher can keep the students stay organized (Wigal et al., 2019). Finally, the use of technology can go a long way in helping the students with their tasks.
The teacher plays an important role when it comes to assisting students with ADHD to cope with a school environment. It is incumbent upon the teacher to ensure that they communicate effectively with the learners. This can be achieved through paying attention to positive behavior and feedback. The teacher must also be sensitive to ADHD’s influence on such emotions as difficulty in regulating feelings and issues to do with self-esteem. Furthermore, the teacher needs to provide early warnings before any changes or transitions into subsequent routines. The teacher should understand that ADHD children may frequently get deeply absorbed in other activities of their own interest rather than classwork. This invites them to offer extra assistance aimed at shifting the attention of the learners.
Modifications
Similar settings for learning should not be encouraged by ADHD and average students. Schools should be sensitive to the learning needs of their students and come up with different modifications to accommodate ADHD students. Assignments must be made clear for them by checking with them and ensuring that they understand beforehand. Besides, choices should be provided to them to illustrate mastery. Assignments that are long and repetitive should be shortened to lessen their challenges(ADHD in the Classroom: Helping Children Succeed in School, n.d). Children with ADHD should also be allowed to exercise and move about to limit their anxieties. Moreover, the teacher should strive to apply organizational tools like homework folders to reduce the number of things the student should track.
Strategies
Organizational training and behavioral classroom management have been proven to be some of the most effective school-based management strategies that can help an ADHD student cope in school. In organizational training, ADHD students are taught planning skills, how to keep school properties organized, and time management. This is meant to reduce distractions and optimize their learning. It is a management strategy that has been tested with both adolescents and children and found to be working. On the other hand, the approach of behavioral classroom management is meant to inspire positive behavior among students in the classroom.
It is implemented through a daily report card or a reward system that is intended to discourage negative behavior. It is a teacher-led approach that has proven to influence the behavior of students in a constructive manner, and subsequently, enhance an ADHD student’s academic engagement. Both organizational training and behavioral classroom management require staff to be trained and to follow a particular teaching plan that supports positive behavior.
Technologies
ADHD students can excel in their academic and social lives with the application of appropriate technology, which can boost their confidence and skills. Some of the available assistive technological approaches include audiobooks, text to speech, optical character recognition (OCR), word prediction software, portable word processors, speech recognition software, reminder devices, and talking calculator. Audiobooks can help ADHD students struggling with grasping or focusing on the meaning of sentences when reading.
An ADHD student who has particularly experiences difficulties sitting still in class can be issued with an audiobook to help them move around as they listen to the stories inside the book. Text to speech technology does almost the same thing as audiobooks. They help to boost the word recognition ability of the student for better comprehension of words and enhancing attention for long (Tegtmejer, 2019). Meanwhile, optical character recognition helps to transfer text images from worksheets and books onto a screen.
A word-recognition software helps in guessing the word that an ADHD student tries to type. This helps in enhancing the grammar and growing their vocabulary. Meanwhile, portable word processors are small computer devices that can assist an ADHD student experiencing difficulties in writing out assignments or taking notes. Speech recognition software allows a child to speak on a tablet or a computer and the words appear on a screen. This saves time and eases his expression especially if the student experiences hard times when writing by hand. On the other hand, a talking calculator can assist an ADHD student to easily process math problem digits and boost his confidence in pressing the correct keys during problem solutions.
Conclusion
ADHD is a serious health care problem that is always undiagnosed in time and ignored. Persons affected by ADHD experience impulsive and hypersensitive behaviors. They also tend to be distracted from concentrating in one particular activity. In a school setting, ADHD students experience more obstacles in learning, particularly due to their inability to sit still and distractions. In many cases, the students will often seek to move out of classrooms and miss out on important learning aspects. Through the use of appropriate technology, learning can be made entertaining for these students. Examples of such technologies include audiobooks and optical character recognition.
References
ADHD in the classroom: Helping children succeed in school. (n.d). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web.
Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children. (n.d). John Hopkins Medicine. Web.
Moore, D. A., Russell, A. E., Arnell, S., & Ford, T. J. (2017). Educators’ experiences of managing students with ADHD: A qualitative study. Child: Care, Heath, and Development, 43(4), 489-498. Web.
Nall, R. (2020). What to know about ADHD. Medical News Today. Web.
Tegtmejer, T. (2019). ADHD as a classroom diagnosis. An exploratory study of teachers’ strategies for addressing ‘ADHD classroom behaviour’. Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties, 24(3), 239-253. Web.
Wigal, S. B., Hopkins, S. C., & Koblan, S. S. (2019). Efficacy and safety of dasotraline in children with ADHD: a laboratory classroom study. Journal of Attention Disorders, 24(2): 192-204. Web.