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ADHD in the Classroom

ADHD in the classroom is a challenge for teachers, but what about the difficulties it presents for the ADHD child? Here are top skills that must be taught for these special students.

Teaching children with ADHD takes a lot of patience and excellent classroom management.

Often we forget about the struggles the ADHD child has with social skills. School is the most significant place a child has for socializing, outside of the family.

Educators need to know how to best help these students develop positive social skills, as that is just as much a part of teaching children with ADHD as the academics are.

A sign of ADHD in the classroom could be that a student has significant difficulties in producing acceptable behaviors in social situations.

Producing the expected behavior is the deficit, not knowing what is right and wrong.

We know that children with social difficulties are statistically at risk for developing more behavioral and emotional problems.

These students are often disruptive, non-compliant and restless. This limits positive opportunities for them in one of the most important social settings.

Why Can't the ADHD Child Just Behave Appropriately?

The teacher provides the first model for acceptable social behavior in the classroom. Children learn by imitation - through watching the actions of adults and peers. A teacher uses verbal cues and has affective skills and body language that students pick up on, or not!

Children with AD/HD and teens with ADHD have great difficulty picking up on non-verbal cues, such as facial expression and body language. They just don't "get it," and often continue the disruptive behaviors without realizing they are doing something wrong.

Research shows that students with positive social behaviors will get more positive teacher attention, behavior improves and the students have a higher rate of success.

So let's improve how we deal with ADHD in the classroom.

ADHD in the Classroom: Improving Social Skills

1. Instruction

Verbally teach the student to recognize social behaviors. Participation, cooperation and communication are vital skills that are used in school. Teach students what different body and facial expressions mean. Children with ADHD benefit from immediate feedback through strong affective gestures, such as a thumbs up, frown, etc. Once these students are taught how to "read" emotions, their peer interaction improves.

2. Modeling

Point out positive behaviors in the classroom. Noticing appropriate behaviors escapes the ADHD child unless it is made specific note of by the teacher. This is not to suggest that you say, "Look at Joe over there? See how he is working? Why can't you be more like him?" What you should say is, "Well done, Joe. You are working very hard," and say it loud enough for the class to hear. Place value on effort, not on quantity of work.

3. Practice Appropriate Behaviors

Involve your school counselor to provide role playing for certain social situations. Include instructional activities that encourage student interaction and class discussions, and use the opportunity to model behaviors.

4. Evaluate and Feedback

Take the time to sit with the student and discuss what went well and what did not during group or individual work time. Ask the child to evaluate him or herself and to be specific about what was correct and what could be improved. Give specific suggestions for what could be done differently and why.

Specific Behavior Interventions for ADHD in the Classroom

Not raising hand	Ignore the behavior. Model what you want.
Running into room and beginning to talk to you without waiting a turn.	Slowly acknowledge the student. Ask how he or she is, wait for a response, then ask how you can help.
Bothering/pushing others in line	Address the class and explain the behavior you want. Play a quick game to redirect attention, such as calling out a math fact to each student in line before you leave.
Not waiting a turn while working in a group activity	Employ the "response cost" system, as explained on the Behavior Intervention Plan page.

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^Resources

^{Sorensen and Commodore. Social skills training for children with ADHD. National Association of School Psychologists. November 1995.
Jones, Clare B. The pleasure of their company. C.H.A.D.D.
Attention! magazine. Summer 1994.}