What We Can Do to Support Children with ADHD Features

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By Sam Piha

ADHD can be diagnosed by a mental health professional if a child presents with a number of features listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). However, we will focus on strategies in response to behaviors, not diagnostic labels. “How do you teach a kid who won’t settle down and listen? The answer: with a lot of patience, creativity, and consistency. Your role is to evaluate each child’s individual needs and strengths. Then you can develop strategies that will help students with ADHD features focus, stay on task, and learn to their full capabilities. This includes program accommodations (what you can do to make learning easier for students with ADHD features and the methods you use in working with youth).

To begin, keep a positive attitude. Make the student your partner by saying, ‘Let’s figure out ways together to help you get your work done.’ Assure the student that you’ll be looking for good behavior and quality work and when you see it, reinforce it with immediate and sincere praise. Finally, look for ways to motivate a student with ADHD features by offering rewards on a point or token system.

Dealing With Disruptive Behavior
To head off behavior that takes time from other students, work out a couple of warning signals with the student who has ADHD features. This can be a hand signal, an unobtrusive shoulder squeeze, or a sticky note on the student’s desk. If you have to discuss the student’s behavior, do so in private. And try to ignore mildly inappropriate behavior if it’s unintentional and isn’t distracting other students or disrupting the lesson.” [i]

Making Changes in the Program Setting to Help Minimize Distractions and Disruptions

There are program accommodations for students with ADHD features:

“Seating:

• Seat the student with away from windows and away from the door.
• Put the student right in front of your desk unless that would be a distraction for the student.
• Seats in rows, with focus on the teacher, usually work better than having students seated around tables or facing one another in other arrangements.

Information delivery:

• Give instructions one at a time and repeat as necessary.
• If possible, work on the most difficult material early in the day.
• Use visuals: charts, pictures, color coding.
• Create outlines for note-taking that organize the information as you deliver it.

Student work: Divide long-term projects into segments and assign a completion goal for each segment.” [ii]

Additional Teaching Techniques for Students with ADHD Features
Below are teaching techniques that help students with ADHD features focus and maintain their concentration on your lesson and their work that may be beneficial to the entire group:

“When starting a lesson:

• Signal the start of a lesson with an aural cue, such as an egg timer, a cowbell or a horn. (You can use subsequent cues to show how much time remains in a lesson.)
• Establish eye contact with any student who has ADHD features.
• List the activities of the lesson on the board.
• In opening the lesson, tell students what they’re going to learn and what your expectations are. Tell students exactly what materials they’ll need.

When conducting the lesson:

• Keep instructions simple and structured. Use props, charts, and other visual aids.
• Vary the pace and include different kinds of activities. Many students with ADHD do well with competitive games or other activities that are rapid and intense.
• Have an unobtrusive cue set up with the student who has ADHD features, such as a touch on the shoulder or placing a sticky note on the student’s desk, to remind the student to stay on task.
• Allow a student with ADHD features frequent breaks and let him or her squeeze a rubber ball or tap something that doesn’t make noise as a physical outlet.
• Try not to ask a student with ADHD features perform a task or answer a question publicly that might be too difficult. 

When ending the lesson:

• Summarize key points.
• If you give an assignment, have three different students repeat it, then have the class say it in unison, and put it on the board.
• Be specific about what to take home.” [iii]

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Movement Matters
“Kids and teens often focus better after movement. Build in opportunities for physical activity before school, during homework breaks, and after a long day. Even short bursts—like jumping jacks, stretching, or a walk—can boost focus and mood. 

Building Confidence in Kids and Teens
School and afterschool can sometimes feel like it’s all about correcting weaknesses. Don’t pathologize! Whether the youth is creative, curious, empathetic, or adventurous, help them see these qualities as tools they can use to succeed. Confidence grows when children know they are more than their difficult tendencies.” [iv]

Consistency Is Key: Learn More and Make a Program-Wide Plan
To ensure consistency in how adults respond to challenging behaviors:

• Consult with school personnel: Talk to the child's teacher to see if they notice similar behaviors in the classroom. Teachers can provide valuable insights into how your child behaves in a structured environment. What do they do that works? Should an afterschool staff join any school discussions/planning regarding youth?
• Within the program, make sure there is a regular time that afterschool staff can discuss individual kids: their needs and the challenges they bring.
• Among afterschool staff: Share info, what works and what are the plans moving forward that staff can implement. 

INVOLVING PARENTS
Some behaviors may require communication with the parents. Note: When sharing can be seen as negative comments about someone’s child, it is important that you tread very carefully, as parents can be very protective and defensive. Below is some advice that may help:

• See what the school and teachers have done already.
• It is best that any request for an evaluation or referral come from the school.
• In talking with parents:
• Think-want do you want?
• You are seeking “advice”- they know their child best. NOTE: You are not seeking discipline or punishment.
• Work to form alliance- don’t blame or shame.
• Be ready to share your view of the child’s strengths, not just deficits, and your caring.
• Avoid labels and judgement.
• Describe what child behaviors you experience.
• What do they experience at home?
• What have they found that works?

 

END NOTES:
[i] Helpguide.org, Teaching Students with ADHD
[ii] IBID.
[iii] IBID.
[iv] Treehouse Pediatrics, ADHD in School: Strategies to Help Kids and Teens Thrive

Voices From the Field: An Interview with Educator and Therapy Dog Handler, Leslie Gravino

Source: Temescal Associates

By Sam Piha

Through a partnership with Las Positas College and Dublin High School in Northern California, the Career and College Planning class was offered to students in Valley High School (a continuation school, part of Dublin High School). By invitation from the principal, educator Leslie Gravino, brought her golden doodle, Luke the dog, to serve as a therapy dog for the students in her class. To learn more about the benefits of therapy dogs, we asked Leslie a few questions about her experience and her responses are below.

Q: Describe your situation.

A: Through a partnership with Las Positas College and Dublin High School, the Career and College Planning class was offered to students in Valley High School (a continuation school, part of Dublin High). The class was large (32 students) and there were behavior issues that made teaching the class difficult. It was there I discovered the positive power of therapy dogs. 

Source: Temescal Associates

Q: Describe how Luke the dog was used.

A: Luke was brought in on the leash, which allowed students to walk him if they wanted. Otherwise, Luke was free to roam the classroom. He often chose 1 or 2 students to sit by. The kids were free to pet him or cuddle. I also brought dog treats and showed the students how to get him to perform tricks. 

Q: Did you need permission from the school?

A: Because Valley High School is a continuation school, they were able to accommodate therapy dogs on a regular basis. The Principal of Valley said they sometimes used therapy dogs to helps the students stay calm and focused. I decided to bring my dog Luke to class to see if it would help students.

Q: Did Luke receive special training?

A: Luke was trained as a puppy to follow directions and not jump on people. He was not formally trained as a service dog but remains calm and friendly with people and other dogs.

Q: Did you prepare the kids before the visit?

A: The week before I brought Luke to class, I asked the students if that would be a problem for any of them. They welcomed the idea.

Q: What were the results of his visits?


Source: Temescal Associates

A: As soon as the students came into the classroom and saw Luke, they responded with smiles, pets and comments like: “can he sit with me?” Once the lesson began and Luke settled next to a group of students, they seemed more alert, calm and smiled more.

One student in particular, who often looked serious and slightly “lost” in the classroom, came over to Luke every class; he’d pet him, walked him to a fire drill and Luke began to sit under the desk by his feet. It was evident that Luke brought out emotions and affected this student. 

Q: Why do you think the therapy dog visits were successful?

A: Most people respond positively to dogs, especially ones that are calm and friendly. Luke is very calm and somehow made the students calmer. Perhaps animals bring out the softer, more vulnerable feelings of teenagers. Therapy dogs may not just comfort others but enable others to comfort them. 

Q: Were there any downsides or problems?

A: There was no downside to bringing Luke to class. He just made all of us happier. 

Q: Would you recommend the use of therapy dogs for youth programs?

A: Definitely. I highly recommend therapy dogs in any situation where you want to see people smile, be calm, show their caring side and feel part of a community. Dogs have a way of bringing people together, and usually bring out the best in all of us.

MORE ABOUT...

Leslie Gravino

Leslie Gravino holds a Master’s in Art Therapy. She has worked with adolescent girls in a residential setting, and later in the San Francisco Mental Health System for 18 years, where she started businesses that trained people who were homeless and psychiatrically disabled to gain job skills. She then served as the Coordinator of Vocational Services at Las Positas College, Livermore, CA. There she started a computer repair business on campus that served the community. She also was a Psychology Counseling Instructor teaching the following courses: Diversity Issues in America, Career and College Planning and Success Strategies for College.

Luke was featured in several videos that Temescal Associates created to help kids better understand the COVID-19 pandemic. To watch these videos and learn more about My Pal Luke, click here.