Embracing Differences: Understanding and Supporting Students with ADHD

Last year, I worked as a teaching assistant in a middle school in Norway. My role was to help students who needed extra support during class. On one of my first days, the students were instructed to do an assignment in pairs. The teacher assigned me to help two twins, E.R. and T.R, who both had ADHD. I didn’t know much about ADHD back then, just that the ‘A’ stands for attention, so I figured I had to help them focus, but I wasn’t sure how. 

E.R. and T.R. were always together, the best of buddies. They were exceptional skiers for their age and obsessed with football. In fact, it was the only thing they ever talked about. As it turned out, keeping them focused on the assignment proved to be no easy task. E.R. liked to spin around with his knees on the chair, and T.R. wouldn’t stop asking me how much time was left until the break. The few times they were focused on the assignment, they were quickly distracted by something else. No matter how much I tried, they always went back to talking about football or all the fun games they planned to play during the break. I felt like I couldn’t get them on track.

Today, as a first-year psychology student, I am more informed about ADHD. I now understand that the ‘H’ in ADHD stands for hyperactivity, revealing that ADHD involves more than just attention deficits. As it turns out, cases like E.R. and T.R. are not uncommon, and in the last 20 years, the number of diagnosed individuals has increased. For example, in the United States, surveys indicate a rise from 6.1% to 10.2% between 1997 and 2016 (Xu et.al., 2018).  The rise in prevalence can be attributed to multiple reasons, such as the increasing awareness of signs of ADHD, better access to healthcare, and less stigmatization around receiving mental health care (Ahmad, 2023).

With such a high prevalence, it becomes important to ask ourselves: How can we ensure that students with ADHD receive the support they need? The problem does not have a straightforward answer, as there are multiple angles from which this question can be approached. For instance, we could consider restructuring the school system to account for the individual differences between students, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Additionally, schools face practical challenges, such as having limited resources at their disposal. ‘While it would be wonderful for every student with ADHD to receive support from their own teaching assistant, this is just a distant fantasy’, according to Linda, the middle school coordinator at my previous workplace. She notes that there simply aren’t enough assistants for every classroom, let alone for each child that requires extra support. Evidently, the education system has the potential for change. So, while we find ways to implement these changes, we can strive to make the most of the situation within the existing education system. How can teachers and assistants support the needs of students with ADHD as effectively as possible?

‘I always wanted to move around when I was in a classroom’. Ilias, a university student with ADHD, describes that it was difficult to sit still for extended periods of time. This phenomenon is not uncommon, as many children with ADHD experience restlessness. Unfortunately, when the body becomes very restless, it is not as easy as just pulling yourself together and sitting calmly. This stored-up energy needs to be released in some way. One way we can target this is providing children with the opportunity for active play. By engaging in physical activity, behaviors associated with hyperactivity and impulsivity may become less apparent in settings that require sustained focus. (Panksepp, 1998, 2007) 

Ilias also comments that he frequently worried about getting punished for talking and moving around too much. In an educational system where children are expected to sit still and be quiet for extended periods of time, it is critical that teachers understand that this style of teaching will not suit everyone. While it is impossible to place oneself in their shoes and know exactly how it feels to have ADHD, being understanding of the different challenges students face is a step in the right direction. A way of building a good relationship with the student is by doing something as simple as giving positive feedback. Positive feedback boosts their self-esteem and encourages them to repeat the success. In contrast, negative feedback for being late or not doing homework is not effective, because this demotivates students and makes them less likely to cooperate in the future.

However, the idea that giving positive feedback and avoiding negative feedback will build a good relationship with a student is, sadly, not always true. My work experience has taught me that certain children can be very stubborn, regardless of how much effort you put into relationship building. This can be incredibly frustrating and may make you feel hopeless at times. A psychological trick that sometimes works on uncooperative students is, instead of asking them to do something, give them two choices. (ADHD Norway, 2021) Instead of saying, “You need to complete your homework now,” which might be met with resistance, it might be better to ask, “Would you like to start with math or reading homework first?”. This gives the impression that they are taking part in the decision-making process, and they become more motivated to cooperate. 

Luckily for me, E.R. and T.R. were quite cooperative. Despite getting easily distracted, they were willing to focus on the task for brief periods of time. However, getting them started on a task remained a struggle – I didn’t realize that it wasn’t enough to simply hand out the task and expect them to begin on their own. Linda explains that ‘students with ADHD often find it challenging to follow written instructions, so they need clear and concise verbal guidance from the teacher, and these instructions should be repeated frequently because of their short attention span’. Similar to a fireplace needing both the initial spark to ignite the flames and a consistent supply of wood to keep it going, ADHD students must be initiated and consistently encouraged. However, the twins were facing another challenge – E.R. and T.R. struggled with the topic of probability in their math lessons, and my explanations weren’t proving to be useful. Now, I realize that using illustrations and concrete objects would have been of great help for them to understand this abstract concept better. In fact, looking back, other students in the classroom could have benefitted from this form of explanation too.

Children with ADHD are not alone in their classroom struggles. Many experience academic challenges, which is why it is crucial to consider the needs of everyone. We are all different, and that is one of the biggest challenges for teachers. How can we teach in a way that benefits everyone? Millions of teachers face this challenge each day, and perhaps the first step is to be understanding of the differences between students, putting oneself in their shoes, and ask: what can I do to help this bright, young soul? <<