Teachers can be great allies in keeping your child with ADD/ADHD safe and successful in school, but you'll need to make sure they have all the knowledge they need to help. Use these suggestions to create a information packet to bring educators up to speed.
Five Things Teachers Need to Know
1. My child can't control his hyperactivity or inattentiveness. Punishment will not make it stop.
2. Our decision regarding medication is well-thought-out and private. I would be happy to discuss it with you in conference. Please do not discuss it in front of my child or her classmates.
3. Teaching strategies intended for children with ADD or ADHD will help my child learn better and make him easier for you to deal with.
4. My child needs to move. Please do not take recess away as a consequence for difficult behavior.
5. Please keep the lines of communication open between our home and the school. My child needs all the adults in her life working together.
Tips for Teachers
[The following tips are excerpted from Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, a publication of the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. Fact Sheet 19, January 2004.]
Figure out what specific things are hard for the student. For example, one student with AD/HD may have trouble starting a task, while another may have trouble ending one task and starting the next. Each student needs different help.
Post rules, schedules, and assignments. Clear rules and routines will help a student with AD/HD. Have set times for specific tasks. Call attention to changes in the schedule.
Show the student how to use an assignment book and a daily schedule. Also teach study skills and learning strategies, and reinforce these regularly.
Help the student channel his or her physical activity (e.g., let the student do some work standing up or at the board). Provide regularly scheduled breaks.
Make sure directions are given step by step, and that the student is following the directions. Give directions both verbally and in writing. Many students with AD/HD also benefit from doing the steps as separate tasks.
Let the student do work on a computer.
Work together with the student’s parents to create and implement an educational plan tailored to meet the student’s needs. Regularly share information about how the student is doing at home and at school.
Have high expectations for the student, but be willing to try new ways of doing things. Be patient. Maximize the student’s chances for success.
Printouts to Share with Teachers
Helping the Student with ADHD in the Classroom: Strategies for Teachers
Source: LDOnline
Teaching Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (pdf)
Source: U.S. Department of Education
Teaching Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Source: Government of British Columbia Ministry of Education
How Can Teachers Help Students with ADHD?
Source: Education World
Source: Child Development Institute
