Best approaches for inattentive adhd in class

[Ozgirl76]

So to start, I don’t think my son actually has adhd, BUT he does display some traits of either this or auditory processing issues, (although I don’t think he would be diagnosed), the key one being that he can find it hard to concentrate in class. He says when the teacher does a lot of initial talking he finds that his attention wanders to different things and then he has to ask for clarification. Once he knows what he’s doing he can stay on task and does generally ok.

So, if you have a child like this, or have a child with adhd inattentive type, what have you found are your best strategies to help your child focus at the instruction phase of class learning?

He’s 12 years old.

I was thinking that we can see on his school computer what the lesson is going to be about, so would it help to read through this at home the night before so he has a little prior knowledge? Taking notes? Anything else?

thanks so much in advance.

- checking in with the child to see if they've understood, not this awful zero tolerance approach that I had to grow up with.

At some point though, teachers just aren't going to get anything done. 121 teaching would of course be lovely and perfect, but isn't feasible.

Yeah, the SENCO at DS' primary school nearly went into orbit when, after she'd fought for ages to get him assessed by SALT (he also has sensory processing disorder) the response she got back from them was, "DS struggles to process verbal instructions and information but, when it is repeated, he is able to follow them well". The basic message was, "he'll do brilliantly.... if he can be taught in a one-on-one scenario" which we all knew just isn't practical. Bless her, she was incandescent but hilariously professional with it.

It's not hard to say " children who I know struggles with listening, did you catch that?"
Or, would anyone like our task/ input re-explained? Works nicely.

@OhMaria2 we're at the stage now in teaching where approx half the class have a bespoke learning requirement. So one needs it visual, one needs it repeated, one needs it to be written, one needs you to make eye contact and get on his level, one needs to be let out to run round the playground every five. A topic that should take two minutes, now takes fifteen.

Anyway, none of this is helpful to the op.

Cool, like a decently taught primary class. Accommodating everyone instead of telling off the children that don't learn the way you do.

OP Try getting your son to reframe it when he has zoned out " I'm sorry could re-explain that last part please?" Or " I'm really sorry but I didn't catch that bit, could you repeat it please?" Nice and polite like we do in staff meetings when it's OK not to have taken everything first time.

The aim is to accommodate everyone but in primary you might teach 32 children a day. I might teach 180. I might have 30 children and 15 have to sit at the front, for example. They're already struggling because they're in 6/7 different classrooms in the day.
I don't think it's easy to compare primary and secondary

(Also in all the secondary schools I've worked at, you're generally don't talk or ask for clarification in meetings. It's more like a lecture)

This is off topic clearly.

Well that's kind of the point @OhMaria2

In primary school you can accommodate that much easier, no real pressure to cover the curriculum, far less to get through, no stress on the dc. Learning can be bespoke. It can't be in secondary, and definitely not at degree level.
And this is pretty much what the op is actually asking. What techniques can her child employ so that he doesn't require bespoke learning as it's no longer really available in secondary.

Ask for al the school resources to be shared digitally so he can go over them later as he will miss stuff. If he hasn't taken good notes/ be able to explain what he learned in class, he needs to go over the materials at home. This might help him focus in class too.

Ask the school to get him tested for everything. Finding out he has memory, visual or auditory issues will really help him and the school can help him overcome these.

When I taught I used to print out key slides of the PowerPoint, or write instructions on a mini white board for students I knew who struggled with remembering or picking up on instructions.. I kept them in a poly pocket and could reuse them between classes.

I had six big benches so it wasn't too onerous to print out six sets or to prewrite instruction boards it's trickier in a class room with 16 small tables though.

You can make DS his own mini white board by laminating a piece of paper, it could have high frequency specialist language lists on the back and buy him some white board markers. Making notes on it whilst the teacher talks will help him focus.

In a class of 30 where there may be 6 other children who are ND, 3 who have a learning disability and 3 with SEMH needs, your suggestion would be pretty impossible.

I am also in Australia. Our son was just diagnosed with ADHD and is about to start high school. His primary teach suggested we type up a small notecard on what he struggles with and how the teachers can help him. He can hand them to his teachers and also get a couple laminated to show supply teachers when necessary. My son is adamant that he won’t be doing that, but thought it was worth sharing.

Good luck to yours too @BBBusterkeys.

We get the details of the lesson before and after on their school computers so I’ll encourage him to go over that and will help him with note taking at first until he’s in a routine.

These strategies plus sitting at the front, note taking if possible and politely asking if he needs clarification should hopefully be enough to carry him along. He does fine in general, sits in the middle of the class results wise and is always either a “sound” or “thorough” which at our school means working at the expected level or one level above (apart from sport and music where he always gets the “extensive”!)

I suspect in my generation he would have just been put down as a “not very academic boy” but he wants to do well and I want to support him to do the best he can.

Thanks so much for all your suggestions.

It occurs to me that he might do better at high school anyway becuase there are more opportunities to find his own way. even just the way homework works - with actual text books or online resources or whatever. So not necessarily getting all the lesson with the teacher is less of an issue as he can follow up for himself.

DD is autistic, she doesn't struggle academically but does struggle with the school environment. I used to teach and the curriculum plans are on the school website so we were able to do plenty of pre-learning for key subjects. This meant that she was already familiar with it when introduced in class so it was less pressure on her when struggling with the school day.

I bought her all the revision guides and class texts. So for English she wouldn't read the terms book before hand but she would scan it for unfamiliar words, underline them and write the meaning in the margins etc. We would watch the theatre production and film adaptations or documentaries etc. Her English teacher commented at parents evening that she knew far more about The Crucible, the Salem witch trials and the communism link than he did as she really did a deep dive on it. Same for extreme weather in Geography.

However this approach requires a child that wants to do it, I taught her the techniques and suggested the activities, purchased the resources and let her get on with it. Her school also don't set compulsory homework which left her with time to study as she needed to. One of her favourite techniques is to recap her lesson on a large roll of decorating lining paper. She lays on the floor with her nice colour markers around her and mind maps. She has one roll for each of her key subjects and then can unroll it when revision time comes along.

She's on track to get all 9s at GCSE.

On the way to school in the morning she tells me which lessons she has and recaps what they did last time so it's fresh in her mind.

I don't do anything for her but I am always a willing study buddy, and will offer my services with a hot drink and a few biscuits to make it a nice atmosphere and not just drudgery.

Absolutely agree with the note taking.

I zone out if I have to be completely passive ie just sitting listening. I need to be actively engaged in some way, so if there are long sections of someone else speaking I will take notes. It also happens to be useful (can check notes when doing homework etc) but the notes are mainly so I don’t zone out.

Can’t see why any teacher would mind this?

Yes, they also have an after school homework club every day where they can get extra help with anything they haven’t fully understood, which I’m going to normalise him going to if he needs it.

He sounds brilliant. DS refuses point blank to go to the after school homework club. He's at GCSE level now but is only taking 8 - he goes to a support class in place of the 9th subject. He's finding it deadly boring at the moment (He has the fewest needs in the group - but the line has to be drawn somewhere and I remind him that being at the top is quite nice sometimes!) but as I understand it, as things heat up, that group is a) smaller and b) the teachers in that class are rotating in from maths/english/science etc so they get extra support. I'm really pleased. He even got an award for one of his subjects this term - based on performance, improvement and effort so that's been fantastic.

I'm sorry but as a teacher are you suggesting that I ignore their needs? And really, it isn't hard at all in the slightest to do what I've suggested, it's a regular part of good inputs. For a larger group I say if anyone wants it reexplained stay on the carpet, and I go through it again.
It's called teaching

What you've said is laughably untrue regarding primary school. But really, a teacher can't ensure her pupils have understood? Is that not actually quicker than telling them off for " not listening"?

Stte after a while

Secondary teacher with a lot of experience here.

Practical tips-

-Pre learning key vocab and key concepts (teachers don't always give out info about what's coming next but won't mind being asked by your son/contacted by you to find out)

-Communication with teachers so they know - sit at front, check in with him, etc.

-Ask for missed instructions to be repeated

-Make notes as the teacher is talking

-Have lesson ideas in visual form as well as spoken

Don't worry about being an inconvenience or nuisance. Your child deserves an education and if they are nd then they are trying to learn in a system built for nt kids so are entitled to some extra help.

Thank you - that’s all great advice.