To ask for ADHD classroom experience from the other side

[Nimbostratus100]

More specific than other threads currently running

If you have ADHD, please tell me what helped you most at school

Secondary teacher off sick here, just pondering returning to work some time this year.

I do my best for my students with ADHD, but always wonder if there is something I could do better. Of course everyone is different, and what works for one student might not work for another. And I suppose I am most likely to get a female perspective here, which might be very different to the male one. But any mums to sons with ADHD, insights very welcome!

But imagine yourself back to sitting in front of me in a secondary classroom as a young teen

Please describe what you would most want from me.

Thank you

As @NamechangeOxbridge said, your students are so lucky to have a such a reflective teacher. There's so much misunderstanding around ADHD and getting it right can genuinely transform lives. I highly recommend the teacher resources from the ADHD Foundation

My main experience is with inattentive - I have it, as do all 4 of my dcs - 1 dd, 3 ds. I've also taught children with hyperactive subtype in mainstream and special primary schools.

We behave well, or as was said about all 5 of us at some stage, 'we're no trouble' - so you won't necessarily notice we're struggling - we usually disappear. We hide the fact we're not coping as we're embarrassed by the ridiculously simple things we can't do, even though we're academically able. If you look into Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria, it's a useful thing to bear in mind.

For my older three, diagnosis came after secondary but they can all name the few teachers who 'got them' and could see their strengths while not making too much fuss about the things they found difficult.

Youngest is currently Y10 and his grammar school is now great, lockdown was catastrophic but it did throw up the fact that his executive function was absolutely pants...

Some things that work for him:
He can type on his iPad rather than handwrite, he gets Powerpoints and handouts sent directly to him so he can look at them during the teaching and annotate them as he goes.
He's asked about his seating position and where works best - sitting him at the front doesn't help - if your lesson doesn't keep him engaged, it doesn't matter where he is. Talking about big chunks of text on a screen is a guaranteed way to lose him.
Short bursts of linked information are great, Quizlets and practical tasks also keep him engaged.
Homework planners are a waste of time - a great place for doodling but not much else. Communication by email is also better for me as I notice that.
Open dialogue about what's working and what's not.

A really key part is the relationship he has with individual teachers - the ones who get to know him absolutely get the best out of him. He's hyper aware of his difficulties so keeping things in perspective, anticipating difficulties and having an open and friendly approach means he's far more likely to communicate when he is struggling.

It’s a difficult one as people humming, tapping and clicking etc would lead a lot of people (me included) to get really distracted/distressed, it’s not a matter of just not enjoying those noises they actually cause me a visceral response

As a parent - tell us what needs revising. Specific topics. DD often gets it wrong as she can't remember and then works on the wrong things.
Planners are used as doodle books sadly.

The biggest tell that I had ADHD at school was my constant need to nip to the loo. It gave me a chance to move, for my brain to do something else and it also offered me a small piece of quiet time.

It didnt disrupt my learning as the sensory hell of school made it impossible to learn unless my teachers made the entire class sit in silence, so a lot of my learning took place independently at home.

It's worth planning your lessons using the UDL framework which supports the development of executive function skills and offers pupils options for action and expression.

tell you in the planner?

I have always had a policy of allowing toilet trips in lessons, even in schools were it is officially banned. I agree with sometimes a child just needs a walk. However, my school has hugely tightened up on this now, due to the level of vandalism during lessons when toilets are unsupervised. I dont know what the answer is here, maybe some sort of key system when a child signs the key out of reception to go, but I cant really see the school agreeing to this.

For me now as an adult with adhd having the material printed and not having to take notes is a huge one. Having accesses as well to the notes digitally would also help because I'll 100% loose the sheets.

Keeping the information short sweet and to the point. I had teachers who used to go off on tangents and my god I used to just want to die from boredom.
Also being allowed to leave the class room to use the bathroom was always such a help as well. It gave me that break from being cooped up. Even just knowing I could go used to help that trapped feeling.

“2. Be handed a written sheet to take home at the end of each class which sets out what was covered in class, any homework and when that homework is due”

This one is essential. But on paper isn’t enough as it would inevitably get lost. Would need to be on paper and electronically, preferably sent to a place (with students agreement) that the supporting parent also has access to.

ADHD kids often can’t separate or tune out sounds, hence any background sound is distracting and then they forget what they are even doing. This is why noise cancelling headphones can be really good for self study.

Some also can’t manage visual distraction. Invite them to sit in the front row. Invite them to use those cardboard screens on the desk (kind of like horse blinkers).

Yes literally anything that you expect children to do outside of the lesson including in self study periods or homework needs to be given in writing.
Any time you tell the students in advance about a test, assignment, outing, anything, it needs to be given in writing (and electronically with parent access).

again, this would be outside of any individual teacher control, schools have their own policies, based on whatever framework and research the management has chosen, you cant just unilaterally choose your own.

Undiagnosed in school but things that stand out...

• In Primary, teachers getting annoyed I'd only write and read about my hyperfocus (horses). I was always at a level way above my peers

• I could never 'show my working' in maths - I just knew the answer was x, but how I'd got to that was difficult to explain

• I did everything fast - not having to sit for 45 mins while everyone else finished would have been good!

Oh and I procrastinated like hell - shorter deadlines suited me better, rather than waiting 3 weeks then bashing out 2000 word essays in an evening (and because I was a relatively high achieving student), no one ever realised I was doing this.

Oh, and revision....even know, I can't note take, I still just write EVERYTHING out from a textbook...its the only way it goes in -support with that would have been helpful

*even now

Be mindful of all the different needs in the room. No two people with ADHD or other diagnoses are the same. I wouldn’t have been able to cope with others humming or tapping or lying on the floor or pacing.

I wonder if the timetable could also be easier. I have the impression that the breaks are very short and the lessons long and the day is also long.
(I am educated outside of UK and only have a rough idea what the school day is like here)

Female, inattentive type here. I'd definitely like to be allowed to fidget and sit how I wanted. It was difficult to sit still, I'd much rather be pacing (obviously not practical in a classroom) but was constantly told to uncross my legs, put my bag on the floor (much prefered it on my lap) and stop fiddling. None of these things affected anyone else and made it much easier to work.

I'd also avoid shaming. Often people with neurodivergence suffer from rejection sensitive dysphoria and have a very extreme reaction to negative judgment and shame.

Also not sure why you think most schools don't have spares. Lots of schools I work in have laptops for students who can't write clearly. In some classes there are four or five students out of 30 working on laptops.

again, this would be outside of any individual teacher control, schools have their own policies, based on whatever framework and research the management has chosen, you cant just unilaterally choose your own.

Even if you're working somewhere with a lot of restrictions, you should be able to use the framework when planning individual lessons.

Doodling - helped me but got told off for not focusing
Quick quizzes at the end of every ten minutes learning - to pull back engagement and participation (easily would withdraw and disengage)
Movement breaks - I would be desperate just to go to the loo so I could be by myself and breathe for a moment
Weekly check ins with a nice teacher to check on how I was doing/keeping up - for 5 mins
Desk at the front or in a corner, preferably no other people in my immediate peripheral vision - too distracting/noisy/feel overwhelmed

I know there are no spares, and not enough for the students that cant write to have one each. If children cant write for whatever reason, we ask them to provide their own laptop

25 later I still love my biology teacher- she recognised I had ability as I aced exams but struggled with routine things like homework/remembering kit. She would set me challenges in class to recreate the exam feeling and when I'd completed them she'd give extension work to keep pushing me. I was allowed to doodle (I'm actually paying close attention when doodling. If I'm looking at you and appearing to concentrate then I've gone off into my own world and am not listening at all.)
She was firm and had standards but never made me feel like a failure when I messed up. Shed also praise me when I did well, unlike most of the other teachers who'd say something like "see you can do it when you try".

My physics teacher accused me of cheating as "there was no way you'd get those grades on your own" and my RE teacher used to routinely humiliate me in class for forgetting stuff.

The big difference I notice with my kids is that homework is set on Teams. No bits of paper to lose and reminders are issued. That would have been a huge help.

Ds2 is awaiting an assessment for autism/adhd. I was really worried about him starting seniors as he's been behind all the way through infants and juniors and has sensory issues. He's done amazingly well and is absolutely flying- exceeding the standard for the year already and the teachers are full of praise for him. It turned out that all the noise and stimulation in classrooms previously was having a massive impact on him. He's got adjustments such as a piece of plastic to lean on as he hates the feel of paper under his hand. But most of the work is online which he finds much easier as it removes the sensory issue, means there's no paper to lose and removes the handwriting element.

not really, you cant impose one framework on top of another, even if they agree, but in fact this one contradicts some of the more current "in" frameworks - not that I agree or disagree, but school management being what it is, you often get some deputy head tasked with improving "learning and teaching" and they have to change things, in order to prove that they have changed things.

This leads to change for changes sake, and members of staff with no scientific literacy at all, staff who could not even define the word "research", evaluating total non-research marketed as "research" and choosing that will be their marker and imposing it on schools

Blame Gove. he was the one that decided managers have to justify their pay by showing what they have changed. Managers not qualified to judge the "research" they are acting on. Hence you get total quackery like Brain gym and learning styles imposed......

Sorry, rant over ! But no, I cant use that framework in any way

Brain gym

Thank you! I've been trying for about three years to remember the name of that particular brand of patent bollocks I saw being shamelessly marketed on Teachers TV back when it was a Freeview channel.

(I wasn't a teacher or anything to do with education in any way, just a rational, bored, curious individual who occasionally, while flicking through the high-number channels, would land on Teachers TV only to see some charlatan trying to convince professional educators that rubbing imaginary buttons on your chest would boost blood flow to the brain, and marvel at the fact that the government would think it worth funding the promulgation of this utter bullshit.)

This. Literally anything or it gets forgotten.

I got it written into dc EHCPs that I had to be given notice of all exams/assessments/important events etc.. and grades have shot up.