Students With ADHD – School Accommodation Ideas

ATTENTION/CONCENTRATION 

Individuals with ADHD may exhibit difficulty sustaining attention over long periods of time. The student may be unable to attend to two tasks simultaneously, such as listening to the teacher and taking notes. The student may have more difficulty attending to auditory information than visual; however, visual information that is complex will likely be overwhelming.

Here are some school accommodation ideas that may be helpful:

-Preferential seating in the classroom is warranted so that he is seated near the focus of instruction and away from potential distracters (seat near the hallway door, windows, pencil sharpener, etc.).

-Minimize classroom distractions (i.e., close doors that lead to noisy hallways).

-Tests should be taken in a quiet area.

-Allow breaks off the clock during testing.

-Allow use of fidget items to maintain arousal.

-Allow for time out of seat.

-Provide assignments and current activities in writing.

-Plan frequent breaks. Breaks should be meaningful and provide opportunity for movement, such as classroom “tasks” (i.e. handing out papers to the class, gathering materials for the next lesson or delivering a message to the office). Preemptive breaks will be helpful prior to periods of prolonged inactivity.

-Movement breaks should be allowed.

-Students will require frequent redirection to stay on task. Responses are best when they are consistent, immediate, salient, and specific. Attempt to balance a ratio of 4:1 ratio positive: negative corrective statements. Students are very averse to any negative feedback in the academic setting. If good effort is present, teachers should use positive behavior management strategies to encourage the student to continue working and praise the student for the work completed. Critical statements will likely cause the student to try to escape from completing his work. It will also build a negative attitude towards school that will persist. If teachers have concerns about his behavior in the class, the teacher should communicate this information directly to his parents and to student.

-Teachers are encouraged to regularly check in on the student during independent work periods in order to ensure that the student understands the work that has been assigned. The student is likely to require repetition, rewording or paraphrasing of directions to both comprehend the task and to stay on task.  The student should be asked to repeat directions and questions before beginning work to ensure his understanding of the task. Structure the classroom atmosphere so that the student feels comfortable questioning any direction or explanation that the student doesn’t comprehend.

-Schedule difficult subjects in the first few hours of the school day when the student’s attention span is at its maximum.

Information Processing Speed: The student most likely processes both visual and auditory information more slowly than the rest of the class. The student may still be working on what the teacher just said when the rest of the class is moving onto a new topic.

Accommodations:

-Allow the student extra time to review taped material and peer notes to identify missed information.

-Slow the pace of classroom presentations.

-Allow extra time for completion of in-class tests, assignments, and homework. Another option would be to allow the student the same time as other students but shorten the assignment. This may be more practical so that the student can still complete assignments within a regular class period.

-Reduce the student’s homework load.

-Break tasks into smaller component parts and use single step directions.

-Provide anticipatory cueing to allow the student to prepare responses in advance and allow more time for the student to respond.

-Do not create an atmosphere that makes the student feel rushed or challenged.

-Frequently repeat information to enhance processing.

Memory:  The student may have challenges learning, storing, and retrieving new information.

Accommodations:

-Provide written materials to back up classroom instruction (course outlines, chapter summaries, etc.).

-Encourage the student to use an organizer as an external memory aid.

-Provide information in multiple modes (written and orally).

-Change test formats to assess recognition, rather than recall, in the form of multiple choice instead of open-ended questions.

-Create fact cards and cue sheets to aid in recall.

-Encourage the student to use a highlighter to attend to information.

-Provide the student with the opportunity to repeat information just learned to ensure comprehension.

Executive Functioning: The student may exhibit a reduction in executive skills including prioritizing, shifting topics, thinking abstractly, organizing himself/herself, planning ahead, and solving problems.

Accommodations:

-Designate a specific location on the board or online to write assignments/homework and have all of the student’s teachers write in the same place on their boards.

-Allow time for book bag and lock organization.

-Display a classroom activities schedule or topic schedule for the week.

-Develop a system to indicate that assignments/homework have/has been handed in.

-Maintain a daily routine within the classroom.

-Assist the student with organization of his binders, color coding, using subject sections and pockets, etc.

-Provide preparation before a topic shift in classroom lectures.

-Break large projects or tasks into component parts or steps.

-The student should be encouraged to work in an accurate manner and discouraged from working in a hasty or careless manner. Provide frequent positive reinforcement for desired behaviors, including beginning tasks, staying on task, and completing assignments.

-Regular communication between home and school is essential.

-Providing feedback to the student throughout the school year regarding his performance and progress toward the attainment of goals will increase his likelihood of seeing increases in his attentional and processing capacities.

-Self-management, self-instruction, and self-reinforcement techniques should be taught.

1.     The student should write down all of his assignments and cross off each one as it is completed so he can keep track of what he is doing.

2.     The student should have a list of all materials needed for homework and should check off each item on the list as he puts it into his book bag.

-The student should have access to the school counselor, as needed.