ADHD Understanding and Services in School Setting: An Evolution in Education

Educators today understand how a student’s behaviors related to ADHD manifest in the classroom much better than their counterparts did 25 years ago. But too many teachers still fail to recognize the academic and social struggles that can plague students with ADHD inside and outside the classroom.

For many students with ADHD, it’s difficult to imagine anything worse than a contemporary classroom: six-hour days filled with expectations of sitting still, following endless instructions, completing tedious tasks, and navigating social situations. It’s not surprising, then, that academic outcomes for some of these students are worse than they are for students without ADHD.

For too long, educators have focused almost exclusively on reducing symptoms (e.g., fidgeting, interrupting, losing focus) in the classroom, but this approach does not necessarily improve a child’s academic outcomes. Evidence-based interventions and supports to reduce specific ADHD-associated impairments and to build adaptive functional skills are needed for long-term academic success — but not always provided in IEPs and 504 Plans. Approaches to improve a student’s social relationships with peers are often left out of such accommodations, but they are equally important to a child’s success.

In this webinar, educators and caregivers will learn:

• How the core features of ADHD are often magnified by the expectations in classrooms, and how this makes it harder for students to experience success in school
• About the limitations of some approaches that focus exclusively on a student’s symptom management and ignore other areas of impairments
• About strategies, supports, and approaches that can help students with ADHD flourish