Train All Teachers About ADHD Challenges

It is time to train ALL teachers on how to Understand and Support Students with ADHD, Executive Dysfunction, and Behavioral Challenges.

Teachers and their students deserve it.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 9.8% of school-age children have been diagnosed with ADHD.  Most of these children are educated in the general education classroom, regardless of whether they receive additional support via an IEP or 504 Plan. This means that virtually every classroom has at least one student with ADHD.  

Well-meaning teachers and support staff in most public and private schools nationwide are woefully undereducated about how to teach students with ADHD.  They receive little direct instruction on how to best understand and support these students.

Without adequate teacher training, students with ADHD suffer significantly in academic achievement and mental health development.

These students often require more time and attention than their peers, creating additional stress for teachers and classmates. Teachers must also spend valuable time managing challenging behaviors they have not been trained to handle.  And students with ADHD can contribute greatly to a classroom. They often have ideas that are original and creative. By recognizing their challenges and their strengths, we enrich every classroom.

In her article, “We Are Behind the Times:” Only 4 in 10 Educators Receive ADHD Training” (ADDitude Magazine Summer 2023), Carole Fleck states: “Though 100% of the teachers, tutors, counselors, and administrators surveyed recently by ADDitude said they serve at least one student with ADHD and/or autism, only 40% said they have undergone specialized training in these conditions.”  She goes on to mention that most teachers surveyed had learned about ADHD informally from co-workers, parents of students, and the students themselves.

This concerning fact was further highlighted in the recent article by Professor Gregory A. Fabiano; Inadequate Teacher Training Stifles Students with ADHD (ADDitude Magazine, Fall 2023).  He cites the research from 2020 showing that the number of teachers reporting that they received “a lot” of training was only 29 percent. In other words, over two-thirds of educators are in classrooms without substantive training on ADHD or knowing how to support the condition in school settings.

The Dear Colleague Letter and Resource Guide on Students with ADHD was published by the Department of Education on July 26, 2016, in response to the significant number of complaints involving “allegations of discrimination against a student with ADHD.”  It states that school districts “must ensure that qualified students with disabilities receive appropriate services that are based on specific needs, not cost, and not based on stereotypes or generalized misunderstanding of a disability.”

 

THE SOLUTION:

Mandate that every teacher receive specific training on the impact of ADHD and Executive Function challenges on learning, motivation, and behavior.

Yes, that may seem like a big, bold initiative.  However, the solution is not very time-consuming, complex, or expensive.

In six to twelve hours, most teachers can gain a strong understanding of the social and emotional impact ADHD and Executive Function challenges have on learning, motivation, and behavior and can learn the tools, strategies, and teaching methods that will improve learning for ALL students.

 

The ADHD/ Executive Function training needs to include the following:

• A comprehensive, current research-based description of the social and emotional impact that ADHD and Executive Function development has on learning, motivation, behavior, and the family system.
• Tools and strategies to address Executive Function skill development in Task Initiation, Organization, Time Management, Self-Advocacy, Emotional Regulation, and Attention Regulation.  Executive function deficits are addressed by helping a student develop external strategies and skills to help with things his brain doesn’t do automatically.  Addressing problems in these areas is fundamental to helping these children improve academically.
• A program for addressing challenging behaviors using a strength-based, collaborative problem-solving approach designed to improve conflict resolution, productivity, motivation, and self-advocacy.

 

Training teachers will change the lives of our future generations of students. 

It will reduce wasted time and resources and increase opportunities for many more students to reach their potential.

 

To quote Maya Angelou, “Do the best you can until you know better.  Then when you know better, do better.”  We know better!

Click Here for information on the Professional Development trainings we offer.