ADHD and School

School is often the environment that is the most difficult for children with ADHD. It may be that the schools may have been the first to note your child's behavior as being problematic or a cause for concern. When you stop to think about the skills needed for school success, it is easy to see why children with ADHD have problems in that environment.

To be successful in school, children must: CH.A.D.D. (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) has a list of 50 tips for classroom management of attention deficit disorders. Even though this list was written for teachers, parents can use the same ideas at home.

Most authorities now believe the key symptoms are far more complex than the term Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder implies. The attention features of the disorder reveal more typically inconsistency rather than deficiency. ADHD involves not only impairments in attention and behavior control, but a wide variety of cognitive functions which affect organizational skills.

Most children (and adults) with ADHD have difficulty with the concept of time. Many researchers report that children with ADHD have great difficulty with executive skills. These skills include planning ahead, time management, and the ability to break tasks down into manageable segments so that a project or an assignment reaches completion. Children with ADHD rarely speak about their plans for the future unless they are prompted. Rarely do they prepare for school tests on their own. Children with ADHD seem to live in the moment without regard for impending academic doom!

ADHD is recognized as a disability under federal legislation (The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - Section 504; the Americans with Disabilities Act; and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act - IDEA). Appropriate and reasonable accommodations can be requested if a child is failing school requirements or needs the accommodation to work more efficiently and productively.

CH.A.D.D. Has a discussion of legal rights and services for children with ADHD. If you are needing help in learning about these laws and how to advocate for your child, please contact:
PTI Nebraska (Parents Training and Information)
3135 North 93rd Street
Omaha, NE 68134

or call (800) 284-8520
A technical assistance document entitled, Guide for Educators and Parents in Nebraska Public Schools; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is available from:
Nebraska Department of Education
301 Centennial Mall South
P. O. Box 94987
Lincoln, NE 68509-4987

Phone (402) 471-2471
A free copy is available upon request. The document contains information for parents and includes examples of accommodations which can be requested in the regular classroom for students with disabilities such as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

New Research Findings

Without doubt the most important "new" developments pertaining to ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) has been the now-widespread recognition that this is a condition which does not somehow go away at the end of childhood or adolescence. In more than half of the diagnosed childhood cases, significant symptoms continue into adult life and may be as severe at age 45 as they once were at age 5 or 10. It is evident the classical "hyperactivity" seen in most ADHD children is less and less prominent as they age, but severe impulsivity and inattentiveness not only often continues in force, but in many adults gets worse and even more impairing. This finding can have great impact in the work place for undiagnosed or untreated adults with ADHD.

Another important advance in our understanding of ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) is recognition of the familial nature of the condition. While only 10 years ago there were few studies of the genetics of ADHD, there are now hundreds, and the Human Genome Project is actively pursuing the identification of genes which govern development of this condition, and when one carefully looks at cousins, aunts, uncles and other extended family ADHD is far more prevalent than in the general population.

A further advance, during the past few years, is the growing recognition that ADHD, Tourette Syndrome (TS), and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are evidently, to some extent, genetically linked. In the course of evaluation of an ADHD child, it is common, for example, to find an OCD older sibling, and uncle with TS, a parent with OCD/TS, and a grandmother with ADHD/OCD. When the clinician then carefully evaluates cousins, a sprinkling of these related conditions is often quickly identified.

As a foster parent, you may be asked to interact with the biological parents of a child you are fostering. It may be helpful to keep in mind that this parent may also have behavioral characteristics of ADHD. For example, they may impulsively say things without thinking, forget scheduled meetings, or may seem distracted during meetings. To be helpful, case managers should give a written reminder of the scheduled meetings, as well as a follow-up phone call as a reminder for the best chance of meetings being held as scheduled.

For additional information about Directions for ADHD Research, see the ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) Association's Research Directions page.