Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood neurological condition that can affect a child’s success at school and their relationships.
It is predicted that 8 to 10 per cent of children in South Africa have ADHD. Being hyperactive, forgetful, working inconsistently and battling with time management are common signs of a child who lives with the condition.
Embury Institute for Higher Education’s campus programme coordinator, Sharon Sweet, said instead of treating children who have ADHD as having a handicap, they should be regarded as children who are simply excitable and easily bored. This would impact the way teachers handle ADHD children in a learning place.
“Children with ADHD are perfectly capable of learning and developing, they simply require a different teaching approach,” Sweet said.
“Teachers give many hours to ensuring lessons are clear and focused to meet the outcomes and needs of our learners. However, the needs of learners with ADHD often do not fit easily into lesson plans, and so teachers need to put an extra effort to suit their different learning styles.”
She added that the condition should not be considered as a learning disability. “Teachers need to have a clear understanding of ADHD so that they can work with children with the condition, and the children’s parents need to assist them to thrive and obtain the best education possible.”
The campus programme coordinator indicated that there were three types or subcategories of ADHD: inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity, and combined (both inattentive and hyperactive).
“Inattentive ADHD is when an individual is easily distracted and children with this kind of ADHD are not hyperactive or impulsive. They find it difficult to stay focused even in daily activities.”
Furthermore, Sweet also mentioned that hyperactive ADHD occurred when individuals showed symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity, but not inattention. She also pointed out that children living with this condition were always ‘on the go’, talk excessively and they have severe difficulty sitting or standing still and fidget impulsively. ADHD is reported as often over diagnosed and over treated. It is also believed that children with higher levels of intelligence were sometimes also mistakenly likely to have the condition because they grew bored and simply get distracted in class.
For parents to remain informed, Sweet suggested the following practical tips for teachers dealing with ADHD children:
- Integrate movement into most learning activities
- Provide short, simple and easy-to-understand rules and boundaries
- Give them routines
- Allow them to respond orally to tasks, as writing is difficult for many children with ADHD
- Increase opportunities for the class to become actively engaged in lesson and activities
- Allow for accommodations, such as extended time in tests and shortened assignments
- Eliminate or reduce potential distractions
- Break tasks down into separate parts and remind them of what is coming next
- Offer them choices where possible
- Provide them with visual reminders (such as checklists or digital time countdown)
- Provide them with frequent positive feedback
- Insist on eye contact when talking with each other
- Keep in regular contact with their parents to support each other and share insights and idea keep their homework to a minimum.
Sweet advised teachers to always recognise their children individually so that they could support them in ways that were helpful.
