February 23, 2012

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Using the Hands-on Approach for Kids with ADHD

playdoh

Image by zalo via Flickr

If you’ve ever taught a child with ADHD, then you know how their hands never stop. They’re touching their neighbor, they’re moving all around, and they can’t sit still. That’s why using a hands-on approach to learning can be very beneficial.

The Play dough Technique

Play dough is a fun toy because it allows the user to create and mold and then mold and create something new. If you’re in a classroom teaching something that doesn’t lend itself to a hands-on lesson plan, consider giving the children some play dough. Let anyone who wants some to have some not singling any one child out. You’ll likely find that everyone will take a container, but the interesting thing is that most kids are done with it after about 10 or 15 minutes. Kids with ADHD, however, will continue to play with the play dough throughout the whole lesson.

Hands-on Lesson Plan

The better choice, however, is to use lessons that are hands on. You can use apples to represent fractions, have the students draw pictures to represent what they’re reading, or have the students act out scenes from history. Whatever your lesson is, look for ways into involve the students instead of just talking to them while they sit in their seats. Engaged learning is more effective than disengaged learning.

The main thing to remember when teaching kids with ADHD is to be understanding. Although it may seem like the kids are acting out on purpose, most of the time they really want to “be good,” but can’t seem to control themselves.

Filed Under: Family Support, Teaching Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , ,

AD/HD and Executive Skills

When children have Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), they often have areas of weakness in their executive function, those brain-based skills everyone needs to understand tasks, plan how to do them and follow through. Although not all children with weaknesses in these areas have AD/HD, all children with AD/HD do have issues in at least one of these areas.

  • Impulse control—Children with poor impulse control say or do things without thinking first. They often focus on the pleasurable rather than the required tasks.
  • Emotional Control—Children with emotional control issues often have problems accepting criticism, sticking to work when they are upset about something else or overreact when they lose a game.
  • Flexibility—Children who are inflexible often have problems adjusting to changes in routine and have difficulty with brainstorming assignments or panic when there are many details to remember.
  • Working Memory—Children who have difficulty holding onto information necessary to complete a task have problems following instructions, especially when they are given orally, and have problems doing multi-step tasks like complicated math problems.
  • Self-Monitoring—Children often misjudge how much effort they are exerting and have a hard time realizing when they are not following directions. They may have trouble proofreading their work or they might skip test questions without realizing it.
  • Prioritizing—Children often become easily overwhelmed by complicated tasks when they find it hard to plan and set priorities. They often misjudge how much time a project will take and they have problems finding the main idea of something they have read or heard.
  • Getting Started—Children have problems starting their homework and put off tasks until the last minute. They get overwhelmed about how to plan and organize.
  • Organization—Children with poor organizational ability often do homework but do not turn it in, turn in assignments late, do sloppy work or arrive late.
Filed Under: Treatment Tagged With: , ,

ADD/ADHD: The Pushed Aside Learning Disability

Having any kind of disability, whether it’s minor or serious, can make learning a challenge. One of the main disabilities affecting students — and one that people often mistakenly view as insignificant — is attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. ADD/ADHD is a fairly prevalent and recognized issue that the public sometimes forgets is a disability. But it is a disability, and it can very negatively influence learning if untreated or not accommodated for. The following paragraphs will explain the challenges of managing ADD/ADHD in the classroom and provide suggestions for assisting the learning of students with the disability.

  • Challenges: It isn’t so much that ADD/ADHD is a learning disability, but it is a disorder that, if students have it, it’s more than likely that they also have a learning disability. The challenges, then, often involve figuring out the differences between students and deciphering the best way for each student with the disorder to learn. Many students with ADD/ADHD have trouble focusing on one task for any length of time and will need constant breaks. Students with ADD/ADHD may also have trouble with behaving well. They may yell out answers or talk out of turn often.
  • Tips: The tips for guiding a student with ADD/ADHD include many of the same pointers for aiding students with other learning disabilities. Because these students have problems focusing, issuing more time to work on a test or assignment in class and providing an atmosphere with few distractions could prove very helpful. In classroom lectures, varying the mode of address will not only help students with ADD/ADHD, but may help students with various learning styles, too. Utilizing visual and tactile aids ensures that each student has a point of entry into the lesson.

Accommodating for students with a disability such as ADD/ADHD can be uncomplicated once the problem is understood. Poor scores and behavior don’t always equate to a bad student; it may just mean the student needs a little extra help.

Filed Under: Children With Learning Disabilities Tagged With:

Understanding Symptoms: Learning Difficulty

A child sits alone in a classroom, staring at the blank lines of a page — he’s meant to craft an essay within them, is supposed to offer reasons for his many daydreams (the little glances out a window, the minutes wasted with imaginary conversations). It’s a punishment of idle thoughts and idle hands. He refuses to learn and must now pay the price. The detention will last until his work is completed.

But charting out the explanations for his wandering mind isn’t easy. He can’t express the restlessness, the worry. He can’t tell of how information becomes tangled in his brain, all words blurring together until he can’t read their meanings. There is confusion in the simplest of tasks — and he’s afraid all will brand him weak if he admits it.

So he writes nothing and his problem remains unknown.

Learning difficulties are complicated things: with their symptoms often ignored, deemed a simple lack of focus. Too often do children refuse to confess their own worries; and too often do teachers misinterpret struggling minds. The cycle is a vicious one, if only because it’s perpetuated so easily. It continues when it shouldn’t have to.

It’s imperative therefore that all students, teachers and parents recognize the signs of a disability — and address them quickly. Understand the difference between a wavering attention span or a genuine concern.

Look for:

One: Transposing of letters or numbers.
Two: Difficulty in verbalizing thoughts.
Three: Unstable coordination.
Four: Weak memory.
Five: Inability to comprehend open-ended questions.
Six: Always distracted.
Seven: Failure to grasp new skills.

Most students will experience forms of these symptoms throughout their educational careers (they can be caused by stress or other factors). But individuals who suffer with them daily must be helped. A learning difficulty should be noted early and combated, not merely assumed to be a reflection of poor attention skills. Teachers must recognize the signs and discover ways to counter them effectively.

Filed Under: Treatment Tagged With: , ,