I am studying for my master's degree in special education. I recently did a group presentation on ADHD. Here are the suggestions we found in our research for coping with ADHD:
For the family/parents:
Managing Behavior
Use incentives before punishment to reinforce desired behavior
Set up a family system of rules and desirable behaviors that you can consistently enforce
Reduce Stress in home
Don't over-schedule or over-commit
Build in time-outs for family members
Talk to your child about ADHD- let them know its not their fault
For the Child Themselves:
Ways to Reduce Stress
Think about fun and relaxing things
Take deep breaths and think the words "calm down" until you feel better
Count backwards from 10
Listen to enjoyable music
For the Teacher/Classroom
Classroom Setup:
Individual desks rather than groups
Provide isolated area w/ few distractions for focusing or letting off steam
Listening center –
Earphones “tether” student
filters noise for new, difficult tasks
music for background for familiar tasks
tape recorded instructions
Seating:
Front row – minimize distractions
Near teacher desk – immediate feedback, close monitoring, easy access to help
Away from distractions – window, pencil sharpener
Near good students – modeling, positive peer pressure
Allow moving to another seat when needed
Recess is very important.
Decreases inappropriate behavior for all students
Effect greater in students with ADHD
Allow opportunities for movement
Allow to move to another seat
Allow to go to isolated area of room to blow off steam
Behavior Management
Never embarrass the student
Reprimands need to be:
immediate
in quiet voice
stand close to student
Loud, nonspecific yelling makes their behavior worse
Token economy:
earn points/stickers/tokens
use to purchase rewards.
Response cost:
Start with a certain number of points, etc.
Lose them for misbehavior.
Often more effective with ADHD students than systems where they start from zero.
School-Home Note
Teacher sends home simple note every day indicating child’s behavior
Parent applies positive or negative consequence
Found to be very effective in improving behavior
To help with distractibility:
Overhead projector – visual, light draws attention
Repeat directions, write them on board
Varied instruction strategies
learning task more novel, therefore more interesting than potential distracters
Use a multi-sensory approach
Use color & other novel qualities to highlight important information
Draw attention to important information, not irrelevant items