Conversations about accommodating ADHD often start and stop at medication. Medication is an important tool in a management system; however, it is not the complete picture. When considering how to support students with ADHD, let’s explore this starter pack classroom accommodations.
Strategy: Sentence Stems
Sentence stems involve restating the question. Instead of writing out the entire answer all at once, you can start the assignment by writing the beginning of each answer (without trying to answer the question). For example, “Why does the author flashback to different time periods throughout the book?” The sentence stem would be “The author flashes back to different time periods throughout the book because…”
IEP and Advocacy
For younger students, teachers may give students sentence stems on their work directly. As students move into high school and college, they need to master the ability to write these sentence stems for themselves.
On an IEP for younger students, you can ask that “sentence stems or sentence starters be provided to open-ended work.” For older students, this may change to “when teacher notices student is struggling, they will prompt the student to write sentence stems first or give the student a sentence starter.” Other ways to address sentence stems in IEPs include, “student will be given additional time at the start of an open-ended analysis assignment to write sentence stems for all relevant answers.”
Why it Works
Students with ADHD often struggle with task initiation (getting started). When looking at assignments, we try to use strategies that lower the level of motivation needed to get started without making the task easier. With this strategy, the student still writes in complete sentences and engages in higher-level thinking. However, they need less motivation to get started. Essentially, the assignment shifts from a writing task to a fill-in-the-blank task.
Students with ADHD can also struggle with short-term memory due to their inability to stay focused. Sometimes, these individuals lose their train of thought mid-sentence. Students can find the answer to the question but may forget the answer by the time they start writing it down. This strategy helps shorten the mental distance between finding the right answer and responding with the right answer. I like to think of sentence-stems as an “on-ramp” to writing.
Breaking it Down and Cutting it Apart
Breaking down an assignment or “chunking” work means that we take the work and break it down into smaller parts. This can happen by physically breaking apart the paper or by using cover sheets to focus on one question at a time.
We generally think about breaking down long-term projects, papers, and assignments. Students with ADHD, however, benefit from breaking down all assignments even further. The work is still at the same level of difficulty; it is just divided into smaller, more manageable chunks.
IEP and Advocacy
For younger students, you can advocate, “teacher will, when possible, cut assignment apart into smaller pieces to make it more manageable for the student and give the assignment in steps.” For older students, “assignments will be provided on single-sided paper so that student can cut apart assignment” or “student is permitted to turn in worksheets in stapled quarter sheets rather than as a full sheet of paper.” This can also be, “student is permitted to use a cover sheet to hide future and previous parts of the assignment or test.”
Why it Works
People with ADHD tend to view time differently. Things are either happening “now” or “not now.” By breaking down the assignment (in some cases, literally cutting it apart) you can give the student adequate “now” pressure to get the assignment done and assist in pacing out a longer activity. It also pushes educational professionals to check in with the student and make sure they are on task.
Timers
Students with ADHD often benefit from timers to keep track of how long they have been working on a task. Some students keep a timer running to see how long they have been working. Other students use countdown and sand timers to put pressure on themselves to finish a task in this amount of time.
IEP Advocacy
For younger students, “Teacher will provide student with a sand timer and a task to complete in the shortened window of time.” Additionally, “when possible, the teacher will project a countdown timer so that the student is aware of how long they have to complete a task and can see how much time has passed. For older students, “Student is permitted to use the stopwatch and timer apps on their cellphone during class to keep track of time,” or “student is permitted to bring sand timers or other stop watches to class to help them keep track of time spent on work.”
Why it Works
Again, many students with ADHD view time completely differently than neurotypical peers. When using a timer, you can create an artificial sense of urgency and pressure so that the brain understands “we need to get this task done now.” Many students with ADHD struggle with time management. Simply by being aware of how much time has passed, they can better pace out what they still have to get done.
Movement Breaks
Movement breaks are just as they sound, getting up and being able to move around. Some students with ADHD may feel like they just cannot sit still for long stretches of time. Movement breaks allow students to break up tasks, get some of their energy out, and re-focus on the task at hand.
IEP and Advocacy
For younger students, movement breaks may be added to an IEP in many forms, such as “teacher will implement regular movement breaks throughout the day” or “student is allowed to get up out of their seat” or even, “recess and physical education will not be taken away as a punishment.” In some cases, “students are allowed to use a desk band or ball chair to move as needed in their seat.” For older students, “student is permitted to move and take a break, including during testing.”
Schools have a wide range of ways that they permit students to take movement breaks. Some schools have sensory break rooms that can help with these breaks. Some schools allow students to have a hall pass that allows them to walk a lap of the track or hallway. In this case, students need to be explicitly trained on how to use these spaces appropriately so that they can regulate themselves and get back to class. Movement breaks are not recess.
Why it Works
The “H” in ADHD stands for hyperactivity. Students with ADHD can seem like they have boundless energy and cannot sit still. Movement breaks address this “H” in ADHD. We are learning more about how balance and ADHD are linked. Some studies indicate that balancing exercises incorporated throughout the day can make the symptoms of ADHD more manageable.
Affirmations and Feedback
Affirmations are positive statements or phrases that help focus on what a student is doing well and can be an important accommodation for students with ADHD. These statements should be focused on the action rather than on the student directly. (“I love the colors you used in your drawing!” rather than “You are a great artist!”) They generally help increase positivity and confidence. They can be targeted to academic or social skills depending on the student.
Feedback helps the student understand how well they are doing and notice if they are making any progress towards their goals. Especially for younger students, behavior charts and communication sheets can be powerful tools.
IEP and Advocacy
Feedback loops and behavior charts depend on communication between teachers, school professionals, and parents. Often, on IEPs, this will look like, “Teacher will send home daily / weekly / monthly behavior charts to keep parents updated on performance in class. Parents will sign the paper and send it back to the teacher.” Often, some kind of external reward is attached at home or in school to improving scores and performance.
While not common to put on an IEP, affirmations are something that can be worked out with individual teachers. With my own students, I start each class greeting students at the door with positivity and then check in with my students who need additional social-emotional support giving them affirmations and feedback. In official documentation, this may look like, “regardless of behavior problems during class, teacher will identify one positive moment, behavior, or trait that the student demonstrated that day.”
Why it Works
Students with ADHD can often suffer from lower self-esteem. The ADHD brain can get stuck worrying about the future and ruminating about the past to the point that they feel like trying is pointless, because “they will always fail.” Unfortunately, many students with ADHD are labeled “the bad kid.” Students with ADHD are more sensitive and crave positive praise. Affirmations help make these routine for students. It can help repair the relationship between student-school or student-teacher.
Many students with ADHD are motivated by external rewards; behavior sheets and other communications can make progress more tangible. Thus, students with ADHD may have more motivation to keep working on strategies to improve their EF skills over time.
Is your family navigating ADHD? At Bass Educational Services, we are here to help. Schedule a consultation with us today to see how we can help you with executive function coaching, tutoring, test prep, college planning, and more.