As The Washington Post recently reported, the Adderall shortage is causing disruptive and frustrating ripples in the academic and social lives of students with ADHD.

New limits on controlled drug supplies, paired with increased demand for that supply and lingering supply chain disruptions, have touched millions of patients prescribed ADHD stimulant medication. The medication shortage, now entering its eighth month, has had a jarring effect on families, especially the parents who are expected to manage their kids’ modified treatment plans and adapt to the pain points of tracking down and trying out new medication options.

Recently, ADDitude asked parents and teachers: Have you noticed the impact of the ongoing Adderall shortage on any of your students’ school and homework performance? Their classroom behavior?

Their answers point to a domino effect wherein the Adderall shortage has caused constrictions in other medications’ supplies. The cost of alternative, name-brand drugs can run significantly higher than Adderall, causing a financial burden that not every family can sustain.

Inadequate medication coverage is causing some children to experience behavioral problems in the classroom. Some students are not consequently showing up for school, or they’re being kept home, according to caregivers, roughly half of whom also have ADHD. Adults who relied on Adderall, including teachers, say they are struggling to attend to their own responsibilities — many of which directly impact their kids. That includes getting to school on time, reviewing homework, and sticking to a consistent routine.

[Download: Free Parenting Guide for Caregivers with ADHD]

The Adderall shortage may be temporary, but the repercussions could have a lasting emotional, social, and academic impact on developing kids. Hear what caregivers had to say about the Adderall shortage, below, and contribute your experience in the Comments section, above.

Adderall Shortage: Impact on Students with ADHD

“Some children who had used Adderall in the past have been changed to a different medication. The interruptions, resets, and resumption of new medications is noticeable in the classroom. Management tools and strategies are very helpful at these times.” — Jo Ann, Missouri

“The Adderall shortage is creating huge anxiety in my daughter, which leads to migraines. She does not function as well on other medications.” — Lisa, New York

“We couldn’t get the medications we needed, and had to get Vyvanse. It’s working, but the first fill was $400 with insurance. Not everyone can bear that, which may stop people from taking their medications at all. Neither of our two kids can do homework well without ADHD medications.” — An ADDitude reader

[Read: Could You Be Saving Money On Your ADHD Medication? Find Out Here]

“I am a teacher who has ADHD. For myself, luckily, I haven’t experienced a shortage for the slow-release Adderall, yet. For my students, absolutely. I noticed a huge increase in the number of students who fail to turn in assignments on time or fail to come to school.” — Noelle, New York

“We were briefly affected by the Concerta shortage prior to Adderall and, yes, it was difficult. My son relies on his daily medication to function. If I cannot give it to him, I will keep him home from school because I cannot send him into battle without the proper weapons to be successful. During those few months, I had to be proactive in contacting different pharmacies within short periods of time. I was also prepared to pay for the name brand out of pocket if we could not access the generic, as insurance would not cover the name brand.” — Amanda, North Carolina

“I have not noticed this, but the high cost of Vyvanse has definitely affected some of the lower-income high school students that I teach. Many lower-income families simply cannot afford it and are forced to use a drug that is less effective.” — Donna, Texas

“As a person, I need my Adderall to function. As a mom, I need my Adderall to support my kids. The shortage has left me unable to drive for field trips, get my kids to school on time, or even get out of bed at times.” — Lacey, California

“I am not always made aware if/when my students are on medications and/or when they stop, start, or change. However, I have observed changes in certain students’ behaviors (e.g. increased inattention, increased physical impulsivity).” — Theresa, Georgia

“As a teacher, it is a difficult (and blurry) line when it comes to medications and students. I have to assume a lot of students are medicated, but because their parents have not shared this with the school, I may not know for certain. And even if the information has been shared with the school, that doesn’t mean I am privy to that information as a classroom teacher. So, at this moment, I really don’t know if there are students who are being impacted by the Adderall shortage. What I know is that personally I am, and it makes my days very difficult.” — Brianna, Iowa

“My 14-year-old son started a generic Concerta this year for the first time. A few weeks ago, I couldn’t find a pharmacy to fill the generic. Eventually, I figured out that my insurer’s online pharmacy could fill a brand name Concerta prescription. In the meantime, about three weeks went by when my son struggled more with homework and tests. I am told the Concerta shortage is a result of Adderall patients seeking alternatives.” — An ADDitude reader

“Our oldest son with ADHD is already out of college and working. I know the shortage has affected his ability to feel like he’s performing well at his new job. He’s developed other strategies that he’s implementing (through years of CBT), but I have noticed that things seem to be more of a struggle than they were a year ago for him.” — Jenny, South Carolina

“I am a preschool teacher; my students are largely unmedicated. However, the shortage has affected my co-workers and some of the parents of my students in a noticeable manner. One parent-teacher conference devolved into hysterical laughter because everyone forgot all the important paperwork. I’m lucky I found a non-stimulant option for myself.” — Holly, Washington

“I am no longer a teacher, but I can say that for me, personally, I am having a hard time completing any tasks, and I am surprised I am even completing this task right now. I suppose it’s because I have other, what I might consider more important things to do, and answering this question is a distraction.” — Marisa, Georgia

“I was worried for my son, but his psychiatrist worked out other medication options with him.” — Cathy, California

Adderall Shortage: Next Steps

• Download: ADHD Medication Tracking Log
• Read: What Do You Mean You’re All Out?
• Read: A Patient’s Guide to Overcoming ADHD Medication Disruptions

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

Register to reserve your spot for this free webinar and webinar replay ►

Not available June 6? Don’t worry. Register now and we’ll send you the replay link to watch at your convenience.

Adolescents with ADHD are more likely to experience bullying for a variety of reasons, including missing social cues, blurting out in class, struggling academically, having difficulty making friends, displaying a lack of empathy, being clumsy or having poor impulse control, and associating with peers who are more likely to engage in bullying. Students in middle and high school may even believe they bring bullying on themselves due to their inappropriate behavior.

The effects of bullying can be devastating. Adolescents who are bullied experience negative mental health outcomes, including depression and anxiety, that can last into adulthood.

In this webinar, you will learn about:

• Research suggesting adolescents with ADHD are more likely to experience bullying
• Predictors of bullying
• How to identify the signs of bullying
• Strategies to prevent further bullying
• Approaches to use if your child is the bully

Have a question for our expert? There will be an opportunity to post questions for the presenter during the live webinar.

Meet the Expert Speaker:

Dr. Rosanna Breaux is a licensed clinical psychologist, director of the Virginia Tech Child Study Center, and Assistant Professor of Psychology. Her research focuses on the social, emotional, and academic functioning of children and adolescents, particularly those with ADHD. Dr. Breaux is also working to evaluate and disseminate the RELAX intervention, which targets emotion dysregulation and interpersonal conflict in adolescents.

Webinar Sponsor

The sponsor of this ADDitude webinar is…

Play Attention: NASA Inspired technology that improves executive function & self-regulation. For over 25 years PLAY ATTENTION has been helping children and adults thrive and succeed. Tufts University School of Medicine found Play Attention significantly improved attention, executive function, academic performance and behavioral control of ADHD students. Your program will include a Lifetime Membership and a Personal Executive Function Coach to customize your plan along the way. Home and professional programs available. Call 828-676-2240 or click here for our FREE eBooks on Executive Function, Anxiety, Self-Regulation, Mindfulness, and more! | www.playattention.com

ADDitude thanks our sponsors for supporting our webinars. Sponsorship has no influence on speaker selection or webinar content.

Certificate of Attendance: For information on how to purchase the certificate of attendance option (cost $10), register for the webinar, then look for instructions in the email you’ll receive one hour after it ends. The certificate of attendance link will also be available here, on the webinar replay page, several hours after the live webinar. ADDitude does not offer CEU credits.

Closed captions available.

Adults with severe ADHD symptoms were more likely to be expelled and receive reprimands from teachers as school children compared to adults with less severe or no ADHD symptoms, according to a partial study published this month in the Journal of Attention Disorders.¹

Researchers compared the school experiences and intensity of ADHD symptoms in 1,518 adults from the Czech Republic aged 18 to 65. Participants answered questions from the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) and were grouped according to symptom manifestation, or “ADHD type”: low, medium, and high.

Findings revealed that those with higher ADHD symptoms were “significantly more likely to be expelled, receive notes for bad behavior, disturbing or forgetting, as well as receive reprimands from teachers” as children.

“The results suggest that children with higher ADHD symptomatology are more likely to be forgetful, restless, and misbehave — which then gets written down by their teachers,” researchers said. “The school difficulties were found regardless of age, and students with increased ADHD symptomatology struggled in elementary and lower high school.”

Behavior grades were not significantly different between groups.

“School behavioral problems can have long-term negative consequences on educational and working careers,” researchers said. “Even in places where behavior is not graded, such as in the U.S. school systems, an ADHD diagnosis is associated with a significantly lower grade point average.”

Researchers recommend “early ADHD screening and improved education of teachers and school workers about the association between ADHD and possible school problems.” They also noted the importance of screening for comorbid conditions like anxiety, which can also influence school performance or even be misdiagnosed as ADHD.

“Such raised awareness can positively affect teachers’ approach and, subsequently, their way of evaluating children,” they said.

Sources

¹ Vňuková, M., Děchtěrenko, F., Weissenberger, S., Anders, M., & Ptáček, R. (2022). Childhood School Performance in Adults Diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Journal of Attention Disorders, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/10870547221140601

Here are some proven strategies for teachers to develop strong bonds with students:

1. Meet students at the classroom door and greet each by name every day.
2. Talk to students who are struggling. Learn more about them, their families, and their talents.
3. Remember to praise a student when they make even small changes towards improving misbehavior, such as remembering to raise their hand or pausing before blurting out an answer.
4. Behavioral issues may be mitigated by proper ADHD treatment, so consider asking parents to discuss behavioral and academic concerns with their child’s physician. Screening for anxiety and depression also may be warranted. Researchers report that, if medication doses are too low, students with ADHD have trouble paying attention and reaching peak academic performance. A medication adjustment may be needed.

Do This, Not That

Challenge #1. A student blurts out in class.

Don’t do this: Withhold recess. Research has shown that punishing a child by denying their participation in something appealing (and physically exhausting) is counterproductive. Students with ADHD need to be active to release excess energy and refresh their brains.

Do this: Talk privately with the student: “I’m so proud that you almost always know the answer to my questions. But I want to give everyone in class a chance to answer. You can help me by always raising your hand and waiting until I call on you. If you’re worried that you’re going to forget the answer, write it down.”

• Take a picture of the student sitting at their desk with their hand raised. Tape the picture on their desk as a visual reminder to wait for the teacher to call on them.
• Place a small three-color tri-fold flip chart on the student’s desk that they can use to signal you silently. The green card means “I am working fine!” The yellow card means “I need help, but I can keep working.” The red card means “I need help and I can’t keep working.” Respond immediately to the red card.

[Read: School Punishments That Don’t Work – Taking Away Recess]

Challenge #2. A student talks continuously and doesn’t complete classwork.

Don’t do this: Speak sarcastically to them in front of classmates or isolate them by having them stand in the hall or sit far away from peers.

Do this: Talk privately with the student. Review the class rules. Remind them that they need to do their classwork and talk less.

• Send the student an agreed-upon signal as a reminder to stop talking (for example, by tapping your ear).
• While lecturing, walk toward and stand near the student. Most chatterboxes will stop talking upon the teacher’s approach.
• Set up a point system with “OOPS! Cards,” which are neutral (rather than negative) reminders of desired behavior—e.g., to stop talking or to raise your hand. Here’s how it works: The student starts the day with 5 OOPS! Cards and must give one back when they forget to do a desired behavior. The reward for keeping a set number of cards each week might be reading to younger students or allowing them to read morning announcements. Examples of OOPS! Card statements: “Mistakes are the stepping stones to learning,” or “Sorry, I forgot.”

[Read: Positive Reinforcement, Behavior & ADHD – The Science of Reward and Punishment]

Challenge #3. A student doesn’t stay seated during classroom instruction.

Don’t do this: Tell them to sit down and be still. Students with ADHD often learn better while moving their bodies.

Do this: Place the student’s desk at the end of a row so they can fidget or move around without disturbing classmates.

• Build movement activities into the schedule. For example, assign “brain breaks,” when students may stand and stretch their bodies, do jumping jacks, or march around the room to music.
• Assign a fidgety student two seats; one could be a standup desk. So, after language arts, the student moves to their second desk to work on a math assignment.

Challenge #4. A student is argumentative with a teacher.

Don’t do this: Send the student to the principal’s office or yell at them in front of classmates. By continually criticizing a student in front of others, the teacher may unintentionally set up that student for bullying behaviors among their classmates.

Do this: If irritability is unusual for this student, talk with them privately and ask questions, such as, “This is unlike you. What’s wrong?” If the oppositional behavior occurs frequently, talk with the guidance counselor, and review the student’s school records and testing. Undiagnosed learning problems may be contributing to defiance in the classroom.

Challenge #5. A child frequently falls asleep in class. Their work is incomplete, and their grades drop.

Don’t do this: Send the student to the principal’s office.

Do this: Talk with the student privately. Ask why they are sleeping in class and not completing classwork.

• Refer the student to talk with the guidance counselor to determine the cause of this behavior.
• Try the “2 x 10 strategy.” For 10 consecutive days, take two minutes each morning to talk with the student about their family, their weekend, or their special interests. A teacher may discover that the student is working two jobs to help support their family, leading to exhaustion and poor grades.
• Suggest to the family that the student be checked for obstructive breathing disorder or some other condition that could interfere with restful sleep.

Teacher Strategies for Misbehavior: Next Steps

• Read: Strategies to Help ADHD Students, for Teachers
• Download: How Teachers Can Manage Common ADHD Behaviors
• Read: Functional Behavior Assessment – How to Fix School Misbehavior

Chris Dendy is a former educator and school psychologist. She is the author of Teenagers with ADD and ADHD: A Guide for Parents and Teaching Teens with ADD, ADHD, and Executive Function Deficits.

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

This was precisely why I instantly and enthusiastically volunteered to chaperone my daughter’s big class trip to Chicago. The Chicago trip was a time-honored tradition for eighth graders at my daughter’s private school for students with ADHD and learning differences. An arm’s length away from high school, I suspected this would be my chaperoning swan song.

I didn’t consider the 30-plus neurodivergent pre-teens along for the ride.

Chaperone Tip #1: No Candy Before 5 a.m.

On departure day, my daughter and I boarded the Chicago-bound charter bus at 5 a.m. Though the sun had not yet risen, her classmates were 100% awake. Some students had pulled all-nighters by the looks of their puffy, red eyes. Others were fueling up on an array of sugary candy. From the looks of unease and awkward smiles of fellow chaperones, I wasn’t alone in fearing the students’ sugar rush and impending sugar crash. Sleep was out of the question.

Chaperone Tip #2: Never Leave Essentials on the Bus

Six hours later, we arrived at our first Chicago stop, the Museum of Science & Industry. My joints cracked and popped as I walked off the bus like some humanoid robot (my payback for skipping years of yoga classes).

We were told to leave our stuff on the bus because “we’re changing bus drivers for the day, but not buses.”

[Self Test: Does My Child Have ADHD? Symptom Test for Kids]

Our time in the museum went as fast as the 80-mile-per-hour wind tunnel we stepped into. (Other highlights: a captured WWII-era German U-505 submarine and a Tesla coil that discharged 1.5 million volts of electricity.)

As we boarded the bus for our next stop, The Field Museum of Natural History, something felt off.

The bus was clean — too clean. Where were the candy and snack wrappers and haphazardly thrown backpacks? Where were our personal belongings, which we were assured would be secure on the bus?

I caught the eye of another chaperone; her face was ashen. This was obviously not our bus. According to another chaperone’s GPS tracker, our old bus was parked — at a location 45 minutes outside the city. And, we learned, we wouldn’t see it again until our last stop.

[Get This Free Resource: What Not to Say to a Child with ADHD]

Chaperones quickly triaged the bus situation while teachers assuaged the students. What was left on the other bus? Phone chargers, tablets, snacks, water. Then it hit us. DID WE LEAVE THE STUDENTS’ MEDICATIONS ON THE BUS?! Hours into this trip, some students with prescriptions would need additional doses — soon.

Chaperone Tip #3: Don’t Get Distracted

In the short drive to the Field Museum, we realized that teachers had all the students’ medications. But we lacked water and snacks. “I’ll find some,” a teacher volunteered. Like a sacrificial lamb, she went searching for a drugstore.

The remaining teachers went to check us in at the box office. The chaperones sprang into action, determining a game plan for the day. However, while huddled, we failed to notice that some of our students had turned the revolving doors of the Field Museum into their private amusement park ride. Three to five kids crammed into a space meant for one person and forcefully pushed until it caused a full-tilt spin. Kids cheered loudly with approval, eager for a turn.

Since a chaperone handbook for such a scenario wasn’t available, we did the next best thing: yelled. Loudly. Embarrassingly. “Sssttooopppp!” It worked.

Chaperone Tip #4: When All Else Fails, Find the Dinosaurs

We corralled everyone inside the museum and, simultaneously, every student needed an item that was surely on the other bus. Then came the questions echoing through the museum’s halls: When was their teacher getting back with snacks and water? When was lunch?

We needed something to redirect, stimulate, and engage them quickly. I looked up and saw the pterosaurs flying above us. Of course — dinosaurs! We ventured to the “private suite” of SUE, a massive T. Rex specimen, and the Field Museum’s most famous resident, and then visited SUE’s relatives in the Hall of Dinosaurs.

Chaperone Tip #5: Skip the Gift Shop

A glob of neon-colored goo packaged as a “stress ball” was the museum gift shop’s most coveted item. We urged the students to leave the goo globs behind as we embarked on our next activity, an architectural boat tour on the Chicago River. To no one’s surprise, they totally ignored us and the squishy balls set sail with us.

Despite the promise of “a seat for everyone,” our group was directed to standing-room-only options, which forced us to spread out on the boat. Some students jammed themselves between strangers to be near friends. Other students sat on steps they were told not to sit on or stood on stairwells they were told not to block. After glaring at a family using prime bench seating for their American Girl shopping bags, I got a seat. (The Kit Kittredge doll survived the Depression; her box could endure the floor.)

Though a few students attempted to lean over the ship’s bow to re-enact the iconic “I’m flying” scene from Titanic, no students were injured or fell off the boat. The same could not be said for the souvenir squishy balls. To the crew’s displeasure, some had popped open and oozed a jelly-like, hot pink substance down the boat’s side.

Chaperone Tip #6: Nothing Is as Simple As it Seems

Our final stop was Medieval Times (because nothing says “Chicago” like a medieval feast and tournament reenactment). To get us in a competitive spirit, we watched The Karate Kid on the bus ride there.

A large castle with colorful flags waving from its crenels greeted us as we pulled up, at last, into the Medieval Times parking lot. “You are not allowed to purchase any swords or weapons!” the teachers told the students as they exited the bus.

Swords? We saw what happened to the stress balls.

“Is this a good idea for a crew as rambunctious as ours?” I asked a teacher.

“Historically, this has been the best part of the school trip to Chicago,” she said.

She was right! Our group was fully enthralled with the festivity and pageantry of the tournament show – Andalusian horses, blaring trumpets and knights jousting, and participating in hand-to-hand combat. (I shouted, “No mercy!” and “Sweep the leg!” figuring I’d never have a more opportune time to yell out lines from The Karate Kid.) Then we devoured our utensil-free feast. (At least we had napkins.) With our bellies full, and our throats hoarse from shouting and cheering at the show, we knew it was time to go home.

Relief set in when we saw our original bus with all our belongings in the parking lot.

That relief quickly vanished when the engine refused to start.

Since our cell phones were long dead, we couldn’t tell anyone we were stranded. And on such a humid evening, waiting inside the bus for help was not an option.

I watched as my daughter and her friends spread blankets across the asphalt as if preparing for a late-night picnic. If only the kids were allowed to purchase swords, I thought. We could’ve jimmy-ed into the dungeon for shelter.

Chaperone Tip #7: Beware Murphy’s Law

Some kids were, understandably, not reacting well to the turn of events. They hurled unanswered questions our way. Suddenly, students had cramps, sore throats, and headaches. Others felt homesick. A few kids began to cry softly.

And because things weren’t chaotic enough, I saw an unmistakable flash of lighting, followed by the rousing rumble of thunder.

“Everyone, get back on the bus!” the teachers shouted.

We scrambled to gather our items, but we were no match for the storm. Pelts of rain showered down, drenching us. Defeated, tired, and soaked, we returned to our broken bus, where all we could do was sit in the dark.

Would my last moments on Earth be spent abandoned in a Medieval Times parking lot? I thought. Where was our knight in shining armor?

We passed an IKEA on the way to Medieval Times. Could my daughter and I hitchhike there, find shelter in home furnishing, and subsist on Swedish meatballs? I wondered.

Chaperone Tip #8: Adults Can Learn About Resilience from Neurodivergent Kids

Seemingly hours later, the soft glow of headlights appeared. Somehow, our courageous teachers procured a new bus. Hallelujah!

We rushed into the air-conditioned bus and nestled our exhausted bodies into the dry seats.

“Are you okay?” I mouthed to my daughter.

She nodded.

Though it was the middle of the night, the teachers popped Shrek into the bus’s overhead DVD player. The opening chords of Smash Mouth’s “All Star” played. Students began to sing along. The cacophony of voices blotted out the stress and disorder we collectively endured over the past few hours and soothed me to sleep.

We arrived back at my daughter’s school just as the sun rose.

“So, what did you think of Chicago?” I asked her after we gathered our belongings.

“That was the best trip ever,” she whispered.

Chaperone for the ADHD Class Trip: Next Steps

• Read: “Neurodivergent Kids Are My Favorite Students”
• Download: Free Resource: Activity Ideas for ADHD Kids
• Learn: Moms and Dads: Lets Turn All Those Can’ts Into Can-Dos
• Blog: “The Fast Lane Towards the future”

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

If your child has a negative reputation, then it sounds like this pattern of behavior and exclusion has been going on for some time. It’s troubling to hear you ask how to involve the teacher, because educators should already be part of a team effort to help any child with behavioral challenges.

How to Address Behavioral Challenges

Does your child have an IEP?

Many students with ADHD display symptomatic behaviors, like impulsivity or emotional unpredictability, which make it difficult for them to get along with other kids. If your child’s ADHD is getting in the way of his ability to socialize or learn with other kids, then he should have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) to address this obstacle. If you do not have an IEP, you can request an evaluation from the administrator of special education in your child’s school.

Request a functional behavioral assessment (FBA).

A qualified behavior analyst — usually a professionally trained specialist with a master’s or a doctoral degree — should perform the FBA. Most schools have these specialists on staff. They evaluate, design, and implement individualized plans to help kids with behavior problems.

First, behavior analysts study what’s going on around a child when negative behavior is happening. They are skilled at understanding the purpose, frequency, and duration of the behavior — for example, does it show up in the classroom, the lunchroom, on the bus, or during transitions or unstructured times?

[Get This Free Download: The Daily Report Card for Better Classroom Behavior]

The specialists also analyze what teachers and classmates say and do before, during, and after the behavior occurs. Based on this information, the specialists generate a plan. Since teachers have the most contact with kids, they must participate in creating and implementing the plan.

This approach is very effective at modifying the behavior of children with ADHD in elementary, middle, and high school. When a child’s behaviors improve, their reputations can be re-built. The teacher can influence the reactions of other kids and help them become a positive force in the effort to turn around behavior as well.

How Teachers Can Help Students Who Feel Left Out

Implementing the FBA approach may take some time, but your child’s teacher can make changes in the interim to help your child. Share the following classroom strategies with the teacher to help foster peer acceptance and improve your child’s reputation:

1. Give the child tasks to do in the classroom that are helpful to the rest of the students, such as handing out supplies, passing back completed student assignments, and helping to prepare and serve snacks.

[Read: What Kids Need When Classmates Reject Them]

2. Put students into teams or small learning groups. Ask them to create a set of group behavior rules. To help with ideas, the teacher might suggest some ground rules for respectful listening and mindful sharing. Give students topics to discuss in the group, practicing the rules of respectful communications. At the end of the activity, ask the students to evaluate the effectiveness of the skills they just used. This activity reinforces positive interaction and decreases the opportunity for bullying or ridicule.

3. Find opportunities to showcase the student’s strengths, such as artistic or musical talent. Have the student document class activities. Making, editing, and showing a video is a good way for a student to earn the attention of other kids, but in a positive way. Let the student get the reputation as film producer, or the kid who does the “Joke of the Day” at the start of class — or any role that will help to replace the old, negative reputation.

4. If a “vulnerable” child is doing a presentation in class, invite “honored guests” like the principal, the lunch lady, a group of kids from another class, or a parent to come into class to watch. Sometimes, the presence of an audience helps insensitive kids re-think their behavior.

5. The teacher should also create a classroom environment based on mutual respect and kindness, modeling what that means, and acknowledging and rewarding “polite” behavior when it occurs. Many schools are implementing Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curricula, which are filled with strategies that can help teachers achieve this goal.

Feeling Left Out: Next Steps

• Free Download: Help Your Child’s Peers ‘Get’ ADHD
• Read: My Kid Is “That Kid”
• Read: Resilience Begins with Responsibility – the Power of Service for Kids with ADHD

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

Despite nationwide anti-bullying campaigns, zero-tolerance school policies, and calls for kindness, bullying remains a serious public health issue. Youth today continue to fall victim to negative verbal and physical confrontations. In a recent ADDitude survey on youth mental health, a staggering 61% of respondents said their child had been bullied; of those respondents, 72% were dissatisfied with the school’s response to incidents on campus, on a school bus, or online.

Inadequate School Response

Children with ADHD are nearly twice as likely to be bullied as their neurotypical peers, and that bullying and cyberbullying are most often experienced in middle or high school. ¹ Family financial strain, developmental delay or intellectual disability, friendship difficulties, and school-reported problems contribute to the risk of victimization. ²

Of the 701 ADDitude readers who reported bullying of their children, 69% said the bully was a classmate, and 48% said multiple students were involved. Regardless of the perpetrator, a whopping 72% of survey respondents said they were not satisfied with the school’s response.

“My child experienced bullying for years, from preschool through high school, and told teachers and staff, but they never mentioned it to me,” wrote one mother of an 18-year-old with ADHD and anxiety. “It was only when he physically lashed out that most of it stopped, but the damage was done. In middle school he began at-risk behaviors, it was quite apparent that his self-esteem was seriously low, and he chose troubled kids from troubled homes as friends… He continues to struggle with identity, sexual identity, motivation and purpose, to a debilitating level.”

More than 37% of caregivers reported that their child’s school never acknowledged the bullying behavior; 30% said the school issued a verbal warning to the bully; and 29% said the school spoke with their child about being bullied. Only 12% of parents said the school punished the bully or bullies, and only 9.5% said the school provided support services for their child “to help deal with the bullying and its aftermath.” Just 23 respondents said the school put the bullies on a behavior improvement plan.

[Free eBook: Time to Change? Great Schools for ADHD Kids]

“Late in the school year, one of my daughter’s classmates who had been routinely bullying her told her to go kill herself,” said the father of a 10-year-old with ADHD and anxiety in Utah. “We promptly reported it to the school. The principal made it clear that they would address the issue with the student, but it never happened. We relayed this to the district and have yet to hear of any resolution.”

Bullying by Authority Figures

Almost one-third of respondents identified their child’s bully as a “friend.” And a quarter said the bully was a teacher, coach, or staff member. While attention is often placed on peer-to-peer bullying, abuse by authority figures does occur — and bring with it nuanced considerations. David said that his son was repeatedly rejected by teachers and staff at preschool “due to ADHD and language differences.”

“He was told to shut up by teachers and children frequently,” he said. “His behavior worsened, negative patterns were created, and the blame was assigned to him.”

Reports of bullying by teachers and administrators were alarmingly common among parents, many of whom did not learn of the bullying until years later.

[Read: When Adults Bully Children with ADHD]

“Had I known at the time about the staff bullying, there would have been legal consequences,” wrote the parent of a young adult with ADHD and learning differences who was bullied at school. “But as often happens, the person bullied would not tell the parents.”

Melissa said her son was blamed by teachers for behaviors and challenges caused by his ADHD. “The teacher often sent our son out of class and spoke denigratingly about him to the bullies,” she said, echoing a common complaint of ADHD ignorance among educators.

Other respondents attributed adult bullying to a lack of understanding regarding gender identification and expression, auditory processing disorder (APD), and ADHD symptoms such as emotional dysregulation. Though less data exists on bullying by adults at school, previous research suggests that chronic peer victimization during school years leads to lower academic achievement, less confidence in one’s academic abilities, and a greater dislike of school. ³ Resolving this behavior is crucial to a positive learning environment.

“[The school] did a mediation with all of the boys and had my son explain ADHD and why he went to the nurse for meds daily,” said the mother of a 10-year-old boy with ADHD in New Jersey. “They called him ‘retarded’ and said he has ‘mental problems,’ which is why they were called in for bullying my son. So instead of discipline, they wanted to educate the other kids. My son agreed to this. I was not really happy with it.”

Other parents expressed satisfaction with their schools’ efforts to increase ADHD understanding and empathy through communication.

“A group of boys was following my daughter and her friends around each day yelling body-shaming comments at them,” said the mother of an 11-year-old girl bullied at school and over text messages. “A teacher had the girls write letters explaining the impact of the behavior. The boys had to read those letters, and then write apology letters to each girl.”

Why Cyberbullying Interventions are Too Rare

Outside of school, neurodivergent children and teens most commonly encounter bullying in social media apps (32%), on the school bus (30%), and in text messages (27%).

“Bullying has always surrounded my daughter’s lack of age-appropriate social insight and the intensity of her emotional reactivity,” wrote Cindy, whose 18-year-old daughter has faced bullying at school, on social media, and on sports teams. “Once shunned, the bullying begins. Girls begin to exclude her from previous group texts and stop following her on certain apps. She then learns of negative posts about herself from others. She ruminates until her mood totally plunges.”

Leigh said her daughter posted “a mild, short video” on social media and began receiving negative comments. “She started being more self-critical, withdrawn, and afraid to post anything else for fear of being bullied again.”

The anonymity of and lack of adult supervision on social platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok sometimes allow bullying to persist. Children and adolescents who experience cyberbullying are at an increased risk for self-harm, and girls are most likely to be both perpetrators and victims. ⁴ Unfortunately, most young people won’t intervene on behalf of their peers, though they’re more likely to do so anonymously. ⁴

“I could literally write a book about the lack of needed social-emotional training for all students in our school district as well as teachers and all adults working with students,” Cindy said. “Additionally, parents with neurodiverse and learning challenged kids need parent support and education groups organized by the school district. Parents need this peer-to-peer emotional validation… and the empowerment that comes from a group to help them seek changes in the school system.”

A Complicated Problem

For Sonja, whose 10-year-old daughter was physically harmed by a classmate, it was hard to know exactly what the school should do. The bully had displayed signs of physical aggression for years but attempts to curb his behavior were complicated by his own behavioral disorder.

“[My daughter’s] classmate engages other students in physical conflict,” Sonja wrote. “I know that this child is in therapy for behavior issues, but it’s hard to have him in the same class. He has behaved this way toward my daughter and others since they were one year old, so I know it won’t likely stop anytime soon.”

Bullying can lead to other forms of violence, and physical outbursts may be the result of untreated ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), or intermittent explosive disorder (IED).

“I don’t know what else the school can do, but other kids are not always safe around him,” Sonja said. “I know he struggles, too. My child has attempted to be friends with him over the years, but it often ends with her being hurt physically. We are now trying to gently discourage her from additional attempts to befriend him.”

Bullying Prevention Strategies

For Educators and School Staff

All staff must be properly trained on anti-bullying policies and procedures and how to enforce them. The American Psychological Association (APA) and StopBullying.gov (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) recommend the following anti-bullying strategies:

Be vigilant. Bullying generally happens in areas where supervision is limited – playgrounds, crowded hallways, lunchrooms, school buses, etc. Monitor these hot spots.

Respond quickly and consistently to bullying. Always try to stop bullying on the spot, as it can stop bullying behavior over time. Do not ignore the situation and assume that the issue will resolve on its own. Avoid forcing the bully and victim to “work it out” on the spot. Get medical attention or police help if warranted.

Incorporate bullying prevention activities in lessons. Get creative. Students can learn how to respond to bullying, how to report it (including cyberbullying) to teachers and staff, and the role they play in fostering a culture of safety, inclusion, and respect at school.

Conduct school-wide bullying assessments and evaluation prevention efforts. Refine plans as necessary.

For Families

Sharon Saline, Psy.D., recommends the following strategies:

Show your child how to properly assert themselves. If bullies see that their initial taunts and insults provoke a reaction, they will continue. Teach your child tactics like interrupting the bully mid-sentence, switching the topic of conversation, etc.

Create a plan that clearly details steps your child should take if they see or experience bullying online or in person.

Come up with an exit strategy for uncomfortable situations. Your child could use the help of true friends, for example, to help them get out of tricky situations.

Build your child’s confidence. A strong self of self will prevent your child from becoming a bully and give them the courage they need to intervene when others are being bullied.

Bullying in Schools and ADHD: Next Steps

• Read: Your Child’s Legal Right to Learn Without Bullying
• Download: Your ADHD Middle School Guide
• Watch: “My Child Is Being Bullied at School!” Strategies for Parents

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

Sources

¹Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Fast fact: Preventing bullying. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/youthviolence/bullyingresearch/fastfact.html

²Cuba Bustinza, C., Adams, R. E., Claussen, A. H., Vitucci, D., Danielson, M. L., Holbrook, J. R., Charania, S. N., Yamamoto, K., Nidey, N., & Froehlich, T. E. (2022). Factors Associated With Bullying Victimization and Bullying Perpetration in Children and Adolescents With ADHD: 2016 to 2017 National Survey of Children’s Health. Journal of Attention Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1177/10870547221085502

³Ladd, G. W., Ettekal, I., & Kochenderfer-Ladd, B. (2017). Peer Victimization Trajectories From Kindergarten Through High School: Differential Pathways for Children’s School Engagement and Achievement? Journal of Educational Psychology. https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/edu-edu0000177.pdf

⁴ 11 facts about cyberbullying. (n.d.) DoSomething.org. Retrieved from https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-cyber-bullying

ADHD impacts a student’s school experience in more than academic ways. ADHD can mean barging in on peers’ conversations, having outbursts in class, and generally engaging in unexpected behaviors. This can lead to peer rejection wherein students don’t get invited to social events and they don’t have friends at school.

We can change this. In this webinar, Brendan Mahan, M.Ed., M.S., will explain how parents can work collaboratively with their kids to improve their reputations, and how to enlist help from teachers. And teachers will learn strategies for supporting students as they work to rehabilitate their image and better understand the unwritten rules of school.

In this webinar, you will learn:

• How ADHD can affect a student’s behavior in the classroom, and ultimately, their reputation at school
• Strategies to help your student avoid negative behaviors that can lead to peer rejection
• How parents can approach teachers to enlist their help in ending peer rejection and loneliness at school
• Approaches educators can use to help turn around a student’s negative reputation at school
• Easy-to-understand steps that students can take to end the emotional outbursts and other behaviors that lead to peer rejection at school

Watch the Video Replay

Enter your email address in the box above labeled “Video Replay + Slide Access” to watch the video replay (closed captions available) and download the slide presentation.

Download or Stream the Podcast Audio

Click the play button below to listen to this episode directly in your browser, click the symbol to download to listen later, or open in your podcasts app: Apple Podcasts; Google Podcasts; Stitcher; Spotify; Amazon Music; iHeartRADIO.

More on Teens with ADHD

• Download: The Ages & Stages of ADHD
  
• Read: Social Smarts: The Teen Years
  
• Read: Period of Adjustment
  

Obtain a Certificate of Attendance

If you attended the live webinar on November 1, 2022, watched the video replay, or listened to the podcast, you may purchase a certificate of attendance option (cost: $10). Note: ADDitude does not offer CEU credits. Click here to purchase the certificate of attendance option »

Meet the Expert Speaker:

Brendan Mahan, M.Ed., M.S., an internationally recognized ADHD/Executive Function coach, a highly engaging, sought-after speaker, and the host of the ADHD Essentials Podcast. A former teacher, mental health counselor, and principal, Brendan helps individuals, families, schools, and businesses manage the challenges of ADHD and neurodiversity through an approach that blends education, collaborative problem-solving, and accountability with compassion, humor, a focus on strengths and growth, and his trademark “Wall of Awful” model. Contact him at brendan@ADHDessentials.com.

Listener Testimonials

“Brendan is an amazing speaker; loved that it was succinct but so much value!”

“This webinar was extremely useful as a parent, therapist, and consultant!”

“Brendan was a very engaging speaker with great ideas for schools.”

Webinar Sponsor

The sponsor of this ADDitude webinar is…

Brain Balance is an integrative cognitive development program designed to help kids with ADHD, Learning Differences, Anxiety & beyond. An exploratory study with Harvard’s McLean Hospital found the Brain Balance Program to be as effective as low-dose stimulant medication in alleviating ADHD symptoms in children. Visit brainbalance.com to learn more about Brain Balance today.

ADDitude thanks our sponsors for supporting our webinars. Sponsorship has no influence on speaker selection or webinar content.

Follow ADDitude’s full ADHD Experts Podcast in your podcasts app:
Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Amazon Music | RadioPublic | Pocket Casts | iHeartRADIO | Stitcher

Welcome to ADDitude’s self-guided master class designed to explain and solve the Top 10 learning hurdles facing students with ADHD and other learning differences.

This course, featuring instructional videos from the world’s foremost experts in neurodivergent education, will guide parents and educators through a full syllabus of 51 webinar replays, 72 essential articles, 33 expert Q&As, 39 downloadable resources to share, 17 self-tests, 33 expert Q&As, 15 supplemental videos, and more.

Each lesson revolves around a common challenge for neurodivergent students:

• Learning Hurdle #1: ADHD Misinformation (How to educate educators on ADHD and recognize early signs of ADHD in the classroom)
• Learning Hurdle #2: ADHD Accommodations (How to advocate for your child, secure an effective IEP or 504 Plan, and ensure it’s being followed)
• Learning Hurdle #3: Distractibility and Inattention (How to help students hear and follow directions without losing focus or interest)
• Learning Hurdle #4: Weak Executive Functions (How to bolster executive function skills commonly impacted by ADHD, including working memory, prioritization, and time management)
• Learning Hurdle #5: Behavior Challenges (How to address and prevent the classroom behaviors that interfere with learning such as interrupting, hitting, and fidgeting)
• Learning Hurdle #6: Homework Problems (How to help students accurately log, prioritize, complete, and hand in assignments on time)
• Learning Hurdle #7: Learning Differences (How to best serve and teach students who have dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, auditory processing, dyspraxia, and other learning differences)
• Learning Hurdle #8: Social Struggles (How to teach social and emotional-regulation skills so that kids can make and keep friends more easily)
• Learning Hurdle #9: School Collaboration (How to facilitate and participate in parent-teacher-student cooperation and communication, particularly around accommodations)
• Learning Hurdle #10: Motivation and Resilience (How to build internal and external motivation to encourage resilience in students when they face school challenges)

NOTE: This resource is for personal use only.

How to Stop Bullying at School

Sadly, many neurodivergent kids experience bullying, teasing, and/or taunting. Despite anti-bullying policies in schools and national efforts to raise awareness, kids with ADHD will likely find themselves as victims and/or aggressors at some point.

Yes, aggressors. Children and teens with ADHD may not realize when they’ve crossed the line from gentle ribbing into full-on bullying. Teasing is:

• often done with humor
• is reciprocal
• doesn’t affect self-esteem
• will stop when it is no longer fun

Taunting, on the other hand, involves ill will and continues or even escalates after the recipient is hurt or asks for the taunting to stop. Taunting is a form of bullying, and it is rampant in the upper elementary school grades, middle school, and early high school years.

Bullies often target individuals they perceive to be weak, vulnerable, and unable to defend themselves. It is repetitive, purposeful, and meant to cause harm or fear through the threat of further hostility. Bullying can be physical (hurting people), or it can be done through relational aggression (starting rumors, spreading gossip, and getting people to “gang up” on others).

[Free Guide: Help Your Child Make Friends]

Often, the roles of bully and victim are fluid. Kids who feel insecure or different from others are more likely to be aggressors at one time and then victims at another. Children and teens with ADHD may become targets for bullies due to impulsiveness, clumsiness, and greater challenges navigating awkward conversations and reading body language. They also may not realize when they are in danger of being targeted or attacked.

Sometimes the bullied becomes a bully. The same impulsivity and social challenges that put kids with ADHD at risk for bullying may also lead them to take out their frustrations on others.

A bully’s motivations may include the following:

• A desire to fit in with or be accepted by “cool” or “popular” kids
• Peer pressure
• A defense mechanism: “If I bully others, then others won’t bully me”
• To increase social status: “I feel stronger/smarter/better when I put others down”

How to Deal with A Bully: 5 Steps

To teach kids to respond effectively to bullying, support them with these interventions:

1. Encourage your child to speak up in non-provocative ways to assert strength. Bullies will do a few practice taunts to test someone, create drama, and stir things up. If their insults provoke a reaction, they will continue. Your child can shut this down by standing up and saying: “What did you say to me?” or “What did you mean by that?” Or your child can interrupt the bully mid-sentence, say his name, and change the conversation. Try role-playing with your child to practice this.
2. Create an exit strategy. Discuss techniques and phrases to use to extricate your child from an uncomfortable situation. Explore ways for your child or teen to engage the assistance of their true friends in socially tricky situations.
3. Remind your child that he is not alone. Point out his true friends and encourage time spent together. For younger children, facilitate these meetups; for older ones, ask if they’d like to invite a friend over. Ask the school for help in fostering positive connections through project collaborations with like-minded individuals. Make sure that teachers are aware of the social dynamics your child is facing.
4. Help your child build self-awareness about statements, actions, or facial expressions that might be misinterpreted as hostile. Try saying: “Hey, are you aware of the volume of your voice right now? Can you bring it down a notch?” Seek out feedback from teachers about possible off-putting behaviors or habits that they notice.
5. Create a safety plan that details what to say or do to stop bullying when it occurs in person or online: whom to talk to (a friend or adult), where to go at school (the office of the nurse or counselor), and how to minimize reacting.

Nurture self-confidence in your child or teen by identifying her interests and capabilities, developing skills and pride in these areas, acknowledging her efforts as well as her accomplishments, and staying compassionate and steady in your relationship.

[Symptom Test: Does My Child Have ADHD?]

How to Become An Upstander

Encourage your child to recognize situations in which they are bystanders. Ask them to reflect on their feelings about what they see. Explain what it means to be an upstander or someone who intervenes on behalf of a person being bullied by speaking or acting out. Discuss how your child can role model prosocial behavior, inclusivity, and other appropriate and safe ways to be an upstander, such as:

• Welcoming others to join their activities and groups
• Showing kindness, respect, and empathy for others
• Walking or sitting with vulnerable kids who may be targets of bullying
• Intervening as a group by enlisting the help of other friends who dislike or fear the bully
• Changing the subject when a taunting conversation begins
• Questioning the bullying behavior by asking to do something else
• Using humor to lighten up a serious situation
• Stating approval of the victim and validating his or her social status
• Reaching out privately to the target to express support and concern
• Reporting the bullying to a trusted adult, parent, teacher, or school administrator
• Reaching out privately to the person doing the bullying to express concern, if you feel safe to do so

Most importantly, tell your child how proud you are of them when they show compassion and help targets of bullying. Help them identify the positive emotions resulting from their good deeds. Having a strong sense of self will prevent your child from becoming a bully, and it will teach her how to stop bullying effectively when others bully her or other classmates.

Anti-Bullying Resources

• STOMP Out Bullying
• StopBullying.gov
• PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center
• The Human Rights Campaign

Stop Bullying: Next Steps

• Download: Free Guide to Improving Your Students’ Social Skills
• Read: Is Your Child a Target for Bullies?
• Listen: “Stop the Bully: Helping Your ADHD Child Overcome Teasing”

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

Positive reinforcement inspires more consistent motivation and better learning outcomes for children with ADHD, who are more sensitive to rewards and punishments than are their neurotypical peers. Research shows that positive reinforcement (rewards for achievements) changes the brain at the cellular level; it also shows that children with ADHD are more likely to become frustrated and give up when they don’t receive anticipated rewards for completing a difficult task.

Yes, punishment may keep a child with ADHD on task in the short term. But studies show that punishment, or the anticipation of punishment, may carry serious long-term consequences if the child’s emotional regulation skills are weak.

Given these findings, how might educators and caregivers more effectively approach motivation and behavior modification for children with ADHD? In this webinar, you will learn:

• How to respond when a child’s task persistence drops away and she begins to respond impulsively or become emotional
• How to use positive reinforcement when a child is learning a new skill or task that requires much effort
• How to introduce strategies that will build a child’s stamina for waiting
• How to use reinforcement to help children as they transition from one activity or setting to another
• How to match homework demands to a child’s capacity, and how to reward effort when the work is challenging

Watch the Video Replay

Enter your email address in the box above labeled “Video Replay + Slide Access” to watch the video replay (closed captions available) and download the slide presentation.

Download or Stream the Podcast Audio

Click the play button below to listen to this episode directly in your browser, click the symbol to download to listen later, or open in your podcasts app: Apple Podcasts; Google Podcasts; Stitcher; Spotify; Amazon Music; iHeartRADIO.

More on Positive Reinforcement and ADHD

• Download: ADHD Discipline Strategies
• Read: Children with ADHD Need Positive Reinforcement (& Other Interventions That Work)
• Read: The Thing Kids with ADHD Crave the Most Is…

Obtain a Certificate of Attendance

If you attended the live webinar on September 8, 2022, watched the video replay, or listened to the podcast, you may purchase a certificate of attendance option (cost: $10). Note: ADDitude does not offer CEU credits. Click here to purchase the certificate of attendance option »

Meet the Expert Speaker:

Gail Tripp, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and professor at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University in Japan. She focuses on the learning and motivational processing of children with ADHD and implications for treatment. In a recent study, she examined predictors of academic achievement in children with ADHD.

Webinar Sponsor

The sponsor of this ADDitude webinar is….

Equazen^® Pro is a clinically proven nutritional medical food, designed to help improve focus, attention, academic performance and balance mood for those with ADHD.^† In fact, clinical studies have shown Equazen^® Pro can improve ADHD symptoms in as little as 12 weeks. Now is the perfect time to start supporting your child’s mind and get them ready for back-to-school.

ADDitude thanks our sponsors for supporting our webinars. Sponsorship has no influence on speaker selection or webinar content.

Follow ADDitude’s full ADHD Experts Podcast in your podcasts app:
Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Amazon Music | RadioPublic | Pocket Casts | iHeartRADIO | Stitcher

Surprising Sign of ADHD #1: Difficulty with Transitions

The teacher gives a two-minute warning to the class that independent reading time is about to end. But when the teacher announces it is time to move on to science, the student does not stop reading.

The Explanation

ADHD is best seen as a medical disorder affecting a child’s overall self-management skills, frequently referred to as executive functioning. These skills let us manage things in life — our goals, projects, time, emotions, or social situations — and they can manifest as forgetfulness, poor focus, or weak impulse control when they’re not working properly.

Kids with ADHD over-focus on what’s captivating, can’t focus when effort is unnatural but necessary, and can’t transition because switching attention is part of managing these skills well. A student who keeps reading after it’s time to move on can come across as misbehaving. But if a child can’t shift attention easily, he might not even register that a teacher is speaking while he’s focused on his book.

The Solution

Give students an advance warning of five minutes. Help them come to a good stopping point. You might suggest that they “pause” rather than stop, reminding them that they can come back to the current task later. Then start the next task with them individually, when possible.

[Free Download: The Ultimate ADHD Toolkit for Parents and Teachers]

Surprising Sign of ADHD #2: Struggling to Follow Instructions

A teacher says it’s time for math. This means students must put aside other tasks to get out a pencil, a piece of paper, and their math book, and open the book to the correct page. A student appears to be ignoring the teacher’s instructions by moving slowly or not at all.

The Explanation

Tied tightly to executive dysfunction, ADHD can be reframed as a disorder of organization, planning, and time management. Getting ready for math requires a student to first hear the instruction and then transition attention out of one activity to another.

They also need to know the location of their supplies, avoid distractions during each step, return their attention to the teacher, and do all that quickly enough to keep up and get settled in time to absorb the lesson. This is a strain on ADHD brains.

The Solution

Avoid telling the student how to start the next activity before finishing the current one. Some students with ADHD have short-term working memory deficits, so trying to remember everything can feel overwhelming. Also:

• Recognize that planning skills aren’t acquired automatically by some people, who need repeated explicit instruction.
• Meet with them privately or assign partners to check progress. Make your daily activities as predictable as possible.
• Post your day’s schedule prominently.
• Write down the step-by-step directions for doing the task.
• Provide a visual sequence of the task to be completed

[Self-Test: Could My Child Have a Learning Disability?]

Surprising Sign of ADHD #3: Social Rejection

A student seems to be disliked by her peers. She is socially isolated, eats alone, and doesn’t join other kids in school activities.

The Explanation

While often unintentional, ADHD’s behavioral symptoms can annoy peers. ADHD impairs communication when it causes kids to miss details in a conversation, or struggle to organize their thoughts quickly, which is a working memory-related task. To others, it can seem like the child isn’t listening or isn’t interested in the conversation.

The Solution

Just as we teach academic skills, we should teach social skills. Privately, we should reinforce when we see students with ADHD acting appropriately. We also must teach neurotypical students to be tolerant of others, stressing that all students have individual needs and we must help them as much as we can. When we see students engaging in those random acts of kindness, we should recognize them.

Surprising Sign of ADHD #4: Disruptiveness

Long after the rest of the class has complied with the teacher’s signal for quiet, a student is unable to stop talking and is seen as disruptive.

The Explanation

Being overly talkative is common with ADHD, as is distractedly missing cues and struggling to shift attention. Children rarely learn to change these kinds of behaviors through discussion and/or consequences. They cannot simply choose not to have an ADHD symptom, and they often start feeling bad about themselves when they require so much redirection.

The Solution

We need to teach students ways to regulate their emotions before they need them, not when they are in the middle of a crisis. Breathing techniques and mindfulness activities can be helpful. If we teach them in advance, then we can provide a quiet reminder when the child needs it.

Surprising Sign of ADHD #5: Missing Materials

A student chronically forgets her materials — a pencil and workbook, her homework when it’s due, and other assignments.

The Explanation

Forgetfulness is a symptom of ADHD. Repeatedly marking down grades for an ADHD symptom doesn’t help anyone much — a student with ADHD can’t magically conjure motivation because ADHD is a planning disorder. That means a student who has ADHD lags behind in the executive function skills that would help her devise solutions to overcome her challenges.

The Solution

Talk to the student privately. Brainstorm together. Can she bring in a box of pencils to be kept in your classroom as her personal stash? Provide her with a checklist of what to bring to class that she can carry as a reminder. Give her the responsibility of collecting everyone’s assignments in class as a reward for turning in her assignments on time.

[Download: A Guide to Building Foundational Executive Functions]

Surprising Sign of ADHD #6: Reading Skill Stagnation

A student who doesn’t seem to have a learning disability isn’t progressing in reading.

The Explanation

For fluent reading, we first must decode words effortlessly, which obviously requires language and background knowledge. And then, as new research has confirmed, we need strong attention and executive function to manage all the information we’re consuming. These are the three components, broadly speaking, of strong reading skills.

Kids with ADHD often struggle with reading because of inattention and executive dysfunction, as well as lost instructional time in general. They also may avoid reading until they find it easy because avoiding effort and failure are common with ADHD as well. That’s particularly true without strong screen time limits at home.

The Solution

Many children with ADHD also have a learning disability, such as a more specific impairment in decoding or comprehension. As such, there should be a low threshold for requesting educational testing for students with ADHD. If academic concerns persist, don’t assume this is caused by their ADHD symptoms alone.

Surprising Sign of ADHD #7: “Wasted” Potential

A gifted student seems to have lots of potential in school but doesn’t appear to study or try very hard.

The Explanation

A student may successfully coast for a few years, then hit a brick wall when they are unable to manage time, study, or prepare effectively — usually in middle or high school. The skill of studying relies on long-term thinking, creating a plan, and sticking to a plan; many students with ADHD fail to understand the why of studying, much less how.

The Solution

Juggling an intense workload with poor organizational skills can send a student’s stress level through the roof. Writing and other assignments may take far longer than expected, even though the end product may be brilliant.

Even when a student is gifted, he may shut down if he feels overwhelmed. Therefore, we must break assignments into small steps, encourage the student to set earlier deadlines than what may be required, and provide him with tools that can make the assignment easier to complete. Appropriate accommodations can be life-changing for students, even when their grades are good.

ADHD in the Classroom: Next Steps

• Watch: A Parent’s Guide to Problem Solving School Behavior Struggles
• Free Download: Help Your Child Love School in 22 Steps
• Read: Back to School Prep: 10 Talks to Have for a Great School Year

Mark Bertin, M.D., is a developmental pediatrician and author of Mindful Parenting for ADHD. Beverley Holden Johns is president of the Learning Disabilities Association of Illinois and the author or co-author of 23 books on special education. Kathy Kuhl helps parents of students who learn differently at LearnDifferently.com.

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

The school may have ideas for managing your child’s behaviors. But management alone is not enough. To truly and effectively help a child with school behavior problems, you must teach them new skills to ultimately reduce interfering behaviors. You cannot punish the problem away.

Parents play an important role in driving the conversation and the problem-solving process. From requesting school meetings to brainstorming behavioral strategies and monitoring progress, here’s a detailed step-by-step guide for working with educators to improve your child’s classroom behavior.

How to Help a Child with Behavior Problems at School

Step 1: Connect with the School

• Assume this isn’t the first time. It’s not easy to receive the dreaded school phone call or email about your child’s behaviors. You may be tempted to push back. But schools often contact parents only after observing a pattern of behaviors. That doesn’t mean your child is demonstrating these behaviors every day, or at the same intensity each time.
• Request a meeting with the teacher to investigate what’s really going on. Ideally, the meeting should occur within a week after the incident. Make the request via email; written records are important.
• If your child has an IEP or a 504 Plan, invite the case manager, other teachers who encounter the challenging behaviors, and anyone else who can provide valuable insights about your child’s behavior, like a therapist or a related service provider, to the meeting.
• Avoid problem-solving over email or phone. It’s almost impossible to do so effectively. Plus, you and the school will need time to gather questions and information.

[Free Download: Solving Behavior Problems Rooted in Executive Function Deficits]

Sample Outreach Email

Thank you for contacting us today about _____. It is clear we need to meet as a team as soon as possible to discuss in more detail what is happening and how to help. We are formally requesting we meet with yourself, principal ___, and ___ as soon as possible. Please ensure their availability for a meeting. See below for dates and times we are available within the next week. Thank you again; we look forward to problem solving together.

Email Tips

• Be professional, clear, and strong in your request
• Include other caregivers in the email chain

Step 2: Prepare for the Meeting

Set an Agenda

Agendas are often overlooked by all parties, but they provide structure and give parents some control over the discussion. Create and provide an agenda via email to the school team once a meeting date and time are set. Recommended agenda:

• Parents will provide further information about [child’s name] to the school team. The purpose of this step is to remind every person in the meeting that your child is more than their interfering behaviors.
  • Hobbies and interests may help teachers bond with your child and figure out creative ways to engage them
  • Strengths and dislikes may also help teachers determine how to best work with your child
  • If your child has a disability, describe how it impacts them
• School will describe the interfering behaviors and answer parent questions (sample questions in step three below)
  • Ask the school to provide data or written reports regarding the behavior ahead of the meeting
• Collaborate on potential strategies to reduce target behaviors, teach new skills, and prevent other interfering behaviors
• Create an action plan that the school will implement and monitor to change interfering behaviors
• Develop a communication plan
• Set a follow-up meeting in one month to discuss progress

[Read: Talking With Your Child’s Teacher]

Remember that the point of the meeting is not to hear about how difficult your child is, but to discuss what teachers have observed and to share ideas for moving forward. Parents should not passively listen with minimal participation. What the school has to say is important, but you can offer a lot in the process.

Step 3: Meeting Day

Questions

These questions yield clarifying answers that allow the school to go beyond generic behavior solutions and develop individualized ones for your child.

1. Can you tell me more about my child’s behaviors? Describe the latest incident.

• Make sure you understand the problem behaviors exactly. Vague words like “defiant,” “bad,” or “difficult” do nothing to describe the actual behavior. Ask teachers to list specific actions, like yelling, leaving their seat, and so on. (Literally, what is your child doing in these moments?)

2. What do you expect students to be doing during that time?

• The answer will give you a sense of classroom expectations and your child’s ability to meet them (or not).

3. Can you give more context around these behaviors?

• Times of day
• Classroom setup (Is it during lecture or independent work? In small or large groups? What else is happening in the room?)
• Who is around when the behavior occurs?

4. What happens directly after the challenging behaviors?

• How do teachers and peers react?
• Any environmental changes?
• Is the assignment taken away? Is your child sent to the hallway or principal’s office?

5. What seems to make the behaviors worse?

6. What do you think would make the behaviors better?

• Here’s an opportunity to jump in and suggest ideas.

Tips

• Bring a notebook or computer to take notes.
• Pay close attention to the language the school team uses to describe your child’s behaviors. Ask for specifics.
• Be prepared to hear about a child that you might not recognize. It is not uncommon for children to behave very differently at home and at school.

Strategize

Brainstorm behavioral strategies around these categories.

• Antecedent adaptations may address triggers that lead to the interfering behavior. They can include:
  • Environmental adaptations (e.g., changes to seating, grouping)
  • Changes to the task presentation or requirements (e.g., fewer questions or worksheets, frequent breaks). If your child has the skills to do the task, but isn’t doing it, a tweak in this step may help
  • Change how adults or peers interact with your child (e.g. tone, proximity, kneeling down versus standing over, private redirection versus public)
• Building behaviors that allow your child to learn new skills – in communication, self-regulation, organization, self-management, etc. – and change the interfering behavior. (Example: A student who refuses to do classwork may need to build appropriate ways to ask for help or for a break- and then learn how to build tolerance for doing classwork). Think about areas to build based on answers from the school team.
• Constructive consequences include immediate reinforcement of desired behaviors, and alternative responses to reduce or redirect interfering behaviors.
  • Reinforcements should align with the presumed “why” behind the behavior

Then, discuss how the school will implement these strategies, including which teachers will introduce a strategy, how and when they’ll do it, and how they’ll monitor progress. Outline all these points before the meeting ends. (Example: The student will learn to ask for help by putting a sticky note on their desk. The teacher will model the process in class and use a data sheet to note frequency.)

Remember that this action plan is not a behavior intervention plan, an IEP, a 504 Plan, or any other formal system, but an opportunity to test-run strategies.

Home-School Communication Plan

Check-ins can be daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or as needed (and in any medium) to discuss your child’s progress and whether the strategies are working. The more you communicate with the school, the better the results will be for your child.

Most schools will have a communication log to track behaviors (including the use of new skills across the day) and provide feedback on progress.

Step 4: Test-Driving and Troubleshooting

The school should implement the action plan over several weeks, monitor progress, and then reconvene with you to discuss next steps. If the test-drive is successful, formalize the behavioral supports into an IEP or 504 Plan, if applicable.

But what if the strategies in the action plan don’t work? Or what if the team can’t agree on strategies at all? What if your child’s behaviors are so disruptive that a test-run isn’t feasible?

• Provide a written request for a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA). An FBA will examine the interfering behaviors and provide suggestions for reducing or replacing them. FBAs often result in a formal behavior intervention plan (BIP) or at least additional behavior strategies. (You can ask for an FBA even if the school is test-driving strategies.) Ask if a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) can conduct the FBA. As assessment is underway…
• Advocate for other supports, like antecedent strategies, to reduce the interfering behaviors.
• If your child is still struggling with behaviors, even after an FBA and BIP, remember that you can ask for a new FBA to restart the process.

No matter the outcome, continue to communicate with the school about your child’s behaviors, needs, and progress.

The content for this article was derived from the ADDitude Expert Webinar, “A Parent’s Guide to Problem-Solving School Behavior Struggles” [Video Replay & Podcast #379] with Rachel Schwartz, PhD, BCBA-D, which was broadcast live on November 10, 2021.

How To Help a Child with Behavior Problems at School: Next Steps

• Free Download: 6 Ways to Develop Emotional Control at School
• Learn: How to Solve 8 Common Behavior Problems in the Classroom
• Read: Managing My Child’s School Behavior Problems

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

Was it inevitable? Perhaps. He had dodged that proverbial bullet for years, but he couldn’t escape repercussions this time around.

The incident? My son and his little girlfriend Poppy (you know, the one he’s going to marry), confessed to trashing a toilet.

Yes, you read that correctly.

I’m too horrified to give you all the graphic details, but toilet paper and flooding were involved. And apparently a lot of laughter.

[Free Download: Solving Classroom Behavior Problems Rooted in ADHD]

I’m so shocked. Everyone is shocked. The principal even said they were the last two she would suspect of doing such a thing.

I know his ADHD impulsivity factored heavily into JJ’s behavior. But I can’t help but ruminate:

Am I technically now a bad mother?

Did I not teach him right from wrong?

Is he going to end up robbing banks?

Do I tell his father???

And the biggest question: WHAT AM I GOING TO DO??? Because as we all know, this is now all on me. Such is the mental load.

I make my way to collect him from after-school care (early, because I don’t want this horrible day to drag out for both of us). I’m churning up inside. How do I address this with JJ? I know that I need to get a grip before we talk. I must be calm and pretend I’ve got myself together. I can’t over-react, but what is the right level of reaction?

[Read: Never Punish a Child for Bad Behavior Outside Their Control]

He’s not neurotypical, so the usual parenting responses will not work. And there’s no back-up instruction manual that I can find.

What I do know is that ADHD is about executive function and impulsivity, plus big emotional responses. If I’m mortified by this incident, then JJ likely will be a hundred times more embarrassed and ashamed.

So how do I manage this situation?

I’m reading a very important, BIG book about ADHD right now that surely will have the answers somewhere within its 360 pages. But I’m only on chapter three, and I can’t read fast enough. I read five pages, put out a parenting fire… read another three, go to work… Tackle a few more pages after dinner, but my daughter needs help on the toilet. This is how it is. By the time I finish a chapter, I’ve already forgotten how it began.

When I pick up JJ, he seems his usual, happy self. Hmmmm.

We walk to the car, and I say, “I got a call from the principal today.” He remains quiet. “I know,”  he responds. Then, forever the King of Distraction, he diverts the conversation to the craft in his hand.

I persist. “I know what happened, JJ”. Silence again. “I’m not sure why you and Poppy did this – you don’t usually do this kind of serious behavior. Can you tell me why you did it?”

“We were having fun,” comes his little meek voice, “and I just didn’t realize it was wrong when we were doing it.”

My turn to be silent. He can probably hear my heart cracking, I think.

“Well, it was very wrong, and you won’t be doing that again will you?” He shakes his head. “And I won’t be getting a call from the principal again, will I?”

“No, mum.”

We walk on. Sensing that the conversation has moved on, his bounciness returns, and he chatters on until we were sitting in the car. I turn around to look at him, “JJ, we have to talk more about this later, but for now we won’t talk anymore about the trouble from today. Let’s go and do some work in the garden. I picked you up early so we can do some gardening together.”

And in that moment his little face drops, and his bravado turns into sobs — those deep, sad sobs that come from a place of deep emotion.

“I thought you were picking me up early because you were really mad at me.”

Did you hear that? My heart just shattered. I unbuckle my seatbelt, open his door, and wrap him in a big hug.

How to Discipline Your Kids with ADHD: Next Steps

• Free Download: 50 Tips for How to Discipline a Child with ADHD
• Read: How to Manage Your Child’s Toughest Behavioral Problems
• Read: The Secret to Better Behavior? No Punishment at All

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

You get a phone call from the school that your child is having behavior issues in the classroom. Now what? Interfering school behavior problems create academic, social, and emotional gaps in a learner’s progress. If left unaddressed, behavior struggles can lead to social isolation, a loss of instructional time, decreased self-esteem and academic under-achievement.

However, parents and educators should know that positive behavior change is possible through proactive collaboration, planning, and monitoring. This webinar will walk parents through steps to take from the very first phone call about their child’s behaviors to the implementation of individualized strategies. Rather than rush to find a solution or rely on others to solve the problem, parents can take the lead in gathering information, developing strategies, and leading the school team toward more effective action.

In this webinar, you will learn to:

• Communicate and collaborate with the school
• Structure questions to gain relevant information from the school team
• Identify and describe four areas to consider for interventions
• Structure and monitor a behavior action plan
• Identify the need for further assessment and formalized plans (and how to get those in place)
• Gain comfort and confidence in leading your child’s behavior program

Watch the Video Replay

Enter your email address in the box above labeled “Video Replay + Slide Access” to watch the video replay (closed captions available) and download the slide presentation.

Download or Stream the Podcast Audio

Click the play button below to listen to this episode directly in your browser, click the symbol to download to listen later, or open in your podcasts app: Apple Podcasts; Google Podcasts; Stitcher; Spotify; Amazon Music; iHeartRADIO.

More on School Behavior Problems

• Free Download: 6 Ways to Develop Emotional Control at School
• Read: Could a Behavior Intervention Plan Help Your Student with ADHD?

Obtain a Certificate of Attendance

If you attended the live webinar on November 10, 2021, watched the video replay, or listened to the podcast, you may purchase a certificate of attendance option (cost: $10). Note: ADDitude does not offer CEU credits. Click here to purchase the certificate of attendance option »

Meet the Expert Speaker:

Rachel Schwartz, Ph.D., BCBA-D, has worked internationally creating and supervising programs for individuals with disabilities. Her work as a consultant and trainer includes teaching behavior analytic strategies and exploring issues related to sexual education and quality of life. Dr. Schwartz has published original research on these topics in special education journals as well as presented at national, state, and local conferences. Through her organization, Behavior Goals, Dr. Schwartz taps into more than 15 years of experience working in special education to empower students, families, and professionals.

Listener Testimonials

“Really great speaker. Presentation was well organized and offered direct examples and action items that could be taken away and applied.”

“This was a fabulous presentation: Comprehensive, yet always on topic; solution-oriented, yet always compassionate; well-planned, easy to follow, options for additional resources. I’m definitely going back to listen again!”

“As a future psychologist I think this webinar has lent me amazing tools.I’m very impressed with Dr. Schwartz’s work.”

Webinar Sponsor

The sponsor of this week’s ADDitude  webinar is….

Brain Balance is a holistic cognitive development program designed to help kids with ADHD, Learning Differences, Anxiety & beyond. An exploratory study with Harvard’s McLean Hospital found the Brain Balance Program to be as effective as low-dose stimulant medication in alleviating ADHD symptoms in children. Visit brainbalance.com to learn more about Brain Balance today.

ADDitude thanks our sponsors for supporting our webinars. Sponsorship has no influence on speaker selection or webinar content.

Follow ADDitude’s full ADHD Experts Podcast in your podcasts app:
Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Amazon Music | RadioPublic | Pocket Casts | iHeartRADIO | Stitcher