in the classroom
he came home about how his teachers treated him because he was hard in the classroom and they just would kick him out . It made my heart sad . So I decided to become a teacher because of that and made it my purpose in life , I suppose , to help other little boys . Now we know little girls also experience the same treatment that my brother experienced . And it ’ s simply because teachers just don ’ t know of strategies that work and there ’ s not enough professional development in that area .
Around one in 20 students in Australia have ADHD . How does it impact the classroom ? I think most teachers would easily answer this question . They ’ re very distracting to have in the classroom . They have trouble paying attention . And the interesting thing is that , that it ’ s not so much that they have trouble paying attention , they have trouble concentrating on things that they ’ re not interested in . So if they ’ re interested in it , they can absolutely concentrate .
But if they ’ re not interested in whatever ’ s being taught by the teacher , they find it hard to get their brain to actually focus on that . And they ’ re distracted by everything around them . So they ’ re distracted by the thoughts that they ’ ve got in their head they ’ re distracted by the bird outside or the lights switch flickering or their friends picking at them .
So that can be really challenging for teachers in the classroom because sometimes other students know that if they prod their friend that ’ s got ADHD – he might react .
Their impulsivity also means that if the teacher asks a question , for example , they will have the answer in their head , but rather than thinking , “ I ’ ve got to put my hand up ”, they ’ ll blurt the question out . And for a teacher trying to teach a cohort or class and having kids blurt out answers is not ideal . So there ’ s ways we can train them and help them to put their hand up , which I ’ ll go into later . Also , they have trouble with organisation and time management . So they ’ ll be the kids that forget to bring their pens and pencils or their computer or charger or whatever it might be to class .
How can teacher differentiate students with undiagnosed ADHD and students with behavioural issues ? That ’ s a great question . I think that students with ADHD are not intentionally trying to be naughty or to press their teacher ’ s buttons .
And so when you treat them with kindness and understanding in a caring way , you can see that they are sorry that they ’ ve disrupted the class or done the wrong thing .
There ’ s a remorse there , and you can see it in their face if you know how to kind of manage them , if you ’ ve got some strategies . Whereas other students with other behavioural disorders like OCD conduct disorders , they tend to , and sometimes kids with ADHD might have coexisting other things going on as well . But if they ’ re just straight ADHD with no comorbidities , then there ’ s no maliciousness behind their behaviour .
There ’ s a real need for professional development so teachers can be taught these strategies and be supported .
What challenges do educators face when teaching students with ADHD ? I think one of the biggest challenges is that most teachers don ’ t understand how it feels to have ADHD . They don ’ t have strategies because they don ’ t understand what ’ s actually going on inside the student ’ s head . And so there ’ s three key things I would love to see teachers become more aware of . So the first one , which is a really significant challenge for students with ADHD , and it ’ s kind of a recent finding only in the last five to 10 years , I believe that they ’ ve discovered that students who ’ ve got ADHD suffer from they call it RSD , which means rejection sensitivity dysphoria . And essentially what that is ADHD students are highly sensitive to when someone is critical of them or rejecting them or when they ’ ve let other people down .
So unfortunately in classrooms , because of their inattention and their hyperactivity and their impulsivity , they ’ re constantly getting told to be quiet or being redirected back to the task . And what RSD does is makes them go “ but I didn ’ t mean to do that , but I ’ ve let you down and I feel shameful about that ”. So it can have a really significant impact on their self-esteem because they ’ re continually feeling rejected and like they ’ re failing other people and not living up or meeting expectations that have been set for the class because of the way their brain is . So RSD is a huge , huge one .
They ’ ve also found that for people who have ADHD , their brain doesn ’ t naturally produce enough levels of dopamine . And so we all crave dopamine because dopamine is the feel good chemical . It makes us feel good . So in a classroom situation , most students receive dopamine all day because the teacher smiles at them or their teacher gives them ticks on their work , or they get the answers right , they ’ re able to pay attention . And so the teacher ’ s constantly giving them praise because they are just , you know , average students that do the right thing and are
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