This entry is in response to the article “ADHD: Naughty or Neurological” by Adam Stone as well as something that occurred with one of my students this week.
According to Adam Stone, dealing with students in a classroom with ADHD can be a struggle on a daily basis. He reports that this condition will usually present itself in one of two ways: inattentiveness or hyperactive/impulsive behaviors. Adam Stone notes that it is important for educators to note that children diagnosed with ADHD are not acting out, but instead they cannot regulate themselves appropriately to control their actions. I believe that until all teachers, as well as other support staff, including paraprofessionals in the building should receive training on handling students with ADHD. Stone continues to discuss that until teachers realize their students are not being “bad” that they will not be able to strategize how to work with these students.
Several of my students have varying degrees of ADHD in my classroom but one student in particular can be quite challenging, even on “good days”. While most of my students may need reminders to stay focused or be asked to stop tapping or to please stop humming, C.A. is different. He is a bright, caring and humorous 7-year-old second-grader who struggles daily with ADHD. He is very impulsive; constantly calling out, making noises, and is unable to sit in his seat in the “appropriate way”. However, this student tries daily to do his best. As a teacher in a special education school, it is very disheartening to see other professionals not understand ADHD and the struggle these students face, such as the experience I had with C.A. this past week.
In the classroom, we have a point system, as well as another incentive we use, class dojo which we frequently use with C.A. for positive reinforcement, along with praise and high-fives (which he loves). Earlier this week, C.A. was in an activity without any of the staff from my classroom as it was behavior mod time, and students are given choices of several activities. When C.A. came back to the room, he was visibly upset, and told me that another staff member had told him that he “needed to control himself”. He told me all he wanted to do was be a good boy and he did not understand why he was in trouble and not earning his points. I spoke to the paraprofessional who C.A. told me about and asked them if they knew C.A. had ADHD. They replied “yes” but that they asked him to stop making noises several times and he didn’t. At that point I had to explain how students with ADHD often cannot control these impulses but that it does not make them “bad”.
After this experience, I reflected on it for the rest of the evening. Then, I saw this article and thought it would be perfect to share. I believe that paraprofessionals as well as all professionals who work with students with exceptionalities, including ADHD need to receive more training. I can speak from my own personal experience, as I started my teaching career as a paraprofessional, it would have given me a lot of insight into the disabilities of the students we work with. If we want students with exceptionalities to succeed, we need to find and educate the right people to work with these amazing students.
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