Interventions

What can teachers and administrators do to help children with ADHD succeed socially and emotionally? This website was created so that educators, supervisors, and other adults who work with children in schools have access to the current research on children with ADHD's social-emotional challenges in an ableist society. Below are summaries of 12 concrete strategies that educators can use in classrooms to facilitate friendship development and healthy peer relationships in an inclusive environment.

1. Normalization of Inclusion and Differentiation 

A truly inclusive classroom is one founded on the principles of intersectionality, where teachers are intentional about the language they use to talk about dis/ability and difference, and where students co-construct classroom expectations and see their collective values reflected in the teachers' leadership (National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET), CHADD.org, Edge Foundation, Reading Rockets). In turn, a teacher's dedication to inclusion must be genuine as well as relevant to their specific group of students. Differentiation and individualization of instruction, while difficult to fully implement in classrooms with a large number of students, must be normalized and incorporated as much as possible, and must be distinguished from "favoritism." Teachers must be transparent, realistic, and intentional about inclusion efforts, as students will follow/imitate the behavior and values that their teachers model. Talking points for teachers might include:

• "Some of your peers learn differently from you and that's okay."
• "We all need different things."
• "____ needs ____ to learn their best. Let me know what you need to learn your best."
• "I always want to make sure everyone is getting what they need."
• "It is not shameful to need something different from your friend."

Teaching children to advocate for themselves and one another is another important part of building an inclusive classroom. Children must learn to value both the differences and similarities between their classmates and themselves. Providing children with culturally competent sentence frames such as the ones listed below, displaying them around the classroom, and positively narrating around their use can help create an atmosphere of empathy and equity:

During turn-and-talks, morning meetings, and group work: 

• "_____, how are you feeling today?"
• "Can you please help me with ____?"
• "Is there any way that I can help you?"
• "I'm happy that you remembered _____."
• "Thank you for listening to me."
• "If you want, I can ask (teacher's name) to help you/us."
• "I really appreciate how you did/said ______."
• "Your point about _____ helped me to understand _____."

During recess, lunch, and breaks in the day:

• "It's cool that you also like ______. Let's talk about it some more."
• "You seem really excited/frustrated about _____. Let's talk about it some more."
• "What you said/did earlier made me feel/think _____. Let's talk about it."
• "_____, what you said/did to _____ /me made them/me feel hurt. Let's talk about it."
• "Do you want to share _____ with me?"
• "You don't have to do/say _____ if you don't want to."
• "_____, I think you'd really like this book/movie/game I read/saw/played."

2. Social Stories / Communication Frames

UNDER CONSTRUCTION (In the meantime, read an overview of Social Stories and an important perspective to consider.)

3. Target Social Skills in an Engaging and Anti-Ableist Way

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4. Praise and Positive Narration

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5. Social-Emotional Learning / Universal Design for Social Skills 

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6. Structuring Physical Environments

In addition to structuring an inclusive social-emotional environment for neurodivergent students, an inclusive physical environment is crucial for making students of all neurotypes feel welcome and safe in the classroom space. Providing students with sensory-friendly materials (e.g., fidget toys, bean bags, wiggle chairs, weighted blankets) and normalizing their usage; devoting a sizable area of the classroom to whole-class meetings and story circles; designating a quiet place to work; creating smaller work groups where all students are attentive to their roles and can be heard; providing breaks and dividing tasks into chunks to reduce student confusion, frustration, and distress; and being intentional about a classroom's seating plan (i.e., if it needs to be changed, the comfort level of students with one another) are all examples of concrete actions educators can take (Understood.org, CHADD.org, Reading Rockets). 

7. Anti-Bullying Stance

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8. Dealing with Peer Rejection

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9. Addressing "Misbehavior"

Instead of reprimanding students for misbehavior related to ADHD symptoms, it is important for teachers to ask themselves if there are any needs that are not being met. Children "act out" when they are not given what they need to succeed socially and emotionally; students with ADHD must be given opportunities to practice self-control and understand the root(s) of their emotions and frustrations (Waisman Center, pg. 11-13). Ignore minor misbehavior and talk to the student privately (unless they are putting another child in immediate danger) (CHADD.org, Partners Resource Network, NASET). If the misbehavior affected another student directly -- for instance, a name-calling incident -- talk to both students privately first and then bring them together to talk through the situation with you present.

10. Valuing Others

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11. Encourage Pursuit of Genuine Interests

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12. Mindfulness and Metacognition

Research suggests that meditation and mindfulness efforts can help students learn self-control and patience, and to monitor their own behavior, whether or not they have an ADHD diagnosis (Mitchell 2014 et. al., Mindfully ADD). Include meditation as a regular activity in the classroom with an emphasis on students' social-emotional awareness. The Calm app is an example of one such resource.