All individuals are not the same. Some are good in business, some are good in marketing, some are good in sports, some are good at healing, etc. All these need skills different from each other and all individuals cannot do it. Likewise in a classroom, there are different types of learners. All learners hold different capabilities from each other. Also, some learners might need special attention and some extra effort.
Nowadays, schools have inclusive classrooms wherein the child who needs special attention sits with the normal learner. Special attention means learners might have to face ADHD, Autism, Learning Disability, Dyslexia, Nonverbal disorder, etc. In this blog let us see what is ADHD? and how the school can help children with ADHD?
What is ADHD?
Most of the people and even teachers are still not aware of this term ADHD and when they come across learners with such disorders they handle the situation in a negative manner, which can hurt the learner.
ADHD is Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. ADHD is a mental health disorder that includes problems like difficulty in giving attention, hyper-activeness, or impulsive behavior. This makes learning very difficult for the learners as it not only affects their learning but also has a long-term effect on the life of the child. ADHD can lead to poor performance, instability in relations, lack of confidence, low self-esteem, etc.
As the name ADHD has adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, it doesn't need to be seen in adults only. The symptom starts from childhood itself. Parents and teachers need to be very observant and understand their behavior and guide them accordingly rather than taking the situation negatively or harshly.
Below mentioned are few tips that a school can use to help kids with ADHD -
1. Set proper time-table
Have a proper timetable. Maintain a fixed routine. Changes in routine can lead to confusion in children and things will not go right at their end. Thus it is advised to keep the routine constant and if any kind of change is to be made in the routine then it should be informed to the learners in advance and also prepare them for the same.
2. Encourage and motivate them
Every individual needs encouragement and motivation to go ahead in life. As teachers, we need to constantly motivate them to do better. Every day a short note can be given to the learners praising them and every activity can be ended positively.
3. Appreciate their efforts
Who doesn’t like appreciation? Appreciation makes us believe in ourselves and we do better. Appreciation should go hand in hand when in the classroom. Appreciation of their efforts and their behavior can work wonders in their life and they strive to continue it.
4. Make learning-friendly
Learning can be difficult for these learners. So teachers need to constantly have variations in their teaching strategies and methods. Activities need to be shuffled and arranged every time. Learning and lesson plans should be fun and creative.
5. Allow them to lead
When you plan activities, involve some group activities. This helps them socialize and build confidence and team working skills. Moreover, to keep them a little more involved, give them certain responsibilities or else allow them to lead. This makes them feel important
6. Allow play
Play should be involved in lessons. Play involves a lot of learning. It helps to develop skills and makes them alert. Learning happens best through play. Also, this brings in variation in the regular lessons. Exploration should be encouraged in play.
7. Routine medication check
A school can set monthly or quarterly medication checks for the learners and keep a record of their health. This shows how important the learner and its health are for the school. Also, learners' health issues are diagnosed on time.
8. Help build their concentration
Involve activities, play, sports, etc. that help build more concentration in the learners.
9. Record their growth
Record keeping is very important. Teachers and schools should record learners' growth. This can be in the documentation form or normal excel or normal report. But recording learners' growth is very important.
10. Positive reinforcement
Always have positive reinforcement. Never make the child demotivated or inferior. Positive reinforcement helps them build confidence, trust in themselves, and they never give up. Even if the things are not as per the expectations, make the belief that it is done fine and next time it could be better.
The above mentioned are help the learners and also are the strategies to help with school success.
In a school, it is very important for every teacher to be aware of the term special education, need to know special education, and how to deal with such special learners. Many special education courses are provided and every teacher should undergo such courses which have a lot of knowledge and learning. This knowledge is of no waste and is used in every classroom at a certain point.
Thus to end, we can say that every teacher needs to be full of knowledge about this area and should help learners to overcome their difficult phase and build confidence in them to grow higher in life. Every learner is unique and should be equally treated.
Written By : Shivangi Chakraborty
