For the proper schooling of a child with ADHD it is very important that the school knows the diagnosis so that it can work in coordination with the medical team and the psychologists outside the school in charge of the treatment.
It is important in any case that after the medical diagnosis the child is evaluated by the school Guidance Team, so that it can take into account whether it is necessary to make curricular adaptations or not within the classroom and offer special support outside the school when necessary (“Student with Special Educational Needs” ACNEE).
Most of the children who present attention deficit and hyperactivity do not need any curricular adaptation or if they do, it is not very significant.
In non-significant curricular adaptations, neither the students’ study program nor the curriculum of the subjects is modified. The aspects that are modified are:
– Teaching methodology.
– The organization of classes and activities.
– The environmental elements.
– The aids to support the child.
There are some general recommendations in the school environment to adapt and favor the correct learning of students with ADHD:
– Divide and fragment the assigned tasks if these are very extensive so that the degree of attention is maintained.
– Show students interest in their work: maintain close contact, supervise their homework and encourage them in the face of difficulties and goals achieved.
– It is advisable to make them participate actively in the class, asking them questions regularly, asking them to go to the blackboard. It is only advisable to avoid this if it makes them nervous.
– Provide them with more time in the exams and if necessary perform them orally.
– Encourage motivation through immediate rewards for good behavior.
– Establish help systems among classmates and homework tutorials among equals to favor group learning and integration.
– Assign homework and tasks to the student in a simple and clear way.
– Support the contents of the subject through the use of diagrams or photocopies.
– To carry out periodically individual interviews with the student, to follow up his work and motivate him.
– In the classroom, place the desks in an organized way to reduce dispersion.
– Assign the student a place where he/she can be watched and away from distractions and windows. It is also important that he/she be with peers he/she can lean on.
In some special cases it is necessary to make significant curricular adaptations where the objectives that the student must achieve are modified:
– The objectives that the student must achieve.
– The contents taught in the subject.
– The evaluation criteria of what has been learned.