How to Help a Child with ADHD Succeed In School

ADHD in school. It’s a subject that’s only beginning to get the kind of serious attention it deserves. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that ADHD affects about 11 percent of American schoolchildren—a number that has been increasing in recent years. This is a bigger problem than a few kids who have trouble paying attention in class.
Before you can tackle the tough question of how to help a child with ADHD in school, you have to first understand the problem. Too many people still have only one “ADHD” stereotype in their heads. It’s not just the kid disrupting class. It’s not just the kid who can’t stop tapping his pencil against the desk. The disorder can take a number of forms, any one of which can make it extremely difficult to experience academic success.

A child with ADHD may struggle with inattention, impulsiveness, daydreaming, social interaction, carelessness, following instructions, understanding a verbal lesson, and many other classroom obstacles. The criticism and punishment they receive for these failures can compound the problem, leading to low self-esteem and pessimism. Before long, they may give up on trying altogether. Once that downward spiral begins, it can be difficult to come back from it.
Even when properly diagnosed and medicated, a child may still struggle with their ADHD symptoms. That’s where it benefits any teacher to equip themselves with the tools and resources that can break through the disorder. Children with ADHD aren’t stupid. They aren’t “bad.” They have a disability. That’s all. But with encouragement, training, and discipline, they can succeed in the classroom.
 

Why It Matters

A 2013 study launched by Boston Children’s Hospital found that approximately 30 percent of children with ADHD carry it over into their adult lives. In many cases, even those who leave it behind are still left with the damaging effects. Social disorders, anxiety, and other mental health issues are the scar tissue an ADHD sufferer may bear for life. By helping a child with ADHD early in their academic development, you’re not just improving that child’s life here and now. You are preventing those scars from ever forming in the first place.
 

The Troubling Numbers

While pop psychologists and other misinformed opinion makers claim that America’s children are over-diagnosed and overmedicated, the statistics tell the real story. And that story is a tragedy in the making. According to the statistical research of ADHD specialist Russell Barkley, children with ADHD are 30 percent slower to develop emotionally than their peers. 25 percent of children with ADHD have additional learning difficulties in the areas of listening, vocalizing, reading, and math. 50 percent have difficulty sleeping. 30 percent have been held back a grade at least once.
This is no phantom problem, and it’s not going away. Parents are right to be concerned about medicating their children, but those concerns should not outweigh the scientific evidence. Medication, when prescribed and taken correctly, can prove to be a godsend for struggling students. But it works best when accompanied by proven, non-medical therapy.
 

How to Help a Child With ADHD

ACTIVATE™ is a program developed to help children with ADHD succeed in school. It has been rigorously developed, designed, and tested to meet the looming challenge. If you need to find out how to help a child with ADHD succeed in school, ACTIVATE™ holds the answers you seek.
What makes ACTIVATE™ the answer? It addresses the many executive function deficiencies that comprise ADHD. While some therapies focus on developing working memory or lengthening a child’s attention span, ACTIVATE™ leaves no stone unturned. It develops executive function skills across the board, provides the kind of early intervention necessary to ensure a child’s long-term success, and it gives teachers the immediate feedback they need to see that the program is working.
Using a combination of video games, physical exercise, and NIH assessments, ACTIVATE™ is the most comprehensive ADHD program on the market today. Since its original release, study after study has confirmed that the executive function skills addressed by the program are exactly the ones children with ADHD lack. By using the program in the classroom, children both with and without ADHD can develop the skills they need to do better in school. At a time when teachers are struggling to meet the needs of every child within the constraints of a limited budget, a low-cost, well-researched, inclusive program like ACTIVATE™ fits the bill.