Student diagnosed with ADHD. What can I do to help?

I asked a question recently about this girl I teach called Jane. In the answers, people mentioned ADHD and I mentioned it to Jane's parents. She's now been diagnosed with ADHD in the space of a few days, which I think, personally, can't be an accurate diagnosis. Can a professional diagnose her with this after just one session??

She's taking a week of school to, as her mother put it, "get her head around this". This is going to be a big thing for Jane and all of the kids in school are talking about it. She's become the latest piece of gossip.

Kids being kids nasty rumours are flying around. That she's crazy, a drug addict, mentally handicapped and that. Jane found out and as you can imagine she's a little upset.

When she comes back I want to help as much as I can because things will be very hard for her. Does anyone have any tips about how I can help Jane where she needs it without isolating her or making feel like the odd one out? Anything that would show her up in front of her peers is out immediately. Also I would appreciate some tips about self-motivation and schedules, rewards etc. In Ireland we do not medicate these children so anything that would be goodfor helping her focus would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help.

I raised an ADD child. It was pretty evident in second grade and a good clinician can spot it a mile away. There are comprehensive tests and we had them done, but our doctor pretty much had her pegged even before sending her for the tests.

First thing is to be patient with her. She will not remember assignments. She will not remember rules. Most ADD kids are extremely intelligent but can not get a homework paper turned in to save their life because somewhere between doing it and handing it in, it gets lost. Organization is non-existent. They will talk your arm and leg off, have great discussions, have great minds, but do not produce.

They also lack social skills, do not interpret other's body language and can be isolated.

I would have her meet with you daily to review assignments. Give her homework in small chunks, never a big project to be done independently. She should have duplicate textbooks at home because she will forget to bring them home. Her parents need to be involved.

Sit her at the front of the class. Develop little alerts between the two of you so that you can alert her when you think she's drifting off, such as ringing a bell or nudging her desk. Inform her that its between the two of you and most of all, let her know you are on her side and you will do what she needs to help her be successful.

ADD kids want to please and be successful, but frequently they are subject to harrassement from other children and even teachers who don't understand the problem. Congrats to you for being concerned. I wish there had been even one teacher that wanted to help when my child was growing up.

Email me anytime, I would be glad to help.

BTW, with patience and support she will be successful. Not one teacher encouraged my child and criticized me when I wanted to let her go away to college. They said she would never make it. Until her senior year in high school she was barely passing. Now she is a senior in college, getting A's in sociology and wants to be a professor, someday, herself. So, believe me, it can be done.

It is not advised to diagnose ADHD in 1 session. Even the most obvious case may not be so obvious. Other medical problems can look like ADHD like thyroid problems. All children should have a thourough medical examination before being diagnosed which includes blood tests. Also the child needs to be evaluated over more than just 1 day as the symptoms vary from day to day. Most kids can appear to have ADHD on some days and not on others. If it was my child I would take her for a second opinion just to be sure. This is advisable anyway. I also have ADHD and have been diagnosed with it by 11 different doctors over the years.

A week will be barely enough time to get her head around this. being diagnosed with a condition like this is a serious thing. When a child is diagnosed a parent will go through a grieving proccess similar to that of losing a child. They will go through denial, anger, blaming themselves, blaming others, fear and worry and many other emotions. Before coming to accept it. It will take a while, and can even take several years to reach acceptance. The besst way for parents to cope is to learn as much as they can about the disorder. To ready every book they canm get their hands on.

For kids being diagnosed it is much more complicated. The satges they may go through include.
1. I cant have ADHD, this is just me, people hate me and want to drug me to make me be good.
2. It's not my fault I have ADHD and I'm going to use it as an excuse
3. Anger at parents for passing this condition to them
4. Angry at teachers and parents for not pickking it up earlier and blaming them for all their bad behaviors
5. Fear of the future
6. Wanting to keep it a secret
7. Fear of getting better in case it changes their personality

And many, many more. It often takes kids years to come to terms with this diagnosis.

I want to commend both you and the previous respondent to your question. I am touched by both stories. I AM a college professor and I do have ADD. Many things are fairly difficult (paperwork. . .ugh!) but I can relate very well to my students who have learning glitches and disabilities. We often talk openly about these. Often in my classes, we have quite a few students who reveal that they have had learning problems. Hard to explain to young kids that every single one of us has a problem of some sort. It's much easier when we can talk about learning styles and learning differences, etc. I guess maybe having the kids do some things in groups and assign leaders (depending on the task). I'll bet Jane is head and shoulders above others in certain areas (creativity, thinking outside the box). And Jane, like the Sociology major, may just end up teaching. I always tell my "active learners" that if you can't sit still and can't shut up, you may be perfect teacher material. Not surprisingly, the "active" learners very often are education majors. It may be that if Jane gets to do some leading and active stuff in the classroom, she'll blossom. Even now, at meetings, I have to have extra to do (like take notes, or be in charge of the technology) or I lose focus. I don't know whether any of this is helpful at all. I guess I just wanted to assure you that ADD is just a difference that can lead to good things with understanding teachers such as you. God bless! I wish I'd had a teacher like you when I was a kid.