Recognise that the child has a real disorder and needs help.

Check with parents so that you know if the child is on medication or on a special diet. If the child is on medication establish if there are any side effects that you should be aware of. If the child is on a special diet encourage them to follow it carefully. Even one sip or bite of the wrong food can affect a sensitive child.

Reduce the distractions: Ideally, an individual educational programme will help the child more than group instruction. In a classroom situation the ADHD child is best placed in the part of the room with the fewest distractions (i.e the front row, away from the windows or the door, near the teacher.) Care should be taken, however, not to increase the child’s isolation from his peers and more than is necessary.

Provide Structure and Routine: make the world at school predictable; ADHD children cannot handle chaos or change as well as other children, as many lack organisational skills.

State The Rules: All children need to know the boundaries and limits in the classroom and playground.

Have realistic expectations: Make tasks simple and short enough for the child to obtain the fulfilment of completion. View the length attention as a level of skill development.

Use positive reinforcement – descriptive praise: notice and praise frequently when the child is on task, is making a good effort, is not doing the wrong thing. Since poor self esteem is often a significant problem for ADHD children every effort should be made to discover and demonstrate their strengths and successes.

Model Appropriate Behaviour: Demonstrate the behaviours you want to see in the child. Surround the ADHD child with good role models – preferably children that the ADHD child views as ‘significant others’.

Liaise closely with the parents: Indicate the positives in behaviour and completed assignments as well as any areas that need to be worked on. Work together to provide a united front.

For more on ADHD visit the Family Health Guide ADHD Centre