An approach called the Life Course Model could significantly improve outcomes by keeping parents informed on the effectiveness of behavioral interventions and by ensuring consistency between home and school strategies.

The model’s primary aim is to foster collaborative family-school partnerships. Through meetings with the child’s academic and/or IEP team, parents can help make decisions regarding the best behavioral interventions to address the child’s needs.

[eBook: The Teacher’s Guide to ADHD and Classroom Behavior]

Daily communication about a student’s progress may also allow the teacher to advise on implementing interventions at home. However, successful student outcomes still rely on professional development and teacher training around ADHD interventions and strategies.

Life Course Model Implementation

These practice guidelines were created to help teachers address disruptive or noncompliant behaviors among students with ADHD by providing supports that build skills for independence and self-regulation. Interventions that reduce symptoms (e.g., medication) and accommodations that don’t necessarily build skills are given lower priority in the treatment plan sequence.

Life Course Model, Part 1: Services and Sequencing

Life Course Model, Part 2: Principles for Service Delivery

Behavioral Interventions for ADHD: Next Steps

• Free Download: Classroom Accommodations for Children with ADHD
• Sign Up: Free ADHD Teacher Training Program!
• Read: Could a Behavior Intervention Plan Help Your Student with ADHD? 

Marsha Ariol, M.S., is a third-year doctoral student in the school psychology program at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

George J. DuPaul, Ph.D., is a professor of school psychology and associate dean for research in the College of Education at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

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Sources

¹ Hustus, C.L., Evans, S.W., Owens, J.S., Benson, K., Hetrick, A., Kipperman, K., & DuPaul, G.J. (2020). An Evaluation of 504 and Individualized Educational Programs for High School Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. School Psychology Review,49, 333-345.doi: 10.1080/2372966X.2020.1777830

² DuPaul, G.J., Chronis-Tuscano, A., Danielson, M.L., & Visser, S.N. (2019). Predictors of Receipt of School Services in a National Sample of Youth with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Journal of Attention Disorders, 23, 1303-1319.doi: 10.1177/1087054718816169

Alongside other ADHD advocates, I’ve been working for more than a decade to create systemic change in the way we educate students with ADHD. I will share exciting opportunities for civic actions you can take to encourage local and state legislators to implement these special ed reforms. As Margaret Mead famously said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Teacher Training Transforms the Classroom

I have conducted hundreds of ADHD-specific teacher trainings across diverse school districts nationwide that vary in size, economic status, and geography. They all share a common asset: teachers eager for additional knowledge, tools, and resources to enhance their students’ success. They aspire to spend less time dealing with challenging behaviors and more time addressing the needs of all their students. That’s where I come in. Within 12 hours, my training can transform how teachers perceive, interact with, and support students with ADHD, building their competence and confidence in the classroom.

Last summer, Lisa Reynolds, a parent in Kansas, asked if I would speak with one of her local legislators about creating a bill that would improve the way students with ADHD are taught. Reynolds pleaded for change after years of failed attempts to help her son receive appropriate education and support.

“If he required too many redirections, teachers recommended removing him from class and transferring him to the in-school suspension room for independent work,” Reynolds said of her son, who has ADHD. “These kids get labeled as lazy or bad. They don’t understand why school is so hard and why they are being punished.”

[Get This Download: An Educator’s Guide to Classroom Challenges & Solutions]

With Reynolds’s help, I drafted Kansas House Bill 2480, requiring each school district in the state to hire an ADHD specialist to train and support teachers. I then gathered stellar experts from across disciplines with the knowledge, experience, and research to support this effort. Not surprisingly, I found that many professionals share my determination to change the current educational methodology.

Bright Students, Poor Outcomes

George J. DuPaul, Ph.D., professor of school psychology and associate dean for research at Lehigh University College of Education, is one of many experts and clinicians prepared to testify on behalf of this ADHD legislation. He says that youth with ADHD face significant academic and mental health challenges in elementary and secondary schools. Typically, he says, they complete less assigned work, receive below-average grades, perform poorly on exams, and are more likely than their peers to drop out of school.

Many students with ADHD are of average or above-average intelligence. Yet they are at greater risk of underemployment, incarceration, and even suicide.

Every day, well-meaning teachers unintentionally create hardship, frustration, and worse by expecting students with ADHD to behave and perform according to neurotypical standards. Very bright students with ADHD may have slower processing speed (which creates overwhelm and disengagement), weaker working memory (they struggle to retain what is presented without visual or other supports), and other challenges that arise from underdeveloped executive function and emotional regulation skills.

[Click to Download: 10 Teaching Strategies that Help Students with ADHD]

Many educators have backgrounds in special education but no expertise in ADHD. Teachers are leaving the profession in droves due to overwhelming challenges and limited resources and support. We cannot ask more of teachers. But we can provide the training and resources they need to support their neurodivergent students.

Seeking Action Across America

While HR Bill 2480 is still working its way through the Kansas legislature, we are determined to proceed on a broader scale and create a national dialogue about supporting students and families impacted by ADHD. We hope that lawmakers will be inclined to consider legislation once they see similar bills successfully passed.

Virginia is a good example. Academic outcomes for Virginia students with learning differences have been inexcusably poor in recent years. These students scored lower on Standards of Learning assessments, on average, than their neurotypical peers. Worse, they were 52 percent more likely to drop out of high school.

After a scathing report on the state’s failure to comply with basic federal special education program requirements, and an ongoing probe by the U.S. Department of Education, lawmakers passed a bill that aims to dramatically change the way educators are trained to identify and support students with learning differences and disabilities.

The bill was signed into law and became effective July 1, 2024. However, it could take until the 2025-26 school year for some, if not all, of the widespread changes to be implemented, says Virginia Delegate Carrie Coyner, who co-sponsored the bipartisan bill with Delegate Barbara Favola.

The new law requires every teacher and administrator statewide to receive professional development by regional coaches and experts in special education. The state will also fund regional parent resource centers to help caregivers advocate for students with diagnosed or suspected learning differences.

Coyner says she spent one year interviewing and surveying educators and special education systems across the country to learn about best practices. She studied lawsuits filed by parents against school districts in Virginia involving claims of inadequate education supports for their students, and she worked with the University of Virginia law school on public policy measures to address current challenges.

We need states across America to prioritize the importance of adequate training for teachers and recognize that it can change the lives of future generations of students. Employing an on-site ADHD specialist can provide education, re-teaching, and effective problem-solving, enabling these students to become assets to the entire school population.

Your Call-To-Action Guide

It is up to us to create a groundswell of support by approaching school boards, and local and national legislators, to push for change. Experiences from local parents and professionals will have the most impact regionally; however, their shared information and approach can apply to all states.

• Ask your local school board how teachers are being taught to support students with ADHD. How current is the training, how recently has it been provided, and how many staff members have received the most recent training?
• Use the template below to approach your local school board, state senator, and state representative, as well as your U.S. senators and congressional representatives, to advocate for legislation at both the local and national levels.

How to Approach Your Representatives

• Start by writing a letter or an email addressed to each of your school board members and state senators and representatives. Each state has an education committee in the state House and the state Senate. Search for “Education Committee in Congress” and “Senate Education Committee” in your state for the names of committee members.
• Include an overview of the problem, a fact sheet to support your views, and information about how all students would benefit from your proposed changes.

Then ask your representatives to do the following:

• Enact legislation requiring all educators to undergo training on the impact of ADHD on the brain, and its implications for teaching, classroom design, and support. [See Proposed Teacher Training Solutions to get more specifics.]
• Equip every educator with a fundamental understanding of the social and emotional impact of ADHD and executive function challenges on learning, motivation, and behavior.
• Encourage universities to incorporate a curriculum on ADHD for general education teachers.

Your Fact Sheet

Help legislators understand the prevalence and consequences of ADHD with these facts:

• The American Psychiatric Association recognizes ADHD as a prevalent mental disorder in children.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that roughly 10 percent of school-age children have ADHD, though some reports skew higher. This means that virtually every classroom has at least one student with ADHD.
• ADHD is a chronic and sometimes debilitating disorder. It is known to impact the academic achievements and daily functioning of students.
• People diagnosed with ADHD have an elevated risk for school failure, drug and alcohol abuse, accidental injuries, premature death, and suicide.
• ADHD is not specifically identified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Instead, it falls under the “other health impairment” category in IEPs. This distinction might contribute to differences in training compared to training about autism, which affects one-quarter as many school-age children.

Proposed Teacher Training Solutions

Tell your legislators that employing a school district-wide ADHD specialist is the most cost-effective and impactful way to support teachers and students. The ADHD specialist may be an educator or administrator who is already on staff, regardless of discipline. They can:

• Train current and incoming staff to manage the social and emotional impact of ADHD by introducing effective teaching methods. Many simple adjustments in teaching style and classroom environment can significantly improve the learning experience for all students.
• Reduce the time teachers spend managing ADHD students who fall off task, or those with challenging behaviors, by offering guidance and sharing best practices and evidence-based teaching strategies to address situations in the classroom.
• Support parents by explaining how ADHD affects learning, motivation, and behavior. This knowledge will empower parents to become more collaborative and effective partners with teachers.

Over time, these investments in teacher training will lead to a stable and experienced education workforce, while reducing teacher stress, burnout, turnover, and associated costs.

These steps will also improve students’ retention, mental health, underemployment, and rates of incarceration and self-harm.

Effective ADHD specialist training should include:

• A comprehensive, research-based description of the social and emotional impact of ADHD and executive function development on learning, motivation, behavior, and the family system.
• Strategies to address executive function skill development in task initiation, organization, time management, self-advocacy, emotional regulation, and attention regulation. Executive function deficits are addressed by helping each student develop internal and external strategies and skills.
• A program to address challenging behaviors with a strengths-based, collaborative problem-solving approach designed to improve conflict resolution, productivity, and motivation.

Teacher Training for ADHD: Next Steps

• Read: “We Are Behind the Times” Only 4 in 10 Educators Receive ADHD Training
• Sign-up: Free ADHD Training for Educators
• Download: What Every Teacher Should Know About ADHD – A Poster for School
• Read: Everything You Never Knew About Learning Disabilities
• Read: Inadequate Teacher Training Stifles Students with ADHD

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– How to improve executive function by developing “domino” habits
– How to foster a positive learning environment that leans more heavily on praise
– How to design a neurodivergent-friendly classroom
– How to model good planning and prioritizing skills for your child
– How to capture wandering attention without embarrassing students with ADHD
– How to use a daily report card system effectively
– How to manage multiple students’ accommodations efficiently
– How to spot and avoid burnout in twice-exceptional students who are gifted and have ADHD
– How to reduce screen-time battles and use music to spark focus

Get all of these resources and more in this concise, practical, 12-page guide to building stronger executive functions in children with ADHD.

Print it, share it, use it, and start off the new school year smart!

NOTE: This resource is for personal use only.

Q: How can I, as a teacher, more effectively and efficiently implement many Individualized Education Program (IEP) and 504 Plan accommodations for multiple students with learning differences in one classroom?

Many students with learning differences benefit from classroom accommodations, but managing them all can challenge any educator. This is especially true today, as the number of students requesting accommodations has increased dramatically. In fact, it’s one of the top reasons cited by educators for burnout.

If I teach 100 students, about 30 will have an IEP or 504 Plan, with two to three accommodations for each student. Teachers are tasked with figuring out how to implement and track these, while also covering all the course content, engaging young minds, and maintaining rigor. It’s a lot to manage.

To tackle multiple accommodations at once, take the time to carefully organize your online classroom portal. By uploading your notes in advance, for example, you can knock off several accommodations, such as “provide notes to students” and “offer different instructional strategies.”

[Read: 27 Classroom Accommodations That Target Common ADHD Challenges]

Along those lines, set clear due dates in advance for students who are given extra time to complete assignments. Doing so offers a clear structure, which is comforting and motivating for students; for teachers, it streamlines an otherwise unwieldy process.

Q: I see my students with ADHD struggling to focus. How can I help them pay attention without embarrassing them in class?

When teachers tell students with ADHD to pay attention,” most of the kids don’t know what that looks like. This is where we can turn to the SLANT model, developed by Doug Lemov, author of The Coach’s Guidee to Teaching.

[Free Poster: What Every Teacher Should Know About ADHD]

The SLANT strategy details the behaviors necessary for students to pay attention:

• Sit up
• Listen or lean forward
• Ask or answer questions
• Nod your head
• Track the speaker with your eyes

The benefits of this approach are twofold. First, these behaviors enhance the ability of the student to really engage. Second, the student who adopts them looks respectful, which sets a positive tone in the classroom.

Accommodations for ADHD: Next Steps

• Read: The Educator’s Guide to Executive Functions
• Read: Positive Teaching Strategies to Uplift Students with ADHD
• Free Download: Easy Accommodations for Kids with ADHD

Brandon Slade is the founder and CEO of Untapped Learning, an executive function coaching organization. He is a former special education teacher.

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These strategies will help your teen tap into their “grit.”

Teachers and parents can take advantage of these strategies for training focus, combatting procrastination, and prioritizing effectively to achieve the success that drives future motivation.

When we create learning environments and activities that help students feel safe and confident, we reduce their chances of experiencing failure and increase their chance at success.

Does delayed executive function maturity make it hard for your child to achieve his goals? Here, tips for practice, patience, and perseverance for children and teenagers with ADHD.

Traditional carrots and sticks don’t motivate students with ADHD – that much is clear. But these strategies do.

Why do adults and children with ADHD or ADD have strong motivation and executive function for some tasks and never find the cognitive spark to do others? Learn more.

Learn about seven important executive function skills, their relationship to motivation, and how to improve each skill. Learn more.

Foster Friendships & Regulate Emotions

Required reading for any parent whose child has felt excluded — or whose child has excluded others.

Students with ADHD thrive in a positive classroom environment, and peer interactions and relationships play a big role in shaping that learning experience.

While your child has strengths, it is the weak executive functions — the management system of the brain — that affect their social skills.

ADHD can cause specific immature behaviors, causing kids to be an outcast amongst peers. Learn how praise and getting involved in activities can help.

How to help your child make friends (and keep them) this year. Learn more.

Teach your child how to deal with a bully and become an upstander for other neurodivergent kids with these strategies.

Children and teens with ADHD may lose friends because of deficits in social executive function skills – the underlying processes that are involved in social skills ranging from perspective-taking to reciprocity and cognitive flexibility. Learn how to help them.

Initiate & Complete Homework

Research suggests that the soundtrack to your child’s homework should comprise these 21 songs, proven to change the electromagnetic frequency of brain waves for optimal focus.

Learn ways to treat dysgraphia – a disability that impacts writing abilities – and to improve handwriting for a lifetime.

With these homework routines, teachers and parents can replace after-school tantrums with higher grades..

Hurdles with writing trace back to executive functioning — our brains’ ability to absorb, organize, and act on information. Learn more.

12 ADHD-friendly strategies for creating calm, avoiding burnout, and staying organized during homework time.

Spare your family drama and fights by following this homework system designed for children with ADHD and learning disabilities.

Kids with ADHD often struggle with homework, but each one struggles in a unique way. Here are specific solutions that really work for kids with ADHD.

Secure Accommodations & Self-Advocate

These academic and organizational tips are designed to help high school students with ADHD finish homework, execute long-term projects, manage their time, earn high grades, and avoid feeling overwhelmed.

“Daily report cards are among the most powerful evidence-based tools that educators have to encourage better behavior in students. A strong report card system has a few key elements that make or break its effectiveness.”

Know your rights if the school refuses to evaluate your student for learning differences.

8 straightforward steps — from requesting a school evaluation to monitoring accommodations — to help parents develop the best IEP or 504 Plan possible for kids with ADHD.

Learn how to help a student with ADHD understand and communicate their learning needs to teachers and parents.

Here are some of our favorite solutions for addressing common ADHD challenges at school.

Here are some of our favorite solutions for addressing common ADHD challenges at school.

Remember Not to Forget

A working memory deficit could explain his difficulty working out math problems in his head or with reading retention. Take this self-test.

Improve working memory in children with ADHD by using these 10 exercises that lighten the mental load by externalizing reminders.

Learn faster. Retain more. Perform better on tests. Yes, really. With these research-based techniques for studying with ADHD .

Educators must do more to support students with learning differences for whom working memory is an area of need. The following are a few strategies and pointers for educators.

Research shows that students with ADHD don’t need to study harder or longer to conquer exams — they just need to study differently. Here’s how.

Weak working memory impairs a child’s ability to follow multi-step directions, tap into old information, or quickly recall lessons. These 15 exercises and strategies can help.

Verbal and non-verbal working memory are two essential batteries powering what Dr. Russell Barkley calls your brain’s GPS system — the one that keeps you on track, on time, and in control. Learn how to keep them charged.

Build Self-Confidence at School

Responding to bad behavior with neurotypical parenting techniques is counterproductive because it ignores the root problem. Here is a better way.

When teens with ADHD feel less than adequate, parents should use these strategies to help them bolster their self confidence, make healthy choices, and develop a positive perspective on the future. Here’s how.

Daily challenges and corrections at school can demoralize a child and trample her confidence. How to end the cycle.

These ADHD teaching strategies will help all students — but especially those with ADD — learn to the best of their ability in any classroom. Get started.

No child with ADHD can succeed at school if he believes he is less smart or less capable than his peers. Here is a better way.

Many children with ADHD, battered by daily criticisms and admonitions, have low self-esteem as early as second grade. Make a powerful difference with these reframing strategies.

Chronic stress at school can make kids (particularly those with ADHD or LD) dread going — and change their brains for the worse. Learn more.

Organize & Manage Time

The most critical tool for building these executive functions? The right planner. Here it is.

Want to make sure that your child gets his homework done every night — and learns about planning and how to prioritize? Teach them to use a homework planner.

11 tips for cementing your family’s routine.

Here, learn how to use calendars and clocks to teach your child the value of strong priorities and to help him be on time more often.

Paper planners outperform digital ones for ADHD brains. Here is what makes a great planner.

Chaotic desk? Forgotten homework? Missed deadlines? Your child needs these ADHD organizing tips.

Reliable schedules for mornings, after school, and bedtime make a tremendous difference in setting expectations, building good habits, and improving ADD-related behavior. Learn more.

Resist Distractions and Focus

dopamine menu lists an assortment of pleasurable, healthy activities — from appetizers like yoga poses to main courses like a HIIT class to sides like white noise — from which ADHD brains can choose when they need stimulation. Learn more.

Research shows that physical activity — even a little foot-tapping or gum chewing — increases levels of the neurotransmitters in the brain that control focus and attention. Learn more.

“Procrastivity” is a self-defeating ADHD time-management habit can be helped by cognitive behavioral therapy approaches that teach patients how to prioritize tasks. Learn more here.

You can’t train away executive dysfunction. But you can more consistently get things done by creating systems in your life that support these brain processes. Get started here.

Soothing, effective fidgets for students with ADHD who focus best when they are chewing, squeezing, picking, or — yes — spinning. See our picks here.

Children with ADHD experience a lower level of brain arousal, which means they are easily distracted by internal and external stimuli. Use these school and home strategies to improve focus and comprehension.

For inconsistent focus, use these teacher-approved accommodations to put some real muscle behind his 504 Plan and put the attention back on learning. Get started.

Control Impulses and Behavior

Back-to-school supplies for students with ADHD — from erasable pens and highlighter tape to wiggle seat cushions, and more — that improve focus, organization, and classroom engagement. See the list.

Educators share their top tips for developing stronger executive function skills and independence in students with ADHD and learning differences here.

The Good Behavior Game is one of many classroom behavior interventions — backed by research — that inspires better behavior from students with and without ADHD. Here is how to play.

Is your child experiencing behavior problems at school? Use this step-by-step guide.

Time-outs and lectures won’t magically cure the impulsive tendencies of kids with ADHD. But these real-world tips for teachers and parents just might.

Lack of impulse control may be the most difficult ADHD symptom to change. Medication can help, but kids also need effective behavior management strategies in place — clear expectations, positive incentives, and predictable consequences — if they are to learn to regulate their behavior. Get started here.

Teach students to regulate their emotions with these ADHD strategies.

Forge Stronger Executive Functions

Executive function deficits may look like absentmindedness or forgetfulness. Learn more.

Learn about your child’s seven executive functions — and how to boost them.

“Executive dysfunction is ubiquitous in children with ADHD, which helps to explain why so many students with attention deficit are reprimanded for forgotten homework, disorganized projects, running out of time on tests, and more.” Learn more.

Martial arts help build self-control, discipline, and persistence. Learn how.

Symptoms of inattentive ADHD are often mistaken for apathy or laziness. Learn the truth.

ADHD intentions don’t always translate into action. Learn how to align them here.

90% of kids with ADHD have an executive function deficit. Learn how to strengthen executive functions here.

It turns out I was not alone. As a mental health educator and psychoeducator today, I often hear from parents and families about the distress they feel ahead of meeting with their child’s educational support team.

School meetings are critical because they allow us families to gather needed information and promote beneficial changes to a child’s education. Yet, we can feel powerless at times. We may also vicariously experience the trauma and shame associated with disability during these meetings.

So, how can we best support ourselves during an IEP/504 meeting (or any advocacy meeting) so we can fully support our kids? Here are some tips I’ve gathered from families, professionals, and my own parenting experiences over the years:

1. You don’t have to do it alone. IEP and 504 meetings can feel even more daunting if you feel isolated. Remember that you can bring a trusted family member or healthcare advocate with you. Beyond being a calming presence, a relative or trusted friend can help by making sure that you express your key points, stay on track, and ask pointed questions. Your support person can also help you debrief after the meeting.

[Get This Free Download: How to Make School Meetings Count]

2. Write out your questions and concerns ahead of time. Whether you use a phone, laptop, notepad, or an old-school clipboard, jot down any questions that come to mind well before your meeting. Chances are that you have many concerns. Writing down your thoughts will help you to keep organized and to fit your important concerns into the limited time allotted. Also, take notes during the meeting if you want to remember details and worry that you won’t!

3. Go ahead and ask your questions. Just like you might have heard from your favorite teacher growing up: No question is a stupid question. Ask questions, seek clarification, and gather information without worrying about feeling self-conscious. It’s your right.

4. Remember that everyone on the IEP team is trying their best. Most educational professionals are spread thin, overworked, underpaid, and burnt out. Keeping this in mind should help you to communicate with kindness and compassion. If you’re concerned about nervousness giving your speech an unintended edge or otherwise hindering effective communication, try roleplaying with a supportive friend who will give you honest feedback.

5. Commit to following up. You can request a review of your child’s plan at any time. Make sure you collect the contact info of all those in attendance at the meeting so that you can reach out if a new issue arises. Don’t be afraid to express that the plan isn’t working and needs revamping if need be.

[Read: 9 Ways IEPs Fall Apart]

6. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Be a fierce advocate for your child, but also keep in mind that educational advocacy is a process that takes trial, error, and refinement over time.

Parenting a child with an atypical neurotype isn’t always easy. Advocacy isn’t, either. The silver lining? We grow through meeting challenges. We become stronger and develop more confidence as we become used to the role of advocate. In fighting for your child’s needs, you may find a voice you didn’t know you had.

IEP Meeting Anxiety: Next Steps

• Free Download: Mid-Year Checkup Guide for Students with ADHD
• Read: How Should I Prepare for an IEP Meeting?
• Read: How to Get the ADHD Accommodations Your Child Needs

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Q: “Recently, my son, who is twice exceptional (2e), experienced major burnout from the demands of his advanced placement classes. The school’s solution for this was a two-day extension on his assignments, which did not help at all. He has an IEP — how can we incorporate burnout accommodations into it to prevent this from happening again?”

First of all, I’m very sorry that this happened to your son. I remember going to an IEP meeting for one of my twice-exceptional students, a brilliant young man who had tremendous difficulty with written assignments. A lack of appropriate accommodations caused him to burn out, so we called a meeting. I remember saying to the team of teachers sitting around, “Are you literally trying to make sure this child cannot be successful in your classroom? Because that’s what it feels like to me.”

In your child’s case, an effective way to incorporate burnout prevention in his IEP is by ensuring that task analysis be done on all assignments. Task analysis — or breaking down a task into smaller, more manageable steps — is crucial for managing overwhelm.

[Read: “Are Your High-Achieving Students Burning Out? Why It’s Critical to Know.”]

With this type of accommodation, your child’s teachers can break down a big research project, for example, into smaller, concrete tasks that keep your child motivated. Step One can be identifying the research topic. Step Two can be submitting a list of resources and websites your child will consult for the research project. Step Three can be preparing an outline, then a draft followed by feedback and another draft, and so on until the project is successfully completed. Each step and corresponding deadline must be identified and laid out in your child’s calendar well before the project even begins. Checkpoints should also be worked in; these help to raise flags to teachers if your child goes off track and needs additional support.

How far apart to space these tasks will depend on their nature and how they relate to your child’s strengths and areas of need. Even then, extended time on a task — beyond a two-day extension — might be necessary for your child.

Especially in advanced classes, it’s often difficult for teachers to understand that the timelines they propose for accomplishing various tasks are not reasonable for every student. I’ve had teachers say, “If I give one student extra time, I’m going to have to give the whole class extra time.” My response, which I suggest you use: “What do you want? Do you want excellent, or do you want fast?”

Academic Burnout Prevention: Next Steps

• Read: When Gifted Kids Burn Out — How to Support Twice-Exceptional Students
• Read: Unlocking the Potential of Gifted Kids with ADHD
• Read: “I Grew Up Gifted and Autistic — and Suffered the Burnout of Twice Exceptionality”

The content for this article was derived from the ADDitude webinar titled, “Avoiding & Recovering from 2e Burnout: Support for Gifted Students” [Video Replay & Podcast #467] with Mary Ruth Coleman, Ph.D., which was broadcast on August 17, 2023.

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Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

This is the plight of many immigrant families in today’s U.S. school system. Because of language barriers, many caregivers fail to connect with educators and often keep quiet at their child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings, when input about supports and services is so important. Add to the mix cultural differences and the situation gets worse. In many Latin American countries, a child’s challenges are not attributed to ADHD — the diagnosis isn’t generally accepted — but rather to a lack of clear rules or an absence of punishment. Medication is only used only as a last resort.

Given these challenges, we’ve created a checklist to help educators lead a successful IEP meeting with immigrant Latinx caregivers of students with learning differences. Something to keep in mind: Stigma is pervasive in Spanish-speaking countries. When caregivers express resistance, it is often due to a lack of information or because they feel shame or guilt.

[Sign Up: The ADHD Learning Series for Educators]

Before the IEP Meeting

• Hold an initial, brief parent-teacher conference to prepare the groundwork for the IEP meeting.
• Emphasize to the caregivers that you want to work as a team to help their child succeed, and that you value their input.
• Explain the purpose of an IEP, how the meeting will be structured, and who will participate.
• Inform caregivers of their rights (i.e., a translator, support person) and make sure to allow extra time for interpretation when scheduling the IEP meeting.
• Provide a draft of the IEP in Spanish.

During the IEP Meeting

• Invite parents to share information about their child and the strategies that have worked for them.
• Discuss ways in which the family can help from home, considering their routines, time limitations, and language barriers between generations.
• Explain test results and next steps.
• Provide the contact information of a person that they can call or email with questions.

After the IEP Meeting

Now that you’ve spent time with the family, follow up to keep the connection going and the family engaged. When caregivers and teachers work together, students feel understood, supported, and empowered.

IEP Meetings: Next Steps

• Download: 30 Straightforward Accommodations for Children with ADHD
• Read: How to Better Communicate with Students and Families of Color
• Read: Get Specific and Set Goals: Writing IEPs That Work
• Read: “Can We Request Another IEP Meeting?”

David Lucas “Luke” Smith, M.D., is the executive director and medical director at El Futuro, a nonprofit outpatient mental health clinic in North Carolina. He is board-certified in adult, child, and adolescent psychiatry.  

Tamara Schlez is an ADHD coach and engagement specialist at El Futuro.  

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Schools often suspend students who have ADHD for classroom “disruptions” stemming from behavior they cannot control. Educators and administrators regularly resort to disciplinary practices that ignore the rights of students with disabilities and their families. In fact, the idea that consequences are the only path to elicit a change in behavior is pervasive among general education teachers — and wrong. It doesn’t have to be this way. These punitive consequences deny students with ADHD access to an appropriate education.

Bridging Neuroscience Research and Practice

Applied educational neuroscience, one of the fastest growing areas of research and practice, is a framework through which students and adults (educators, counselors, and parents) learn how to manage and regulate emotions to move toward positive goals. This process also involves teaching students about their own brain function so they can better understand and modify their behavior. Instead of focusing on consequences as a path to correcting undesired behaviors, applied educational neuroscience asks how brains are functioning at any given moment, and provides educators with useful methods of responding, including checking in with their own emotional state.

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Many school districts have implemented the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports and Multi-Tiered System of Supports frameworks to address classroom behavior, but these often become lists to be checked off rather than embedded into the school culture.

Accountability and Compliance

The responsibility of holding schools accountable for following Individualized Education Programs and 504 Plans, and state laws governing the rights of students with disabilities and their families, often falls to the parents of the student involved. This process can be confusing and arduous. While districts are required to inform parents of their rights and assist them with asserting these rights, school administrators who already exhibit difficulty with issues of compliance are not likely to hold up their end of the deal. There should be more oversight, without expecting parents to function as watchdogs over their children’s education. Existing mechanisms of accountability need to change.

We need to teach educators about brain function and the behaviors that stem from ADHD and other diagnoses, and then hold educators and schools accountable when they dole out suspensions instead of teaching executive function skills that boost a student’s chances for success.

Inclusive Education: Next Steps

• Download: What Learning Disabilities Look Like In the Classroom
• Read: Inadequate Teacher Training Stifles Students with ADHD
• Learn: The Educator’s Guide to Executive Functions

Anna Weber, M.Ed., is a special education professional in southwest Michigan and board certified as an advocate in special education. Her son has ADHD.

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Sadly, this is an increasingly common situation, often referred to as “informal removal” or “off-the-books suspension,” which some schools use to “manage” students they deem to be disruptive. However, what ends up being disrupted is the student’s rights — their ability to learn and make academic progress, as well as to benefit from the social interactions of the school day.

What can you do when your student faces this situation? How can schools balance the rights and needs of students they deem to be disruptive with the safety and needs of other students, staff, and the school community?

Students’ Rights to a Free, Appropriate Education

Let’s start with some basic principles. First, no student can be excluded from school, or from part of the school day, without at least minimal “due process” notice of the school’s intent to exclude them and a chance to present their side of what happened. This right applies to all students, regardless of whether they have a 504 Plan or an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

Students with IEPs, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), are entitled to a free, appropriate public education. If a student with an IEP is acting out, having behavioral issues, or otherwise not functioning appropriately in school, the IEP team is required to look at the student’s IEP and examine how that student’s behavior may be related to their disability. This can be done through a functional behavior assessment (FBA), which should result in a Behavioral Intervention Plan. The presumption is that if there are consistent behavioral issues, the student’s IEP is not appropriate or adequate to address their disabilities.

[eBook: The Teacher’s Guide to ADHD School Behavior]

In addition, if a student with an IEP faces a suspension of 10 days or more, an FBA is required as part of a manifestation determination — a determination as to whether the student’s conduct is connected to their disability. If this is the case, the school needs to strengthen the services it provides to that student. This can mean adding supports to their day, placement in a smaller or more appropriate class, or otherwise helping the student moderate their behavior while adhering to the requirement of the IDEA that their education take place in the least restrictive environment.

Like those with IEPs, students with 504 Plans have been determined to have a disability and are entitled to the same kind of school day as their non-disabled classmates. If their day is shortened because they are sent home early or put on “home instruction” because of their behavior, they are not receiving the same educational opportunities as their non-disabled peers. They, too, are entitled to an appropriate education in the least restrictive environment.

Keep in mind that schools are required to keep records of suspensions; informal or “off-the-books” suspensions often fail to comply with this record-keeping requirement.

Parents’ Role as Advocates

As a parent advocate, you need to be a detective, getting as much information as possible from your child and others (a cooperative teacher, a classmate, or a sibling) about what happened at school. Did your child push Sammy? Or did they push Sammy back? Has there been bullying going on that the school knew or should have known about? Or did this incident arise out of the blue? Have there been other issues you have not heard about?

Next, you need to be an advocate. When you get a call from the school, advise them that you will not agree to any kind of removal without an opportunity to hear the basis of the school’s action and to respond to these claims. You want to hear what happened and have a chance to present your child’s position. It can be as informal as a meeting with the principal, but you and your child have the right to this basic due process.

[Quiz: How Well Do You Know Special-Ed Law?]

If your child did something that merits action by the school, you should consider having them evaluated without delay. Do behavioral issues need to be addressed? Is a 504 Plan or an IEP needed, or are modifications to an existing plan warranted to provide the student with the behavioral support they need? Is the school proposing to suspend your student for 10 days or more or exclude them from a regular program to the extent that your child’s school placement would change? Either situation would trigger their right to a manifestation determination (reviewing whether their behavior was related to their disability).

Your child has a right to get the supports and services that they require. The school’s failure to provide these does not give administrators the right to exclude your student from the regular school day.

It’s important to note that very different rules apply when students bring guns or other deadly weapons to school. Every state is required by federal law to suspend such students for at least a year, providing them with alternative education. This is where a student’s right to be educated with appropriate supports comes up against the safety of the school community, and the law is clear that safety is paramount.

The National Disability Rights Network prepared a report on informal school removal in 2022 that looks at the policies, practices, and remedies for these situations. It can be found online at additu.de/isr-report and makes for informative reading.

ADHD Students’ Rights: Next Steps

• Free Checklist: Fight for Your Child’s Rights at School
• Read: When Behavior Interferes with Learning
• Q: “Can the School Expel My Child for ADHD Behaviors?”

Susan Yellin, Esq., is the Director of Advocacy and Transition Services at The Yellin Center for Mind, Brain, and Education, an innovative learning support and diagnostic practice in New York City.

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Click each image below to read detailed advice and strategies for the school year ahead.

This free, curated learning series equips caregivers and educators with accurate, up-to-date information about learning with ADHD, plus realistic and effective solutions to specific academic, behavioral, and social challenges associated with ADHD in the classroom.

Your training will begin immediately with an introduction to ADHD and executive function, and ideas for starting off the school year right. Each week, you will receive a new lesson about devising effective accommodations, controlling impulses and behavior, resisting distractions, managing time, building self-confidence and working memory, making friends, and much more…

PART ONE: Forge Strong Executive Functions
PART TWO: Control Impulses & Behavior
PART THREE: Resist Distractions & Focus
PART FOUR: Organize & Manage Time
PART FIVE: Build Self-Confidence at School
PART SIX: Remember Not to Forget
PART SEVEN: Secure Accommodations & Self-Advocate
PART EIGHT: Initiate & Complete Homework
PART NINE: Foster Friendships & Regulate Emotions
PART TEN: Maintain Motivation & Resilience

NOTE: This resource is for personal use only.

Ninth grade is a big leap for kids with ADHD, whose emotional maturity and executive functioning may lag a few years behind that of their neurotypical peers. Your teen will be navigating a new school (and the stress of finding classrooms), new teachers, new peers, and more advanced classwork while undergoing hormonal changes and new social dynamics. These pressures can exacerbate ADHD symptoms or reveal related difficulties.

6 Tips for 9^th Grade

Help your teen meet the new challenges of high school with the following tips:

[Free Download: Transform Your Teen’s Apathy Into Engagement]

1. Build skills. Identify your teen’s true emotional maturity. For example, does your 8th grader relate to others on a 5th-grade level? Consider what skills will be essential in high school and what you can do together to build them. For example, you might coach your teen on how to respond to teachers and role-play the interactions so he can practice using a respectful tone. Reflecting on situations your teen has navigated successfully in middle school also builds confidence. Offer reassurance and support.
2. Get organized. Buy school supplies early, if possible, and set up a desk or a quiet place in the home for your teen to do his schoolwork. Create a routine for organizing your teen’s backpack and notebooks. Get familiar with the school’s website and apps for viewing classes, assignments, events, and grades.
3. Review accommodations. You and your teen should review his IEP or 504 Plan before school begins to ensure he has appropriate accommodations. If these supports fall short, your teen should be prepared to advocate for himself.
4. Listen up. After a tiring day of holding it together in school, your teen’s anxiety may worsen when he gets home. Be calm and accepting. Ask open-ended questions to gain insight. Create an atmosphere where your teen feels heard and can safely express his fears and concerns.
5. Work on time management. Help your teen assess the time required to complete a project or assignment. Then use time-tracking apps that let your teen set time markers for each step of a task from beginning through completion.
6. Encourage study buddies. Study groups and tutors can help lighten your teen’s memory load. Peer support and mentor programs may also help teens with ADHD navigate the social dynamics at school. Is your teen interested in tennis or swimming? Joining a sports team and pairing up with an older student on that team can foster a feeling of belonging and support.

9th Grade Readiness: Next Steps

• Learn: 50 High School Accommodations for Every ADHD Challenge
• Read: Your High School Get-It-Together Guide
• Free Download: Boost Your Teen’s Executive Functions
• Watch: High School Success: How to Prepare for the Transition from Middle to High School
• Sign Up: ADDitude’s Free Parenting Class: Everything You Need to Know About Raising a Child with ADHD 

Caroline Maguire, M.Ed., ACCG, PCC, is the author of Why Will No One Play with Me?

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It’s hard to know the prevalence of twice-exceptionality, but a report from the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) estimates that 6% of U.S. students receiving special education services are also academically gifted.¹ Patience, persistence, and advocacy are key to improved outcomes for this largely underserved school population.

If your child is twice exceptional, did you first notice their strengths or their weaknesses? We asked ADDitude readers this and more: Did the school system acknowledge and support all the aspects of your child’s learning profile? How does this affect their academic performance and friendships? Scroll down to the Comments section and add to the conversation.

“We recognized the gifted attributes first, which ‘hid’ the ADHD until fifth grade. Teachers have high expectations, but they often do not consider [my daughter’s] ADHD when she forgets something or needs reminders because she performs well. She is still doing well, and they have a great resource department. She has a small group of friends who have ADHD too, and who are also doing extremely well in school.” — An ADDitude Reader

“My 12-year-old son has ADHD, developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and is gifted. The DCD was diagnosed first. The ADHD diagnosis came much later. Because he is bright, an introvert, and not hyperactive or impulsive, he flew under the radar. He does very well in math and reading, but just average on written tasks, which he finds harder because of his motor difficulties and his struggle to make decisions about what to write! He has always had friends but is shy. He finds it hard to initiate social interaction.” — Emily, Australia

 [eBook: Signs & Symptoms of Learning Disabilities]

“We had our daughter tested for ADHD after her brother’s diagnosis. We always felt she wasn’t reaching her full potential at school. They came back with a diagnosis of ADHD and giftedness. I think the diagnosis improved her self-esteem and helped her better understand how she learns, but she experiences a big social and academic disconnect. At school, she hangs out with kids on the fringe but takes AP courses. Her classmates are always surprised that she’s smart because they don’t perceive her that way. She feels that many of her teachers don’t, either. She’s a really bright kid who acts impulsively. Luckily, medication and therapy are helping her make better decisions and focus on her future.” — An ADDitude Reader

“Both of my children are 2e and I couldn’t be prouder of that fact! It’s difficult to distinguish which I noticed first, as both were very bright little people who never stopped moving. The ADHD diagnoses came first and helped push toward a 504 Plan. Once they were old enough for thorough testing and evaluation, high intelligence and specific learning disabilities (SLD) were indicated. Before that, though, there were areas of concern that the school consistently dismissed as typical for the age (which was not the case). Once the documentation showed otherwise, the IEP process began for the SLD need, but all ADHD supports were stopped. It wasn’t totally understood by the teachers involved why an IEP was necessary. Their “low” is average and average is what they were aiming for, but it wasn’t allowing the children to reach their potential. With administrative support at a new school, supports to address their attention and focus were added back in and things have been positive overall.” — Rebecca

“I have three gifted children. They’re all amazing, but two of them are 2e. My oldest was recognized as academically gifted in some subject areas, but the inattentive ADHD wasn’t until much later. I was diagnosed first and it became obvious to us that she had it too. It took three years of work and ‘second opinions’ to get a diagnosis at age 17, with only 5 months left of her school life… My youngest 2e child has been recognized by adults as gifted since he was a toddler. Individual teachers would recognize it, but… we had to pay for an external evaluation to get a diagnosis: first of severe dysgraphia, then combined ADHD. The school now acknowledges the diagnoses and provides minimal support for the dysgraphia during assessments only… I am extremely proud of my middle child, but I look at what she has been able to achieve at school and in the community and wonder what the other two could have done, or could be doing, if they received the support they needed.” — Lisa, Australia

“From the time he was 2 or 3 years old, my son’s incredibly bright mind was obvious to me as a parent. Unfortunately, his keen intelligence left me questioning my parenting when he couldn’t do simple things like stay close to me in the grocery store or listen when he was told not to touch something… He thrived academically but had a lot of trouble adapting to all the rules in a classroom. That’s when we knew something wasn’t lining up. He was diagnosed with ADHD in first grade. His psychological evaluation confirmed his high intelligence, but also revealed a rather low processing speed. Suddenly everything made sense, and I cut myself some slack as a parent. There is no perfect place in school for a 2e child, but he is currently thriving in advanced classes with a 504 plan in place. He has healthy friendships with other bright kids, many of whom are a year older than him.” — An ADDitude Reader, Michigan

[Read: Slow Processing Speed — Signs & Solutions for a Misunderstood Deficit]

“Both of my kids are 2e. In the oldest, IQ masked ADHD (without hyperactivity). We didn’t get a diagnosis until things fell apart in sixth grade. It was hard for my child to cope with always being ‘the professor’ who had no trouble in school to suddenly being the kid who couldn’t find homework or keep up with busy work. In my youngest child, ADHD masked her IQ, so school wouldn’t allow her in the gifted program despite testing from a psychologist. The psychologist didn’t want to ‘label’ my child as ADHD until they were in the correct academic setting, so we wasted a lot of time begging for help and cooperation while my child suffered. Now they are both getting what they need and doing well, but it’s sadly always a gamble: Will they get a teacher next year who doesn’t get them and their strengths or needs? Thankfully, both kids have good friends that got them through their difficult times. I wish teachers would be more knowledgeable and aware of 2e kids so it wouldn’t be such a big ordeal.” — An ADDitude Reader

“A few of [my daughter’s] recent teachers don’t understand her ADHD. She has been in gifted or honors classes since middle school and is now a sophomore… They don’t understand how hard it is for her to stay focused long enough to complete her assignments, which are longer in advanced classes. They don’t know how that goes into getting [assignments] done — taking medication in the morning and afternoon at the right time, being able to fall asleep so she can function the next day… Listening to music on her phone with earbuds helps her focus, but that isn’t usually allowed in school. Sending a text to her dad or I about something important before she forgets gets her in trouble. I think she’ll do better in college, where she can control her course load and have more autonomy to take care of her needs. One advantage of her being 2e is that she has a better understanding of her ADHD and how to manage it. This helps her advocate for herself better.” — Kim, California

“My 16-year-old son is 2e. His IQ is over 130, but he also has ADHD… We recognized his 2e diagnosis in second grade. Although he had read most of the books in the Harry Potter series by age 7, his teacher (in a dual language immersion school) said that she did not think he needed any accelerated or differential teaching. He has had particular issues with teachers who were not trained in the U.S. (Latin America and Europe) and his current high school supports are completely teacher dependent. His private college prep school refuses to give him any accommodations around decreasing homework or allowing additional time on assignments due to slow processing speed (he only receives extra time for tests)… Although transferring schools would probably benefit him, he is adamant to stay at this school. He has had substantial issues with friendships. He currently does not have many good, long-term relationships after starting high school and floats from group to group. He has a lot of social anxiety and difficulty ‘reading’ both his peers and school teachers or administrators.”

2e Students and ADHD: Next Steps

• Free Download: Fight for Your Child’s Rights at School
• Read: Encourage Success, Overcome Struggles
• Replay: The 2e Playbook for Nurturing Gifted Students with ADHD
• Read: Twice-Exceptional and Thriving — At Last

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

Sources

¹Baird, L. L. (2022, April 20). How to support your twice-exceptional child. U.S. News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/articles/how-to-support-your-twice-exceptional-child