Does anyone have any tips/suggestions for helping a child with ADHD who is pretty severely distracted? He is often out of his seat when he is supposed to be working independently (walking around the classroom, talking with other students) or talking with others around him. He also fiddles with things at his desk. This poor kid just can't seem to focus. Any ideas on how to help him?
This was for a 10th grader, so in don't know how it would work in elementary ... I had my student enrolled in PE every day (instead of the usual every-other-day). This really helped. Maybe the child you're referring to could do a few laps with an aide every hour or so - just to tire him out a bit. One of my severe ADHD students has been sick the past 2 days. So he's tired. He has been more focused and his daily behavior logs have positive comments from all his classes. He, himself, even commented on how peaceful the day was yesterday.
My GS is ADHD. I think 4th grade was the worst. Hormones are kicking in. To stay focused, we tried several things. Check out a few ADHD sites, they will have suggestions. The ones we tried: 1. A piece of Velcro attached to the side of his desk to rub his finger on. 2. A magic cushion. I can't remember the exact name. It required some balancing to stay seated. 3. If the child is on meds, they may need to be adjusted. We had a horrible time getting his meds right in 4th grade. 4. Give him opportunities to walk. Have him hand out papers, pick up homework, sort books, etc. 5. My GS loved to help. Good luck. Each ADHD child has different needs. Ask the parents for suggestions.
Here's a helpful article from Scholastic: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/how-can-i-handle-student-adhd
My stepson has ADHD. As Blue says, different things work differently for each kid, but what helped him was being able to get up and go to the back of the room for a minute or two, or to another "station" to move around, having a stress/squeezy ball at his desk, and being asked frequently to help pass out papers/clean up/help teacher. Having breaks during longer tasks is helpful too. He also went to the bathroom a lot, which concerned the teacher at first until she figured out it was one of his coping mechanisms. After that, she found other ways for him to get up and move or allowed him to go to the bathroom but gave him a timer and he had to be back within a certain time.
kc's suggestions are great. Those are some of the same techniques we considered. Now that my GS is 13, he is more in charge of his modifications. He has requested that long exams be broken into small sessions as he gets overwhelmed. He also tells us when to not make modifications. Something very important for my GS in 4th grade was food. He needed to eat between meals. We supplied his teacher with appropriate snacks. We were lucky that he had great teachers who wanted to help.
