Earlier in the month there was a story that went viral about a barber and a child diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and how the barber found a unique way to cut his hair. The child in question experiences sensory issues, which is common in ASD. This is also an experience for many ADHD children, who can be 'hypersensitive' to sound, touch, and other senses.
Recently, we stumbled across an article posted on the PsychCentral website called Surefire strategies that don't work for ADHD - and some that do.
The author notes that "knowing what works for [ADHD] is just as important as knowing what doesn't," and this is such an important message to share. We talk about this idea often in coaching - part of the journey in figuring out what does work for you and an ADHD-style brain is sifting through what doesn't work. A couple highlights from the article: Sometimes 'trying harder' is not the right move. Same with conforming - just because other people seem to do things a 'certain way' does not mean that will work for you. In fact, sometimes the outside-the-box ideas are the ones that work best with an ADHD-brain! Check it out
If you have an ADHD child who acts up or has behavioural issues, a great resource to check out is Lives in the Balance, a non-profit organization founded by child psychologist Dr. Ross Greene. We've referenced Dr. Greene's work before in our post 'Outbursts and Meltdowns: ADHD children do well if they can.' As implied, this post spoke to the philosophy that children do well if they can. If they can't, a skill is missing or "lagging."
Recently, we posted an article about the importance of home-school communication with an ADHD child. But what do you actually need to consider when trying to set up communication with your child's teacher?
In honour of ADHD awareness month last month, our Director of Health Education Laura MacNiven collaborated with Joanne Sallay from Teachers on Call and Dr. Dina Kulik from DrDina.ca, a children's health information website, to talk about how to build an action plan that encourages home-school communication.
The short answer to the question "do accommodations give ADHD students an unfair advantage" is: no. The longer answer is one we thought worth addressing. Because many people continue to believe that accommodations are "unfair," this often translates to a false belief that their teachers will be resistant to offering appropriate support, or students being hesitant to seek support they may truly benefit from because they don't want to get a "handout" from others.