ADHD

Hello.

This is a presentation about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or a DH D.

ADHD

is the most common behavioural disorder diagnosed in Children.

It's estimated that around one in 30 students have ADHD here at

ST Dominic's School.

The primary diagnosis for almost all of our pupils and students is ASD,

or autistic spectrum disorder.

However, many also have a secondary diagnosis of ADHD

or ADHD traits.

You can find the diagnosis for pupils and students on Section B of their education,

health and care plan.

A DH D is usually first spotted around 18 months old.

We're using a medical model to discuss a DH

d today and therefore the term symptoms is used.

Symptoms tend to become more noticeable when circumstances change.

For example, when a young person starts school or changes school,

most cases of a DH D are diagnosed between the ages of six and 12,

although some may be later,

particularly if a young person also has another condition,

such as autism spectrum disorder.

So what does a DH D look like in our pupils and students?

The attention deficit element can look like a lack of attention to detail,

challenges sustaining attention for tasks such as learning in the classroom,

Pupils and students may not be able to listen, even when spoken to directly.

They can have trouble completing jobs and tasks, and this can cause high anxiety.

They may have trouble with their organisation,

the ability to sequence tasks and work out where to start.

Pupils may also have a dislike for sustained mental effort and, in fact,

avoid tasks that appear to have a sustained mental effort requirement.

These are the pupils and students who may be quite often losing their belongings.

They are easily distracted,

and they can be generally forgetful in their daily activities.

The hyperactivity element of a DH D can

mean that pupils and students appear fidgety,

often squirming in their seats,

leaving their seats so up and down in the

classroom all of the time looking out of windows,

picking up things, touching things that don't belong to them.

They may be inappropriately restless or overactive,

so just unable to sit still for a period of time,

they may have difficulty engaging in leisure

activities that require quiet and concentration,

such as reading and board games.

They may wish to engage in leisure activities that are more active,

such as sport or more, UM,

engaging in terms of the levels of energy such as gaming online.

These young people are often described as always being on the go,

and they can also talk excessively.

They may find it difficult to respond to listener

need and realise that others have switched off.

Impulsivity is also a key feature of ADHD.

It can mean that pupils blurt out answers before someone's

finished speaking and forget to put their hand up.

It can mean that they find it challenging to wait in

line or take turns or engage in tasks that require patients

they can often be interrupting of others, which can cause some conflict.

They often have little or no sense of danger and can be risk takers and risk seekers.

They often act without thinking.

What are the other risks associated Then, with the diagnosis of A S, a DH d.

Uh, often you get low self esteem, emotional and social difficulties.

They can underachieve an education, and they are at risk of school inclusion.

This is because the features of a DH

d don't necessarily lend themselves to classroom behaviour,

where pupils are often required to sit quietly for longer periods

of time or to take turns in social groups and tasks.

Failure at learning which some young people may

have experienced will produce low self esteem.

Often,

Children with a DH d find ways to distract from the

fact that they're worried they're going to fail at a task,

and therefore they may show acting out behaviours or risk behaviour.

And this is often how they end up being excluded or suspended for periods of time.

What makes a DH d different from AD D so

AD d quite simply doesn't have the hyperactivity element.

It's attention deficit disorder,

and its main presentation is difficulty in concentrating.

You can see that there is an overlap between a DH d.

A S d autistic spectrum disorder

and P d. A pathological demand avoidance.

We have young people here at ST Dominic's who have

all three elements of some and traits of another.

What does it feel like to live with a DH d?

We've had the privilege of working with young people who can articulate very

well what it might be like to live with a DH D.

For example, Lucy, 11, says, I drift off for a few minutes.

When I come back round, everyone is two pages ahead of me.

Young people with a DH d often can't recognise

that they're drifting away or that they've lost concentration.

When they come back and join the group, they are then behind in their learning.

This, of course,

can potentially cause failure in learning or inability to complete a task.

And that leads to low self esteem.

I get picked on every day. I just get treated weird like an alien.

Young people with a DH d can be

very loud. They can engage in quite boisterous physical activities.

They can be quite noticeable.

They draw a lot of attention to themselves, often unintentionally.

Um, and it makes them stand out.

How does it feel? You seem to get the blame for everything.

It's miserable and unfair again because these

young people stand out from the crowd.

They are often assumed to be the one in the wrong, even when they're not.

On some occasions, this is often true in a big mainstream setting,

Um, and our young people can come to us and join, since on the nick,

feeling that they have often been singled out as the

person who is in trouble all of the time.

It's hard making and keeping friends.

The other kids just want to wind you up because you're different.

Other pupils and students can find it interesting to, uh,

wind up a young person with a DH d because they know

that they will engage in that risk behaviour that others might not.

And that can be quite entertaining.

If you had some kind of physical disability that you could see,

people would understand.

But as they can't see your brain isn't receiving a perfect signal,

you don't get any sympathy at all.

So here's a young person who's experienced the fact that because it's an invisible,

invisible disability,

uh, they are.

They are on the receiving end of a lack of sympathy and

an expectation that they should just be able to do certain things.

Adults are always annoyed because you've

forgotten something or done something silly.

They spend their lives telling you off and making you feel stupid.

So these are some young people who are forgetting things,

not remembering where they've put something down

disorganised and often in trouble for that,

and people being impatient with them because it

seems like a relatively small thing to remember,

for example, that it's PE and you bring your trainers

so they can feel that they're just always on the end

of a bit of a nagging and a telling off.

So let's look at how can we reframe ADHD?

How can we find those strengths and positives? Because there definitely are some.

We often talk about our young people as being easily distracted,

but we need to remember that this can be a high level of awareness and observation.

These young people can be incredibly

observant and are able to spot details or think about things in a very different way.

We can say that they show restlessness, but we also need to remember that actually,

this is energy.

They're energetic and lively, and if you can channel it in the right ways,

they can really

infuse about things and

and enjoy practical and active tasks.

We know that they will go offer to offer to a tangent for want of a better phrase,

but this is their individualism and independence.

These are the young people who think outside the

box who may take you somewhere in a discussion,

Um, or in a learning journey that that nobody else would have thought to go.

Yes, they can be forgetful,

but this is because they're engaged in their own thoughts.

They're not being forgetful on purpose. They're just busy in their own heads.

They will interrupt, but we know that this is about an enthusiasm to contribute.

It's about a worry that if they don't get their answer out in time,

they might forget it.

And it's about making sure

that, you know, they know they want you to know that they might know the answer.

They might produce what could be seen as sloppy work,

but we need to recognise that this might be their maximum effort,

that the level of concentration it has taken,

an energy it is taken to sit down at a table and complete a written task, for example,

might be their maximum effort.

Although some of their behaviours can appear selfish,

we need to remember that they are single minded,

particularly if they also have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

These are young people who can be incredibly hyper focused and find

it challenging to think what other people might be thinking or feeling,

however, it can make them incredibly focused and driven.

A DH D and medication medications are associated with a DH d quite strongly.

A DH D is a disorder of brain chemistry.

Medication is almost always prescribed alongside a programme of

some kind of therapeutic input or an intervention.

Ritalin is the one that you may have heard of.

It's a psychostimulant, uh, it's been in the media quite a bit,

although there are other drugs that are often prescribed,

uh, with some individuals, a lack of medication is obvious.

So if a young person's forgotten to take the medication miss their lunchtime dose,

for example, you can notice that in their behaviour very readily.

So there's a task associated with this presentation.

Um, it's you'll find it saved where this presentation is.

Have a look at the specific specific area of need that you've been given.

Think about the impact of those difficulties

on a young person's academic achievements,

their social interactions and how they're functioning independently.

Have a think about the strategies that we might be able

to use to support pupils to make progress in these areas.

There's also a good book by Cathy Hopman all dogs have a DH d.

This is a lovely example of some of the challenges

that young people with a DH d may have,

but also some of the strengths and qualities and how that might look to others.

So, for example, when opportunities presents itself, he goes for it

and may dive straight into a situation without thinking of the consequences.

So this isn't necessarily a negative.

This means that these young people are often brave. They just go for it.

But it also means they might not think about the risks of a situation.

And he can be rougher than he intends,

and others may not invite him to join their games.

Young people with a DH d can be quite boisterous, um,

and not know their own strengths and get, um,

overly involved in in games and activities.

And this can be quite intimidating to Shire or more anxious young people.

So that's the end of the

presentation on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

If you have any questions, please come and find a member of the therapy team.

We'll be more than happy to give you more information.

Remember to check the documentation for the young people that you're

working with to see if this is a feature of their presentation

and do remember those reframing strategies. So how to find the positives in ADHD?

ADHD

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