Workshop on effective strategies for elementary school children with ADHD Reflection “When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well,  you don’t blame the lettuce. You look into the reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like lettuce.” – Thich Nhat Hanh 1991, p. 78  Plan for the workshop Review of learning problems in ADHD  Two useful frameworks for thinking about  intervention for ADHD Developing a student’s profile  Tier-1: Prevention/intervention for ALL students  Tier-2/3: Extra steps for students with ADHD  Case study  Why is ADHD associated with poor academic/occupational outcome? Behavioral symptoms of ADHD: inattention, Hyperactivity/impulsivity s A r Academic ec l b Cognitive Deficits aa underachievement n Executive Function, d e Reading, Mathematics, Processing speed ce i Written expression, m Altered m e Spoken language reinforcement/motivation dic a c A Comorbid LD Recap: key points so far States of ADHD – Beyond Behaviour Unreadiness Challenged Behavioural difficulties child Inattentive /Disruptive Challenged parents Cognitive difficulties Challenged teachers Working Memory & EF Cognitive Processing Speed Challenged school system Poor Academic Competency Academic skills & enablers Achievement gap between ADHD and their peers increases over time 160 140 Reading scores 120 Mathematics scores 100 80 Full sample ADHD 60 40 Full sample: n=8370 ADHD: n=594 (9%) 20 0 K-Fall K-Spring Gr-1 Gr-3 Gr-5 Scheffler et al (2009) Pediatrics 123(5): 1273-79 Part 2 Overall goal: Accelerate the rate of growth ADHD calls for a co-ordinated, sustainable, multi-system approach • Transition plans (sector- Systems: System- to-sector, school-to-school, Education grade-to-grade, class-to- Post-sec education level class, home-school) Medical Mental Health • Instructional pathways School /classroom (credit-recovery, credit- Teacher-child rescue, co-op etc) Family Family (parent-child) • Capacity-building Parent-teacher (professional development) Student School- Classroom- level level “teaching quality is the most important schooling factor affecting student achievement” (Goldhaber & Hannaway, 2009,pp. 3−4), Creating a new teaching profession . Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press. How you teach is the critical factor – not what you teach (i.e, curriculum) Frameworks for School-based Intervention for ADHD/symptoms “Resource-Demand Imbalance” Model  Tiered Intervention  Response to Instruction/Intervention (RTI) 