A Framework for Student Support Teams

Erik von Hahn MD; Sheldon Horowitz EdD; Caroline Linse EdD

Essential Skills

1. Vision
2. Hearing
3. Motor skills
4. Formal language skills
5. Pragmatic language skills
6. Social skills
7. Executive skills
8. Affect and self-regulation skills
9. Reading skills
10. Writing skills
11. Math skills

Executive Skills

1. Orientation
2. Initiations
3. Inhibition (impulse control)
4. Shifting cognitive set
5. Working memory
6. Planning
7. Organization
8. Meta-cognition

ADHD Symptoms

Impulse Control and Working Memory

• The DSM V uses observable behaviors to identify children with ADHD:
  • Fails to give attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork
  • Has difficulty sustaining attention to tasks or activities
  • Does not seem to listen when spoken to directly
  • Does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand)
  • Has difficulty organizing tasks and activities
  • Avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort
  • Loses things necessary for tasks or activities (school assignments, pencils, or books)
  • Is easily distracted by extraneous stimuli
  • Is forgetful in daily activities

Additional Symptoms

10. Fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat
11. Leaves seat in classroom or in other situations in which remaining seated is expected
12. Runs about or climbs excessively in situations in which remaining seated is expected
13. Has difficulty playing or engaging in leisure activities quietly
14. Is “on the go” or often acts as if “driven by a motor”
15. Talks excessively
16. Blurts out answers before questions have been completed
17. Has difficulty waiting in line
18. Interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations/games)

Strategies for Improvement

How Teachers Can Help

• Take a deep cleansing breath
• Teach students to:
  • Identify impulsivity and forgetfulness
  • Develop and use repair/restitution strategies
  • Develop reminder systems to help detect and correct errors due to forgetfulness
• Encourage self-advocacy

Building Relationships

• Make yourself into your student’s ally and friend.
• Use supportive phrases:
  • "I really like having you in my classroom."
  • "I want to help you with your goals."
• Share observations about behavioral tendencies with students in a constructive manner.

Working Memory Lists

• Create checklists to help students detect and correct errors of omission and commission.
• Schedule periodic check-ins to assist students in reflecting on their performance and strategies.

Core Difficulties in ADHD

• Under-developed inhibition and working memory lead to impulsive behaviors, forgetfulness, and problems with task completion.
• Strategies should be co-developed with students to give them insight into their own behaviors and help improve their performance.