Learning with ADHD

Patients with ADHD may find it extremely difficult to learn. Problems with impulse control, the ability to focus and concentrate, boredom with routine, short term memory, and processing multiple instructions (Schlozman & Schlozman, 2000, p. 41; Wood, 2004, p. 36) can account for severe difficulties in classrooms, for the ADHD student, for the teacher and for the classmates. Schlozman & Schlozman (2000) recommend sevaral strategies for teachers to help students who suffer of ADHD: assignment books where students meticulously record their homework, due dates, etc. are a first approach. The authors recommend that these be meticulous enough to even record days with no assignments as "no homework". A second strategy is helping students break bigger assignments into smaller parts that seem more manageable and less overwhelming. Finally, they recommend the use of flashcards for review purposes. It seems that these ideas focus on helping students make up for their lack of strategic control (prefrontal) by providing external scaffolds that may help them be organized, stay on task, attack longer complex tasks by achieving smaller goals each time.

Jeffrey (Brown, no date), a man in his twenties who suffers from ADHD includes the following in a list of problems for learning:

“After about 15 minutes of a lecture, I'm tuned out.
I have great difficulty studying for tests where the information is in a textbook or memorized out of notes.
Being given multiple assignments all at once rather than one at a time gets me into a world of trouble.
Organization of time and assignments is difficult for me.
I have trouble in situations where I must go step-by-step rather than drawing conclusions from my experience and abilities.
I will always try to do something before I read the directions and see if I can figure it out. I do rather well in classes where student input is part of the class.
The best kind of class for me is one with structure, but where the instructor allows the students to be creative about the way their coursework is completed and presented.
I hate deadlines, but without them, I'd never get anything done.” (Brown, no date)