The Elisabeth d'Ornano Association for ADHD

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Problems in adapting to and changes in school

The functioning of hyperactive children in their school environment is also a sign that the child has difficulties that deserve attention. The performance of these children is often very irregular and certainly does not equal their apparent ability. They could have very different results in the same subject within days of each other. They can make many mistakes due to not paying attention and they are always the same mistakes. This exasperates parents. They are disordered in the presentation of their work. They leave everything to the last minute. They lose their books (in addition to their sweater, pencils, etc.). And they never remember to write down their homework and the feedback from teachers is: "He/She is very distracted," "He/She could do more if he/she wanted to" etc.

If not helped in time, often these children do not receive any help with their studies (get bad grades, they are constantly criticized, are accused of being lazy, undisciplined), and ultimately they reject school first and learning after. We all tend to do and practice the things we like and that make us feel good. For these children, the school experience is often frustrating and so it is not uncommon for them to reject school. That's why it is important to find the correct way to teach, motivate and acknowledge them prior to having them ruminate on the idea that there is no use in studying, that they look forward to the day on when studies are voluntary and for they could go to work, or for them to try to stay out of class as much as possible.

In addition to making every effort to try to make school life a rewarding experience, we must recognize that standard learning requires more effort than usual from them, and we therefore must make sure that they are not subjected to the same activity for the rest of the day. Their life could be hell if they are going to school, feeling frustrated and incompetent in school, as well as physically constrained, and arrive home after being subjected to constant efforts to get them to study, just to continue to feel frustrated and incompetent and generating frustration, feeling fed up and frustrating their parents. We must avoid depriving them of the activities they enjoy and do well in order to have more hours of study. Rather, we must encourage art, music, drama, sports while at the same time building the self-esteem of the child.

The school experience, the activity in which children spend the most time, may be an important source of recognition, validation, identification, and a lot of the aspects needed to develop a happy, safe and positive attitude toward work and toward a responsible and independent life. Or it may be just the opposite.