Tips for Teachers Dealing with ADHD in the Classroom

Imagine yourself sitting in a classroom. The teacher is giving a fascinating lecture on the solar system but you just cannot seem to follow. It is raining outside and the rain drops are hitting the window, the student next to you has a cold and it constantly coughing, and the class next-door just pushed their chairs in to go gym class. In one scenario all four of these events attracts an even amount of your attention and in the other none of these things catches any of your attention. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a disorder that is characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity (Buysse, 2002). The scenario where everything is given equal attention exhibits ADHD-Impulsive type, the example where the student is engaged by nothing is known as ADHD-Inattentive type, and there is a third classification that combines the Impulsive and Inattentive which is known as ADHD-Combination (Cowan, 2006). Whichever form of this disorder a person exhibits it can have a large impact on every aspect of their life. It was first thought that ADHD was a childhood problem, but now it is clear that this issue can persist into adulthood.

Due to the exponentially growing numbers of children being diagnosed with ADHD it is very likely that every teacher will have to deal with a student in his/her classroom. In order for a student a receive an appropriate education special education and general education teachers alike must have an arsenal of effective interventions for dealing a student afflicted with ADHD. The two types of interventions that will be examined include self-monitoring and token economy techniques. Both of these intervention strategies are taken from the behavior modification school. According to Wikipedia, "behavior modification is a technique of altering an individual's reactions to stimuli through positive reinforcement and the extinction of maladaptive behavior." Behavior modification is effective with students with ADHD because it shows them what behaviors are acceptable and what behaviors are not. These techiques can be used in conjunction with medication to get the best possible outcome for the student.

A token economy is a point system in which a student can earn rewards/privilages based on behavior. The students initally earn tokens that can be saved to earn rewards/privilages, backup reinforers. This form of behavior management can be used in conjuction with response cost, a procudure were a student loses tokens for inappropriate behavior. The first step in setting up an effective system is to clearly establish what behaviors a student can gain tokens for and what behaviors they will lose tokens for, also known as the target behaviors (Myles, 1992). The wording for the rules should be simple and understandable, and the number of rules should be kept between three and five (Reid, 1999). If there are too many rules it will be difficult for the student to remember them and for the teacher to monitor them. The rules should be posted as well as clearly explained. There should be a set number of tokens won/ lost for each specific behavior. Initally, it the student should be able to fairly easily obtain reinforcements and can be scaled back later to increase the amount of target behaviors. The final component of a successful token economy is determining the reinforcers (prizes) and the number of points needed to earn the backup reinforcer. The prizes should be desirable for the age group, interests, and gender of the child, they may also be privliages.

A token ecomony/response cost system is very simple to impliment and is effective with any age group in any setting. Few resources are needed and little to no training is necessary. If a teacher would like to find out more about token economy or any behavior modification system they may find numberious useful internet sites, as the internet is home to many useful teacher interventions. The only things needed are tokens, which can be anything from laminated pieces of paper to poker chips, rules posted on handouts, poster boards, or bulletin boards, and reinforment prizes. A brief explaination of the token ecomony should be given to the students before it is implimented in the classroom. They need to know the specifics about the rules of the system (ie what the tokens represent, how they can be earned/lost, how many they need to get a reinforcer) not the purpose of the system itself.

A study was conducted on the effectiveness of a token ecomomy on children with ADHD. The student looked at the effects on four of thirteen children at a summer camp program. Over a six week period a token economy with a response cost was in effect all day with time outs being given for serious behavior. The staff was instructed to give positive reinforcement to children caught doing something good.

The four students that were closely examined were all in the sixth grade and diagnosed with ADHD. Three of the students were in general education classrooms at school and received no medications for their disorder, although one child was on medication and was in a special education classroom for part of the day. The study looked at a number of areas for each child, they included: percentage of following activitiy rules (calculated dividing the child's number of rule violations by the number of 15-minute intervals during which the child did not have any rule violations), daily rate of noncomliance, interruption, complaining, conduct problems, negitive verbalizations, and rule violations. The study used the aformentioned treatment for a time period and then stopped. The overall trend of behavior was that the unacceptable behavior decreased and desired behavior increased while the treatment was being implimented. While the treatment was no being used, the unacceptable behavior increased while the acceptable behavior decreased. The research indicates that the treatment is an effective intervention for children who have ADHD (Coles, 2005).

Myles, B., Moran M., Ormsbee C., and Downing, J. (1992). Guidelines for establishing and maintaining token economies. Intervention in School and Clinic, 27(3), 164-169.

Jackson, S., Henderson, K., Paige, R., & Justesen, T. (2004). Teaching children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Instructional Strategies and Practices. Jessup, MD: Ed Pubs, Education Publication, U.S. Department of Education.

Buysse, A., Roeyers, H., & Van Oost P. (2002). Activity in children with ADHD during waiting situations in the classroom: a pilot study . British Journal Of Educational Psychology, , 51-69.

Cowan, D. (2006). Retrieved Apr. 08, 2006, from Different Types of ADHD Web site: http://addexpert.com/ADHD_types?PHPSESSID=a91d65e5cd91b1631f1ecb0aff13a60f.

Behavior modification. (n.d.). Retrieved Apr. 09, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavior_modification.

Reid, R. (1999). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: effective methods for the classroom. Focus on Exceptional Children, 32(4), .

Coles, E., Pelham W., Gnagy E., Burrows-MacLean, L., Fabiano A., Chacko A., Wymbs B., Tresco K., Walker K., and Robb J. (2005). A controlled evaluation of behavioral treatment with children with adhd attending a summer . Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 13(2), 99-112.