by Marijane Suttor

Created on: November 16, 2008   Last Updated: June 23, 2010

As an education professional I have seen many ADHD children come through my classroom doors. Those same children exit my classroom doors with many of the same issues that they bring into the classroom. One of the issues that I often see is that perception and reality do not equate to the same perceptions and reality for the rest of the students as well as the teacher.

What follows are my observations and experiences-not scientific research or medical knowledge of this condition

COMPLETION AND THE CONCEPT OF ALMOST DONE

Many ADHD students cannot really grasp the concept of completion. It seems to be as wide a concept as flying to the moon. The ADHD student will often tell the teacher "I'm almost done." To them it will seem almost done, but reality is that the task may be only 10% completed. To the ADHD student anything that is completed warrants the description of "almost done". A teacher can even ask the student if it is half done or 50% done and the student may say, "Yah, it's about half done," when it may not even be close. The ADHD student isn't doing this out of guile to make the teacher believe something that is not true or to buy time until it is done. Instead the ADHD student doesn't seem to differentiate between 10% and 90% complete. To them it all is the same package of "almost done".

There are better ways to quantify completion with these students. In older students checklists can help. Have the student check off a task if it is one that has many steps in the process. For young children it can be taking one link off a paper chain or putting tokens out that are taken away when the entire process. It seems like they do better with a countdown. Rather than complete a task and earn a token. Then it just seems too massive to accomplish.

BEING PICKED ON OR SINGLED OUT

Another perception that ADHD students can have is that they are being picked on or singled out when being called upon by a teacher, grouped with other students or followed up on progress. Teachers are not trying to single these students out or draw attention to them; rather teachers are trying to nurture the learning of the student. There are even times when a teacher can ask the very same follow up question to all the students individually in a class, and yet the ADHD student will feel put on the spot and singled out. Part of this may be a result of self-confidence, previous experiences, or simply being unsure of the appropriate response.

One way to cope with this misperception is to not ask the

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