Feedback/Experiences; in the classroom as an adult

[WeAreAllOK]

I'm pretty much up there on the ADHD spectrum. And for a little while I have had the chance to work with Tutors in university, college and vocational settings.

My question has been: "What ideas, attitudes and perspectives are helpful in helping a tutor become sensitive, skillful and relaxed with Neurodiverse (particularly ADHD) learners in their classes?"

I'm presenting soon. (3X, yes I know, silly, overcommitted, one of these will not end well)

1. Adult ADHD, after the awareness, what then? For anyone.

2. Tutors workshop.

3. Conference talk: "What do tutors need to be aware of, know and do?" Better title needed!!

I'm interested in your feedback/comments.

*What helps you (as an adult, in class)

*What advice do you have for your tutors?

*Stories, what has gone down.

*"What do you wish you knew then you know now?"

*Other???

Thank you

[Tigger4me]

WeAreAllOK, I recently retired, after nearly 40 years, from teaching STEM classes at the university level. Man have things changed during those 40 years with regards to being aware of and helping students with learning difficulties. For the last 10 years at the start of each semester's classes, I have been open with my students that I had adhd and as such told them that I had some first hand experience of dealing with a condition that could severely affect one's academic life. I said this to let students know that I would very happily work with them to help them best learn the course material. The last several years, I would normally have 5-10 students in class who had signed up with our Disabilities Services to to get accommodations, primarily for taking exams. I have posted several Replies to people who have had questions about getting accommodations, how to take tests etc. so you might look at these if you are interested.

When are you making these presentations? Who will likely be your targeted audience? What is the range of ages of the students seeking help?

Please let me know how I might be of help to you with your presentations.

[WeAreAllOK in reply to Tigger4me]

Tigger4me

"Recently retired"!! Congratulations. I am not retired, but I have appreciated youtube.com/@BuzzRetirement... Buzz's Retirement Garage as the day comes closer.

Good questions, thanks.

When: next week and next month.

Target Audience: 1) Adult ADHD I say "If there is ADHD in your live, your family, your workmates or your students" 2) Tutors. Vocational Tutors teaching 17 years old up. 3) Conference. College, University and Polytech tutors.

Tutors workshop: I'm looking at building understanding and empathy. "enough skill to be relaxed . ." | Tips and intentional strategies to help ND learners. . . .

From today's reading: Strategy: Limit competing stimuli Today's students are used to attending to mul tiple streams of information, which may make them more distractible than previous generations. Teach ers can respond to such a trend by limiting items in the classroom that may distract student attention. An informal audit, conducted by the teacher who knows her students and class best, is recommended to remove potentially distracting stimuli. 😀😀 From jstor.org/stable/pdf/230568... Taking on multitasking by Jerome L. Rekart

I'm producing a small booklet, and rather than just List Strategies I'd like some stories and context.

Your comment about disclosure. I am not from the US. Sometimes here it does not end well.

With regards.

[Tigger4me in reply to WeAreAllOK]

Sounds like you have quite a full agenda with the presentations and a booklet. Good for you. Many thanks for doing this.

One thing I try to tell groups is that having adhd does not mean that students should be excluded from certain careers. And in fact, students with adhd often have skill sets that make them very very good at certain jobs. My son has adhd and he is an MD at a large hospital. He had several classmates in med school with adhd, all of whom got theirmed degree and good jobs. One in particular got MD and PhD degrees. I have a good friend from college, who is a very successful lawyer.

However, I've been hearing about difficult situations for students with adhd who are outside the US.

I have talked to a limited number of people from Canada who's high school children have had problems with college admissions if the high school students had gotten some accommodations, even though the accommodations were not explicitly on the student's academic transcripts.

I had a student with adhd who was in the US from a Scandinavian country. The student's parents were strongly opposed to the student even getting tested here in the US for fears of having irreparable damage to their son's chances for a professional job back in Scandinavia. I had been talking to the student cause of difficulties with the first exam. While talking with the student, I commented about why his left leg was bouncing up and down about 120 times a minute. He said that without medication, that was the only way he could stay focused so I asked about adhd. I was very glad that he said that he was going to get tested and get meds for his adhd even though his parents were very much against it.

Let me know how I can help.

One possible thing to mention is that some students with adhd might do better in slightly noisy study environments. That is what I did in college along with 4 friends; we were all in a quiet room but we always had a TV on with the volume turned down fairly low. This provided us with just enough stimulation that we could focus. We also did a lot of stimming even with the TV on.

[WeAreAllOK in reply to Tigger4me]

TLDR; If you are a student. As an adult.

What would you like teachers/tutors to do to support you?

[WeAreAllOK in reply to Tigger4me]

Tigger4me just out of curiosity, what accommodations do you regard as most useful? Which are easy wins for a tutor?

[Tigger4me in reply to WeAreAllOK]

Most of the accommodations I signed off on for students with adhd involved extra time and private rooms for tests and exams. The extra time accommodation could also be applied to any other timed, graded assignments but I tried to avoid having too many of these. and all were given during regular class times. Whenever I did have a timed in-class assignment (usually a word problem involving math and critical thinking skills) I always tried to arrange these with adhd students in mind. The typical format of these was 1) first working the problem out on paper to later turn in for grading, 2) after a moderately good time, students were to then turn to another and each was to describe to the other student how they tried to solve the problem, 3) after that discussion, each student would rework the problem, without erasing their first attempt, and turn this paper in for grading. I would then call on a random student to tell the entire class how they had solved the problem and finally the class would discuss any additional appropriate thoughts or steps for solving the problem. This process seemed to work well for almost everyone, with or without adhd. Periodically after class, I would those students with accommodations if they felt they had enough time to complete the assignment.

Working with another student is always helpful as long as they share the work.

Ten or so years ago, I had put together a worksheet, or template, that had a sequence of problem solving steps that all students would complete for in-class problems and for working any problems on exams or tests. Having such a worksheet or template might be very helpful for students with adhd. to try to avoid misreading or overlooking things or help to just get started. If I remember correctly the first several steps were things like1) rewrite the problem in your own words, 2) what facts or parameters are given in the problem, 3) does the problem involve a sequence of events if so describe these, 4) make a drawing or sketch of the problem if necessary, 5) list the main conceptual ideas that are needed to solve the problem, 6) work to solve the problem but only after completing steps 1) -5). All of these steps help students slow down and not make simple mistakes or forget to do different parts, helps students with adhd check their reading of the problem, and helps students try to organize their thoughts. Another great advantage of having some template for assignments is that it can give students a way to start working note that steps 1)-4) only involve reading the problem gathering facts given in the problem itself, etc. and doesn't require the student actually have any original thoughts or ideas or to actually solve the problem; it's really almost busywork to slow students down and have a way to start and not freeze with indecision.

I also would try to quickly review material from the last class at the start of the next class. This would help students know where that class is starting and to to provide an additional opportunity to implant material into memory. Always needed for anyone with adhd.

Finally (sorry this is so long) I would have most adhd or other LD students use different colored highlighter pens to highlight key words as they first read any assignment or word problem. I would then ask them to reread the assignment/problem a second time and use a different color pen to highlight any key words or concepts that they might have missed on the first reading.

[Inattentivewinner16]

Just can only share my personal experience that maybe useful for data but there is an lack of knowledge that Adhd/ADD is not a lack of focus or student isn't trying hard enough. There is a chemical imbalance. I had one teacher tell me after I told her I had ADD that " Everyone has ADD now." I explained to her that my diagnoses came from two testings from highly rated professionals and genetically runs in my family. If I had told her was Autistic she would not have said a disrespectful reply. But ADHD needs to have the same respect. Now I am selective who I tell I have ADD.

[WeAreAllOK in reply to Inattentivewinner16]

You said: I had one teacher tell me after I told her I had ADD that " Everyone has ADD now."

Yes, really all too common!! The response I heard from another tutor here was "they didn't have this when I was young - what's wrong with modern kids"

Here is my plan: I have a short 4.30m video of a student sharing their experience that I will play. You are right, this is an important message. ADHD is real, and exists.

Here is my question for you: given a sympathetic teacher/tutor, what is your advice to them to help their learners who have ADHD?