Five sentence summary
The hyperactivity and inattentiveness can both lead to creative ideas and new directions, but it also makes organizing thoughts and keeping track of everything challenging. Large assignments, readings, lectures, and projects without clear subsections, goal posts, and breaks can easily overwhelm us. We can get off track and spiral into the wrong direction. By giving us an outline or a table of contents for how we're going to proceed, ADHD learners can plan. By breaking down everything into chapters or smaller chunks, ADHD folks are more likely to focus and organize efficiently.
Why
ADHD brains struggle to color within the lines. We are attentive to a million ideas at once, whether we realize it consciously or not. We can become easily overwhelmed when other neurotypical folks are doing just fine. No matter what "It" is I can guarantee your ADHD learners will benefit from breaking it down. By breaking down talks, events, assignments, and other materials into chunks that are smaller and clearly defined, you help us reign our brains back in and we're less likely to get lost. Whereas neurotypical brains are adept at managing administrative-type tasks, ADHD brains are less equipped to do this. Regardless of the format you're teaching in (essay, textbook chapter, oral presentation with slides, oral presentation without slides, an instructional video), I know your ADHD learners do better when things are divided and those divisions are clear.
What do I mean exactly? No matter what format we're talking about, pretend it's a book. 1) Give your medium a table of contents, allowing learners to see what is coming up. It allows us to plan and we appreciate a heads up because sometimes we have elaborate note-taking methods. 2) Break everything down into chapters with headings. We have trouble organizing our thoughts and organizing someone else's is often more problematic. By giving us more structure and reminding us where we are in the talk, video, podcast, etc., you allow us to focus better and spend less time trying to organize ourselves and more time trying to learn and understand the material. We use signals and signposts to focus
For example, if a textbook chapter has an introduction that gives an overview of what the entire chapter will cover and the direction it will take, a neurotypical brain can likely store this information in short-term memory and easily retrieve it later halfway through the chapter while taking notes. ADHD brains will likely have a harder time accessing and retrieving from short-term memory while simultaneously taking notes and trying to ignore other distractions, such as flickering lights or a soft conversation outside of the room. By using headings and subtitles within the chapter, ADHD brains can refer to and rely on these signals when we get lost or confused about where the chapter is going next. It's something relatively simple, yes. It makes the material more accessible though.
The same rule applies for assignments. Whereas some students might do great on their own setting up everything they need for a final project, ADHD learners might need some clear goal posts and more structure to guide us. Our inattentive brains can be creative and innovative, but this can also mean we have trouble staying on track and within the guidelines. Schedule check-ins to discuss goals, timeline for completing those goals, and where we can steer ourselves back on track if need be. This can be done formally by checking in with students in-person or on video for 15 minutes every two weeks, but it can also be done by asking students to submit a project outline, fill out a Google form that is essentially a progress report at the halfway point, or having a Google worksheet where updates are recorded and progress is summarized every couple of weeks. Take advantage of UDL
Ideally, following principles of UDL, multiple options would be available to us and we can choose which one we're most likely to stick with. This can even be done with other learners, where they meet bi-weekly and you give them guiding questions about their current challenges, timelines, unexpected hurdles, and etc.
Multiple due dates within a single project/assignment
Another great idea is to have learners present or submit a portion of their project before the final project, a preview of what is to come. This encourages everyone to get started on final projects early (because they have the pressure to submit or present), and it introduces a little more structure for ADHD folks. It's another goal post, and we do better with multiple goal posts rather than one final, big, daunting goal post.
Can't ADHD learners do this themselves?
It may seem like a lot of these steps could be done by the ADHD learners themselves, and this may be partially true. These type of executive functions are exactly what ADHD brains struggle with, and these are skills that take us a lot of time to learn. Even after years of practice, we're inconsistent and fail to break down tasks ourselves. This is what we need help with, and taking a few minutes to subdivide an assignment or require everyone to submit a one or two sentence progress report can make a huge difference for someone with ADHD.
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AuthorThere's a reason theADHDAcademic is an anonymous account and there's a reason why this website will remain anonymous. That said, there are some basics it might be helpful to know about me: DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional or a lawyer of any kind. All text, graphics, and content on this website are for educational purposes only. Any and all content should not be substituted for medical or legal advice. Although I strive to provide the most accurate, current, and scientifically sound information, content should never be substituted for professional advice. Always consult a medical and/or legal professional before making any decisions. Links are provided only for reference and do not necessarily imply endorsement.
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