The effective management of any child with AD/HD, as well as ongoing monitoring of progress, requires liaison with the school, both before and after assessment, with support in the introduction of specific educational strategies.

For many teachers an appreciation of the concepts of AD/HD has helped them think differently about common classroom problems of disruptive behaviour, poor concentration, educational underachievement and the concepts of dyslexia and dyspraxia.  AD/HD is now recognised as a valid condition and is a recognised disability. A diagnosis of AD/HD is not an excuse, rather an explanation for behaviours.  It opens the door for understanding the need for implementation of appropriate strategies and accommodations to support and help a child to achieve to his or her potential, wherever this may be in the IQ range.  Such an understanding frequently involves reframing many traditional attitudes to such children, i.e. they are not merely lazy, lacking in conscience, morally deficient, or could concentrate if they tried harder.  Many children are often described as seeming to have a faulty ‘on-off switch’ - they are able to focus extremely well on subject matter in which they are interested, but have great difficulty switching on and concentrating on the mundane tasks, much more so than the average person.  It is not that they could do it if they tried harder – they are simply unable to do it. 

AD/HD is a very important condition to special needs and classroom teachers alike.  The copious myth and misinformation that has unfortunately surrounded the condition in recent years has tended to obscure its importance as a special educational needs condition.  AD/HD is internationally recognised as a valid, neurodevelopmental condition.  Research clearly shows that it is a condition of brain dysfunction in which the neuro-transmitters – the chemical messengers of the brain – are not working properly.  This brain dysfunction thus leads to often significant difficulties in the whole of life - not only in the educational situation.

AD/HD is a condition characterised by age-inappropriate persistent difficulties with inattentiveness and/or problems with impulse control (self-control) or hyperactivity, that in excess cause the prime symptoms of AD/HD.  Evidence of ongoing and excessive difficulties both at home and at school with the majority of the inattentive criteria, and/or excessive impulsiveness and/or hyperactivity for which there is no better explanation, is essential for diagnosis.  Such difficulties must be causing the child significant problems and impairment at all stages of development compared with their peers.

Whilst severe hyperactivity is the type of AD/HD that most teachers have known about, there are many other presentations, and very often those who were hyperactive when younger become less so over the years.  The criteria for AD/HD state that the symptoms must be present at home and at school, must be causing significant impairment and it must be ascertained from a thorough assessment that there is no better explanation to account for these symptoms other than AD/HD.

The inattentive criteria revolve around difficulty giving close attention to detail, sustaining concentration, seeming not to listen, not following through on things, being disorganised, easily distracted, losing and forgetting things and procrastinating.  The impulsive criteria involve being excessively verbally or physically impulsive, such that they blurt out answers before questions are finished, have trouble waiting turns or do things without thinking of the consequences.  The hyperactive criteria involve not only excessive fidgeting and leaving seat, but also constant running around/being excessively on the go and motor driven, as well as talking excessively.

Some children, more commonly girls, have the inattentive form of AD/HD (ADD).  Such children tend not to be necessarily disruptive, or hyperactive, and especially if they are gifted can tend to be able to mainly keep up academically, but to have ongoing difficulty with self-esteem, motivation and often depression, with the true extent of their AD/HD being masked by their giftedness.  Children with AD/HD present in a range of ways with some being more hyperactive, some having great difficulty with concentration only, and some being more impulsive. 

Most children with AD/HD also have complications of the condition.  For example, at least a third of such children have associated specific learning difficulties.  Other children have the pre-pubertal onset of Disruptive Behaviour Disorder where there is a great deal of aggression, oppositional behaviour and general defiance.  Such children are more likely to be excluded from school, to find their way to Pupil Referral Units or special schooling provision.  Speech difficulties, coordination problems, moodswings, anxiety and depression are also frequent complications.  Autistic spectrum disorders, especially Asperger’s Syndrome, frequently co-exist with AD/HD.

Children with AD/HD can be extremely challenging for teachers and can take up an inordinate amount of teacher time and emotional reserves.  This book has been written to help teachers better understand and thus cope more effectively with these children and to implement the most evidenced based strategies they need to guide them through their school years.