Supporting students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Further support
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a behavioural disorder that can be categorised into two types of behavioural problems: inattentiveness, and hyperactivity and impulsiveness.
Impact on the student
Those experiencing problems purely with inattentiveness may have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Students with ADHD/ADD typically experience carelessness and lack of attention to detail, continually starting new tasks before finishing old ones.
Poor organisational skills may be evident, with an inability to focus or prioritise, impacting on the ability to work on several pieces of work simultaneously, and they may continually lose or misplace things and be forgetful.
During teaching sessions, students may be restless, struggling to sit still and remain seated and may have difficulty keeping quiet, therefore speaking out of turn, possibly interrupting others.
For students it can be difficult to stop the mind wandering, hampering concentration and being easily distracted, unable to switch off the brain.
Adjusting to medication for ADHD can be a lengthy process, during which fluctuations in the severity of the symptoms can occur.
It is helpful for students with ADHD that tutors try to have more regular contact.
How you can support the student
The following recommendations for academic adjustments may apply. Refer back to the Student Support Plan for individual recommendations for the student.
Show all / Hide all
Occasional extensions
Occasional extensions for standard assignment deadlines where the student will be unable to meet a deadline due to their disability. The request must include the reason and, where appropriate, the duration to date of the period of particular difficulty. There is no requirement for the student to submit additional evidence.
Students are advised that this is not a recommendation for a blanket extension to deadlines. Should the department become concerned about the use, frequency or effectiveness of extensions, they should call a review meeting with the student and Disability Adviser.
In relation to students with ADHD, extensions can sometimes be counter-productive.
Deadlines
It may be helpful to guide students to assignment briefs and deadlines as soon as possible. It is helpful for some students that staggered deadlines are set in advance so that the student has space to work on each assignment in isolation.
Lecture capture and personal recording
We advise the use of lecture capture and to allow the student to record lectures, particularly where no lecture capture facility is available.
Lecture/seminar notes and materials
Where lecture notes and lecture materials are not available elsewhere (for example, on the VLE) these should be sent to the student in advance.
Read our guidance on producing accessible documents and presentations.
Leave any additional board notes on display after the lecture to ensure that the student has sufficient time to copy them.
In lectures, read aloud all visually displayed information.
Reading
Due to difficulties with concentration, it can take students with ADHD longer to read and process written text. Any reading material that is to be used in teaching sessions should be made available at least 24 hours in advance (if not available on the VLE).
Provide copies of the reading list at the earliest opportunity.
Instructions, clarification and questioning
Please give instructions and information clearly and be prepared to clarify the requirements of coursework and assignments, allowing students to record this for reference.
Where possible, any written instructions for labs and practical sessions should be provided to the student in advance of the session to enable adequate preparation.
Provide clear guidelines for specific formats (for example, reports) to enable students to structure their work appropriately.
Anticipate any practical problems by allowing the student to try out equipment they need to use as early as possible.
Students may require ‘thinking time’ in order to process direct questions and formulate responses clearly.
Support for you
If you find that it is impractical to put a particular adjustment in place, please contact us as soon as possible as it may be possible to find an alternative solution that will support the student.
If you have any questions, email disabilityservices@york.ac.uk.
