Online learning was seen to be challenging for everyone involved, as it was not something anyone had planned for, nor were we prepared for it. Online learning is seen to be especially challenging for children with ADHD, as they may already find it difficult to sustain their attention in a regular classroom setting.
Difficulties children with ADHD face with online learning:
Children with ADHD normally struggle with either paying attention for a prolonged time, and/or controlling their impulsive behaviours. Children with ADHD may find themselves unable to focus in the classroom, being fidgety or restless, or unwillingly disrupting the class. When online learning is added to the equation, boredom kicks in, which makes it even more difficult to sustain attention during classes. It takes more mental effort, especially for children with ADHD, to focus during online classes, which is why parents and teachers should be more aware of how to better support children with ADHD during online schooling.
It is important to communicate certain expectations on how to behave during online classes. Parents, however; should be cautious not to set unrealistic expectations for their children with ADHD. An expectation such as retaining attention in an online class for 4 hours straight is certainly an unrealistic task that could set both parents and children for disappointment. Instead, parents could opt for helping their children gradually increase their attention span during their online classes. An example would be first to establish a sustain attention for 10 minutes straight, and then receive a short break. The next step would be to increase the goal to 15 minutes, and so on, until the child is able to eventually sustain their attention for 30 to 45 minutes at a time.
Parents could also support their children with ADHD by helping them create schedules and timetables and keeping them somewhere the child can easily have an eye on throughout the day. They can perhaps print the class schedule somewhere near their desk, and after classes end, support them in creating an effective and realistic study schedule including the needed breaks and reward time. When supporting children with their homework or studies, parents may also help them breaking down big tasks into smaller ones, to make them less overwhelming and easier to follow the process.
Creating behavioural rules with the child during online learning can go a long way. Explaining to them how they should appropriately behave during their classes helps them to develop the needed behaviours to effectively attend and participate in their online sessions. Behaviours could include how they should interact with their teachers, how they should stick to the class rules even when online, how to attend classes without disturbing the flow of the session, and so on. Having these set rules written for them or displayed visually helps them to remember the do’s and don’ts of online learning. In order to make sure the child is following the online learning behavioural guidance; we need to be consistently using rewards and consequences of actions. The child should always be given small rewards for following the rules and behaving appropriately, and he or she should also face consequences for not doing so. Consequences, however; shouldn’t involves completely unrelated punishments. It is not realistic to be grounded for one week when the child misbehaved for one day. It is instead more realistic for the consequence to be first communicated clearly to the child before it is reinforced, and it should be used as close as possible to the unwanted behaviour. It is very useful for parents to evaluate the day with the child by the end of the online school day. Reviewing what the child what able to accomplish and the struggle the child faced during that time, in order for them to learn from what they have done; either repeating successful experiences or discussing how they can readjust in order to eliminate in the future some of the struggles faced throughout that day.
Communicating with their class teachers in order to exchange feedback and to work out ways to improve in future classes and help the child develop. Teachers may provide students with session recordings in case children with ADHD lost their focus at any point. Many students may be stressed about the start of their school year. The most essential thing we offer them is connection. Being there for them and allowing them see themselves as brilliant individuals who learn in different ways would help them to feel as good about themselves as possible. We should celebrate and congratulate them on their accomplishments, and encourage them to further seek more opportunities to reach their goals.
