If you’re a school-based professional working with students who have ADHD, you know the struggle: explaining ADHD to teachers in a way that resonates.
All too often, we hear responses like, “They just need to try harder,” or “They’re just not motivated.”
It’s frustrating, especially when you see firsthand how hard these students are already trying. So how do we bridge the gap between what we know about ADHD and what adults believe? Here are 10 practical tips help the adults in charge of your students understand ADHD.
1. Explain That ADHD Is About Regulation, Not Attention
ADHD is not just an issue of paying attention; it’s about self-regulation. Help adults understand that students with ADHD struggle with regulating thoughts, emotions, and behavior.
They have the ability to pay attention, the challenge is regulating when where and how they focus their attention.
2. Highlight ADHD as a Performance Problem
Many students with ADHD know what to do but can’t do it consistently. When explaining ADHD to educators, emphasize that ADHD does not impact knowledge but affects performance.
Students with ADHD may be 30% behind same aged peers in the development of executive functions, creating problems with performance. This shift in understanding can move adults from thinking, “They should try harder,” to “They need different supports.”
3. Mind Heterogeneity stay Relatable
ADHD is an extremely heterogenous condition. ADHD can look very different in a 5-year-old boy with combined-type ADHD and learning disabilities than it does in a 13-year-old gifted girl with primarily inattentive ADHD. Make sure the examples and content you are providing is relatable to age and stage.
4. Emphasize Time Perception Issues
Explain that time feels different for students with ADHD. Many students with ADHD can be described as ” time blind” , they literally don’t feel time passing, which can make it difficult to manage time effectively.
This affects planning, following deadlines, and staying on task. This is relatable, as we all experience moments when time seems to disappear. Time is either “now” or “not now.”
5. Talk About Emotional Dysregulation
Highlight that emotional regulation is often the most disabling part of ADHD, even more so than impulsivity or inattention.
Students with ADHD can have intense emotional reactions that may seem disproportionate and need understanding, not punishment.
In the classroom we often see this manifest as students that are intolerable to feedback, or accepting ” help”. These behaviors serve to prevent the near chance of pain from perceived criticism, however they greatly impact availability for learning.
Positive reinforcement and using declarative language can help.
6. Point Out Inconsistency as Normal
Explain that the severity of ADHD is context-dependent. Because of differences in executive function and an interest-based nervous system, students may perform vastly differently from one hour to the next. If the environment is “NICE”—novel, interesting, challenging, or extremely urgent—you might see minimal interference or even hyperfocus. But if the demands are not “NICE,” students will likely struggle with disengagement and self-regulation. This inconsistency is typical of ADHD and not a sign of choosing to be ” lazy” or ” self directed”.
7. Explain the Role of Co-Occuring Conditions
Share that about 80% of students with ADHD have another condition, such as anxiety or learning disabilities. These co-occurring complicate symptoms and make understanding and supporting ADHD even more difficult.
8. Recess is NON-NEGOTIABLE
Physical activity helps ADHD students refocus and perform better academically. Recess is NON-NEGOTIABLE for students with ADHD. Physical activity is crucial for helping them refocus, manage their energy, and enhance their ability to perform academically.
Recess is a preventative reset. Regular movement breaks, such as daily recess, provide opportunities for students to reset and return to the classroom ready to engage and learn. Prioritizing this time can lead to noticeable improvements in attention, behavior, and overall academic performance.
Ensure daily recess is part of every student’s schedule and that recess removal is not used as a punitive measure.
9. Dispel the Myth of Willpower
Reiterate that ADHD is not about willpower or choice. Students aren’t lazy or defiant; they’re navigating a brain that processes information differently.
Support should focus on working with their brain, not against it. Effort is not the problem or solution.
10. Punishment is Counterproductive : Encourage Strategy Selection
Students with ADHD already know what they need to be doing; they struggle with executing it. They receive on average 20,000 more negative messages by the time they are 12 than neurotypical kids creating lasting consequence from school induced shame .
Stress that punishment doesn’t teach skills or build capacity. Punishment is ineffective because impulsive actions occur without forethought. The consequence is too far from the point of performance to register . Mom discussing with the child that they need to do better tomorrow at school will not help!
What helps? Support should focus on working with their brain, not against it. Get the support right into the point of performance. Empowering the learner to select strategies that work with their unique brains and rewarding the effort used in applying a strategy, not the outcome is essential.
Bringing It All Together
Helping adults understand ADHD is about shifting the narrative from “won’t” to “can’t yet.”
It’s our job to show that students with ADHD need different strategies and approaches—not just more effort.
With the right understanding, we can create an environment where students feel supported and empowered.
Download the free printable, ” ADHD in the Classroom, What You Need to Know, and No One Told You” below.
Hope this helps!
Check out our collection of resources and evidenced based strategies to support learners with ADHD.
Now available in our Resource Shop and on TPT.