Why ADHD and Transitions Collide
If there is one underestimated challenge in schools across every grade level, it is transitions.
They happen constantly. Between subjects, locations, energy states and expectations. They happen from the moment a student arrives until the moment they leave.
Many of these transitions are easy to miss. They are quiet. They are built into routines. And they often determine whether a student is available for learning or already overloaded before instruction even begins.
For students with ADHD, transitions can be a substantial barrier. They repeatedly tax executive function and self-regulation, the very systems already impacted by their diagnosis.
What a Transition Actually Requires in the Brain
A transition is not simply “moving from one thing to another.” A transition is an executive function obstacle course.
Neurologically, a successful transition requires the brain to:
- Stop an active task- inhibition
- Shift how it is thinking- cognitive flexibility
- Hold what comes next in mind- working memory
- Organize the body and materials- motor planning, organization
- Regulate emotion and arousal- emotional regulation
- Start the next task- task initiation
All of this happens under time pressure, environmental noise, peer movement, and adult expectations for speed and compliance.
When any one of these systems is overloaded, the transition breaks down. And when transitions break down, what we see next is often labeled as behavior.
Transitions Are Not Created Equally
Most educators are aware that students with ADHD “struggle with transitions“. What we usually picture is moving from one class to another or lining up to leave the room.
What is often missed is how many transitions occur within a single class period, let alone across an entire school day. Every shift in activity, expectation, energy level, or way of thinking is a transition. And some place far greater demands on executive function than others.
Many of the transitions that derail the day are covert, easy to overlook and far more likely to be mislabeled as behavior problems, listening difficulties, or sensory issues.
The Too Many Steps Transition
When multiple steps are embedded inside a transition, working memory and sequencing are taxed simultaneously.
Packing up while listening to last minute reminders is not one task, it is several.
Difficulty shows up as ” carelessness” forgotten materials, missed instructions, or freezing mid-transition.
The Switch Thinking Gears Transition
When a transition requires changing how the brain is thinking, cognitive flexibility and working memory are overloaded at the same time.
Moving from discussion to silent work, taking notes during a verbal lecture, or proofreading your work force repeated rule changes.
Difficulty shows up as “careless errors” and poor performance even though the students may ” know what to do”.
The Unfinished Business Transition
When a task ends without closure, attention remains tied to what was left unfinished. Thoughts loop. Emotions linger.
Difficulty shows up as rumination, emotional spillover, and significant trouble starting the next activity.
The Energy Level Whiplash Transition
When a transition demands an abrupt shift in arousal, regulation systems are overwhelmed. Coming in from recess or PE requires the body to downshift faster than it can regulate.
Difficulty shows up as getting in trouble in line, restlessness, loud bodies, shutdown, or refusal.
The Dopamine Drop Transition
When a highly rewarding and engaging activity ends, arousal drops faster than regulation can adjust.
Difficulty shows up as irritability, emotional fallout, disengagement, or full blown fatigue. This is often seen later in the day.
The Sensory Shuffle Transition
When sensory input spikes during a transition while expectations for focus remain high, sensory processing and attention compete.
Entering assemblies, cafeterias, or crowded hallways overloads selective attention filtering systems.
Difficulty shows up as zoning out, agitation, or escalation.
The Social Mode Switch Transition
When social rules shift rapidly, self-monitoring and emotional regulation are taxed. Moving from peer interaction to independent work requires a fast reset.
Difficulty shows up as continued talking, turning toward peers, or difficulty working alone.
The Shift Without Warning Transition
When a transition happens without preview, the brain has no time to prepare or regulate. Surprise removes the regulation buffer.
Difficulty shows up as confusion, resistance, or emotional reactions.
The Transition Most Misunderstand
Now we can talk about the most visible transition of all: stopping something fun to do something not fun… or maybe even hard.
The ” Fun to Not Fun ” Transition
Stopping a preferred activity requires high levels of inhibition and emotional regulation at the same time.
But let’s be clear, everyone struggles with preferred-based transitions. Stopping play to start homework feels bad for everyone.
The reason why students with ADHD seem to struggle more than here than others, is not because they are spoiled, lazy, or unmotivated.
The difference is in capacity.
Neurotypical peers feel the same reluctance, but they are not managing the same level of difficulty in inhibition and emotional regulation .
Why the Day Gets Harder as It Goes On
It is critical to understand that transitions stack.
Each transition draws on executive function and regulation. Each emotional reaction leaves less capacity for the next shift.
By the end of the day, the brain is not dealing with one transition. It is coping with the residue of many.
What looks like willful behavior late in the day is often accumulated overload and restraint collapse.
Final Takeaway
Understanding overt and covert transitions as the multi step cognitive processes they are, changes how we interpret behavior, how we respond, and where we place support.
For students with ADHD, supporting transitions requires supporting the executive functions beneath the surface.
When we address inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility, task initiation and regulation directly, transitions stop derailing learning and start becoming manageable.
This approach is central to the EASE Framework and to how we build executive function support that actually works in real classrooms.
I hope this helps!
