How educational adjustments can help your child with ADHD

ADHD and learning strengths and challenges

Children and teenagers with ADHD often have strengths that can help with aspects of learning and school. For example, if your child has ADHD, they might:

be highly creative and approach problems in unique ways
engage intensely with topics they’re passionate about
be eager to try new things and open to new experiences
channel their energy into physical activities and hands-on, practical tasks.

Your child might also face challenges with learning and school. For example, they might:

be easily distracted and have difficulty staying focused on a task or sitting still
have difficulty starting tasks and completing them effectively
need support for assignments and other tasks that require organisation or planning
skip over instructions, misread questions, or forget to check work for errors.

It’s important for children and teenagers with ADHD to get school support for challenges like these. Support helps them keep up with the curriculum, keep track of assignments and deadlines, develop good study habits and feel confident at school.

What are educational adjustments for ADHD?

If your child has ADHD, the school can make adjustments to help them learn in ways that work for them.

These adjustments might be to:

the classroom environment
your child’s learning tasks and assessments
your child’s exams.

Sometimes adjustments are things that the school or teachers will organise for your child. Sometimes, adjustments will be things that your child is encouraged to do themselves.

Adjustments and rights

Students with additional needs have education rights, which include the right to ‘reasonable adjustments’. These adjustments give students with additional needs the same opportunities as other students to take part and succeed in the education provider’s programs.

There are a lot of ideas for educational adjustments below. You can think about the ideas that might work for your child and suggest these to your child’s school and teachers. It’s important for you and your child to be involved in planning the adjustments your child needs. This helps to ensure that adjustments will work well for your child.

Classroom environment adjustments

Children and teenagers with ADHD are often easily distracted in the classroom. They might also want to move or feel restless. Your child’s teachers can adjust classroom environments to help your child learn and participate more effectively.

Here are examples of classroom adjustments.

Reducing distractions

Seat your child away from windows, doors or high-traffic areas.
Create quiet zones in the classroom for focused activities. If your child is older, let them use the library for focused activities.
Allow older students to use headphones or noise-cancelling earbuds to minimise distractions and encourage focus.
Use background sound to reduce distracting noise and improve your child’s focus. This might include instrumental music or ambient sounds.

Using movement to improve focus

Allow your child to use fidget rings or toys and movement tools like resistance bands or wobble cushions.
Provide flexible seating options in the classroom. This might include letting your child stand.
Provide movement opportunities like short walks, stretching time and ‘movement passes’ that allow students to stretch at their desk.
Include physical activity in classroom routines and learning tasks – for example, moving between learning stations or throwing a ball during class discussions.

Children and teenagers with ADHD might need help to manage their emotions at school so that they’re better able to focus, learn and get along with others. Your child’s school might be able to help with this by providing a quiet, sensory-friendly area where your child can go to calm down. Or there might be a teacher or other staff member that your child can go to if they’re feeling overwhelmed.

Adjustments to learning tasks and assignments

Children and teenagers with ADHD often find it hard to pay attention to and follow instructions. Many find it difficult to know where to start, how to stay on track, and how to complete tasks effectively. They can also find it difficult to stay focused for long periods of time. Your child’s school can adjust learning tasks and assignments to help your child focus and complete tasks.

Here are examples of learning task adjustments.

Instructions

Keep instructions simple, and break them into small, easy-to-follow steps with clear directions. For younger children, it’s best to use only 2-3 steps.
Provide instructions in several formats – for example, in spoken words, writing and pictures.
Provide instructions that your child can use on their own, including visual checklists.
Check whether your child understands what to do. This might include asking your child to show or repeat what they’ve been told and answering your child’s questions.
Pair your child with a ‘buddy’ who can help if they’re unsure what to do.
For groupwork, provide a clear outline of your child’s specific role, responsibilities and deadlines.

Getting started

Encourage your child to make sure they have everything they need for the task – for example, instructions, iPad or computer, reference materials, pencil and paper, and art supplies.
Create a checklist of small, manageable tasks that your child can do to start a task and build momentum – for example, putting their name and the date at the top of the paper and reading instructions.

Staying focused

Repeat instructions regularly during lessons.
Provide a study buddy to make tasks more interactive and engaging.
Provide ‘brain breaks’ to rest and recharge your child’s brain. These are short activities like stretching, jumping, deep breathing or doodling.
Use a timer to break tasks into short, focused periods followed by brain breaks.
Schedule challenging tasks for times when it’s easier for your child to focus, like in the morning or after a break. Or alternate between challenging and easier tasks.
Use audiobooks, dictation software, gamified activities and other digital tools to increase motivation and reduce the effort your child needs to focus.
Use website-blocking tools like Cold Turkey. These limit access to non-essential websites and apps during independent work or tasks that require focus.

Planning

If your child is older, they might also need help with planning and organising tasks and assignments.

Help your child to break tasks or assignments into small, sequential steps.
Encourage your child to pause before starting a task, think through the steps, do the task, and review the finished task.
Help your child estimate how long each step will take and develop a timeline for completing each step and the entire task.
Check in with your child to track progress and help your child maintain or adjust their plan and timeline.
Recommend free digital tools that help with classroom planning and organisation. For example, Goblin Tools has apps that help to break down tasks, estimate how long tasks will take and organise notes into task lists.
For unstructured tasks, provide specific questions to guide your child, or use templates and graphic organisers to structure tasks.

Your child’s teacher might be able to tailor the curriculum to your child. For example, they might let your child choose how to present their work, be flexible with deadlines for your child, or let your child complete tasks or assignments at home. This will depend on the task and your child’s needs.

Exam adjustments

Here are ways the school might help your child with ADHD manage exams:

Let your child complete exams in a private room or small group setting. This can reduce distractions.
Let your child take rest or movement breaks during exams. This can help your child with fatigue and focus.
Let your child have additional working time.

Educational adjustments for final school exams must be approved by your state or territory education department. To get educational adjustments for your child’s final exams, speak to staff at your child’s school. They can explain the application process and eligibility requirements. Applications can be due early in the year, so it’s a good idea to speak to your child’s school at the beginning of the school year.

Educational adjustments and your child’s self-esteem

Many children and teenagers with ADHD experience low confidence and self-esteem at school. So it’s important for your child’s teachers and school to use educational adjustments in a way that helps your child feel that they’re a valued student and class member.

Here are things that the school and teachers can do:

Make adjustments that benefit the whole class. This is sometimes better than singling out your child for attention. For example, checklists and steps will help most students handle complex tasks.
Check in regularly with your child to see how the adjustments are working for them. This can build your child’s understanding of their own needs and confidence to ask for adjustments that suit them.

It’s also good for you to talk with your child at home about how they think their educational adjustments are going. This shows your child you’re interested in their experiences at school. These conversations are also a good opportunity to praise and encourage your child, which will build your child’s confidence and self-esteem.

How to get educational adjustments for your child with ADHD

If you’re concerned about your child’s learning or development, you and your child’s health professionals could start by talking to your child’s teacher or the school’s learning support team about things that help your child learn.

You could also ask your child’s school about developing an individual learning plan (ILP) or updating your child’s ILP if they already have one.

In some cases, your child’s school might also seek input from psychologists, specialist education staff or other professionals, to work out the best educational adjustments for your child.

You might find that you need to advocate for your child to get the support your child needs. Or you could ask an educational advocate to help you.