This article "Studies Home In on ‘Quieter’ ADD Students" in EdWeek (I promise that wasn’t my typo, the title really does say ‘Home’) partakes in a interesting discussion about taking greater notice in the un-typical students who may have ADD. We typically think that ADD always means that the students are going to be disruptive and inattentive. For those of us who don’t know already, hyperactivity (ADHD) is not the only type of ADD. There are many students who fly under the radar by sitting quietly and not being able to follow along with lessons. The studies show that the quieter ADD students tend to be female and that they aren’t typically diagnosed until later in life due to the discrete nature of their ADD.
What does this mean for us as educators? To me it shows us that we really need to be attentive to our student’s habits and the work that they do. The quiet ones are the students that you really need to worry about because you don’t know what is going on. Pay attention to their work and class participation when it comes to comprehension and understanding.
The article talks about specific methods like preventive brain training to work on those underlying problems, but not all of our schools have the resources to spend time in computer labs daily. A staple in helping students with ADD that showed up multiple times in the article was providing ways to help calm the students down and make them comfortable with their learning environment. Constant attention to the student’s involvement and comprehension is key to their success in your classroom. Moral of the story? Don’t let the quiet ones go unnoticed.
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