ADHD in the Classroom

I recently had the privilege of providing a series of trainings to educators across Canada.  My focus was to help teachers, school counselors, and administrators understand the impact that dysfunctional family dynamics and trauma can have on their students.  I invited these enthusiastic and highly dedicated professionals to think about their most challenging or “difficult” students. Many students quickly came to mind including kids who talk back, stare out the window during class, jump out of their seats and disrupt the lessons, act aggressively towards peers, get failing grades and don’t academically achieve what they are capable of accomplishing.  Although it was clear that these professionals were compassionate, it was equally clear that they were frustrated, confused, even somewhat burnt out by these “high maintenance” kids who spend more time in the principal’s office than they do in the classroom.

Once those diagnoses are in place, a child’s actions tend to be looked at through that narrow, all encompassing lens.

I think it’s fair to say that kids with these kinds of behaviors and issues tend to get labeled pretty quickly as either uncooperative, unmotivated, ADHD, or oppositional. Once those diagnoses are in place, a child’s actions tend to be looked at through that narrow, all encompassing lens. The focus shifts away from resilience, creativity and intelligence. The school becomes more concerned about what’s wrong with the kid, rather than what’s right about him.  And most importantly, no one seems to put that child or the behavior into a broader context: a family-of-origin context.  In other words, what happened in that child’s home last night or in the morning before heading to school? What did that child witness or experience first-hand? Is it possible that symptoms of dissociation, agitation, acting out, or an inability to absorb or retain school lessons are the byproduct of emotional distress that has its roots in trauma, abuse or neglect? Are the “attention–seeking behaviors” designed to do just that? Get someone’s attention?

I provide therapy for many adult survivors of trauma and so often they describe their inability to focus, concentrate, learn or retain information when they were in school.  They also say, “No one seemed to understand what was really going on for me.” Kids who are growing up in war zones at home can’t possibly show up at school and act and learn like other kids.  Here’s what educators need to understand about kids who are being traumatized:

  • They live in their limbic systems, primed for survival.  There’s no reasoning or insight in limbic system and they can’t learn when they are in a state of fight, flight or freeze.
  • They don’t have good inter-personal skills and re-enact with their peers the violence they are subjected to at home.
  • They’ve learned to perceive adult authority figures as inherently threatening. -They don’t trust adult overtures for help and often go on the offense in anticipation of being harmed by them- like they are at home.
  • They don’t have good problem solving skills because no one is modeling healthy ways to navigate conflict at home.
  • They don’t hand in assignments or raise their hands in class because they are afraid of being shamed or failing. “Doing something wrong” at home is met with dire consequences.
  • They are not securely attached and therefore don’t have good affect regulation skills.  They might be jumping out of their seats because they have no other way of soothing or managing the flashbacks or emotional overwhelm that pervades their lives.
  • They fall asleep in class because they were kept awake the night before by violence in their home or the need to stay hyper-vigilant to navigate the potential threat of being unsafe.

My hope is that educators will recognize that assessing for trauma, abuse, neglect or other dysfunctional family dynamics is as important as assessing for learning differences or pathologizing mental health diagnoses.  Oftentimes, the “symptoms” that show up at school are the inevitable byproducts of trauma or the creative coping strategies that kids are compelled to use in order to survive. When we can accurately understand what’s happening in their lives, we can intervene in ways that truly put these kids on a path to recovery and healing.

What has been your experience in working inaccurately labeled children?

4 thoughts on "Why Does That Kid Keep Jumping Out of His Seat?"

  1. Joyce Wolpert says:

    what is most frustrating and unfair is for students who may get passing grades, though still not living up to their academic potential, and they present behavior issues. the school may suspend these students but usually won’t give them special services because the belief is that their emotional/behavioral issues are not ‘bad enough’ to affect their grades. these students have festering emotional wounds yet are carried along from grade to grade. it is only when public schools begin to acknowledge that learning must be in ALL areas, not just academic, that this may have a chance to be different.

    1. lisaferentz says:

      Thank you for your wise comments, Joyce. I have worked with so many adults who fell through the cracks in childhood because their main coping strategies were invisibility and not rocking the boat, rather than acting out. They were suffering just as much as the kids who were jumping out of their seats, and they never got the treatment they needed and deserved.

  2. This informative article elucidates key issues in assessment of adolescents with attentional, motivational or behavioral issues. In some instances, behaviors and symptoms can divert our attention or mislead us, causing us to fixate on that which is visible, further obfuscating the root cause of the problem. Understanding the context, and various factors underlying a child’s (or adult’s) behavior, enables effective assessment and intervention, and greater sensitivity toward their struggles.
    -Dr. Ariela Bellin
    Licensed Psychologist

    1. lisaferentz says:

      Thank you for such eloquent insights! I want to emphasize your valuable point that we an easily become focused and sidetracked by external “acting out” and wind up putting a “band-aid” on something that actually needs “surgery” in order for a true assessment and meaningful interventions and healing to occur.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

More from Lisa's Blog