Alternative Actions for ADHD Intervention in Elementary School
Students
Stephanie Boyd
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Importance of Parent
Engagement
• Family-school intervention (FSS) is an
approach to ADHD intervention, which focuses
on a collaborative relationship between the
school and the family to help children with
ADHD.
• Includes: training for parents on
behavioral components of ADHD,
as well as parent group meetings,
family therapy, consultations
between the school and the family,
and homework assignments for
children to practice new behavioral
skills (Clarke et al., 2015).
• Purpose: teach parents how to manage their
child’s behavior.
• Parent training is most beneficial for children
ages 4 to 12 (Wicks-Nelson & Israel, 2015).
Parental Engagement is crucial!
• “Higher attendance predicted higher parental
self-efficacy and better scores on three
measures of child functioning: inattention to
homework, poor homework productivity, and
academic productivity” (Clarke et al., 2015).
• It is associated with a reduction in ADHD
symptoms (Wicks-Nelson & Israel, 2015).
References
Clarke, A. T., Marshall, S. A., Mautone, J. A., Soffer, S. L., Jones, H. A., Costigan, T. E., & ... Power, T. J. (2015).
Parent attendance and homework adherence predict response to a family–school intervention for children
with ADHD. Journal Of Clinical Child And Adolescent Psychology, 44(1), 58-67.
doi:10.1080/15374416.2013.794697
Climie, E. A., & Mastoras, S. M. (2015). ADHD in schools: Adopting a strengths-based perspective. Canadian
Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 56(3), 295-300. doi:10.1037/cap0000030
Pelham, W., Burrows-MacLean, L., Gnagy, E., Fabiano, G., Coles, E., Wymbs, B., & ... Waschbusch, D. (2014). A
Dose-Ranging Study of Behavioral and Pharmacological Treatment in Social Settings for Children with
ADHD. Journal Of Abnormal Child Psychology, 42(6), 1019-1031. doi:10.1007/s10802-013-9843-8
Wicks-Nelson, R., & Israel, A. C. (2015). Abnormal child and adolescent psychology with DSM-5 updates (8th Rev.
ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Pharmacological Treatment
Stimulants are most often used with school-age
children. They work by increasing dopamine and
norepinephrine in the brain allowing brain cells to work
more effectively. Most common are methylphenidate
(Ritalin, Concerta, and Daytru) and amphetamines
(Dexedrine, Adderall, and Adderall XR).
Positive Results:
• “70-75% of children show increased attention and
reduced impulsivity and activity level” (Wicks-
Nelson & Israel, 2015).
• More positive interactions with teachers when
ADHD children are taking medication.
Side Effects: sleep problems, decreased appetite,
stomach pain, headaches, irritability, and jitteriness
• Most prevalent in preschoolers who are medicated
Combined Treatment: Medication + Behavioral
Modification
Researchers examined the frequency of noncompliant behaviors that
students with ADHD exhibited in three treatment groups with varying doses
of medication: NBM (no behavioral modification), LBM (low behavioral
modification), and HBM (high behavioral modification). At the 0.3 and 0.6
doses of medication, both LBM and HBM conditions showed significantly
less noncompliant behaviors than the NBM group did, which demonstrates
the benefits of combined treatment (Burrows-MacLean et al., 2014).
What can Teachers do?
Take a proactive approach: help students stay on task by
moving their seat closer to the teacher, away from students
who will distract them, or closer to the board.
Organized classrooms are important as ADHD children don’t
do well in classrooms that aren’t organized and managed well.
Most commonly used strategy: contingency contracts
(agreements between the teacher and the child that
describes the behavioral expectations for the child and what
will happen based on behaviors (Wicks-Nelson & Israel, 2015).
Token economies are involved in contingency contracts and
reinforce children for the behavior that is wanted.
Send progress reports home.
Strengths-Based Approach: focuses on the strengths of the
child to foster engagement, motivation, self-worth, and
resilience.
• Helps children recognize other children’s strengths which
enhances peer relationships
• Leads to compensation in areas where ADHD child is
struggling
Recommended Resources
Reid, R., & Johnson J. (2011). Teacher’s guide to ADHD.
New York: Guilford Press.
This publication provides teachers with resources and
strategies necessary to effectively work with ADHD
children. It provides classroom management strategies
as well as different accommodations that can be used
to help the student in the school setting.
Shapiro, L. E. (2010). The ADHD workbook for kids:
Helping children gain self-confidence, social skills, and
self-control. Oakland: New Harbinger.
This ADHD workbook helps children work on critical
skills to help them be successful. These skills include
listening, building self-confidence and recognizing
strengths, planning, responsibility, and making school
fun. These activities take ten minutes a day.