With the arrival of October, ADHD Awareness Month, Summit Academy Schools are proud to serve students with ADHD individually and thoughtfully so they can succeed at school. Summit Academy classrooms provide students not only with understanding and compassion, but also with classroom aids and strategies to navigate through the hurdles ADHD can present.
Summit Academy Executive Director of Special Education Services Erica Richley-Duda, MSEd, LPCC-S, CCTP, presents some of the tools and methodologies in place at Summit Academy Schools. She is joined by Summit Academy Akron Middle School Principal Crystal Yingling and Behavior Specialist Stephanie Barnes who describe how students with ADHD benefit from these accommodations.
Classroom Assignments
A “Classroom Job” chart that identifies specific jobs for each student provides children with structure and predictability. Richley-Duda explains that working memory is often a struggle for children with ADHD, so predictability is an avenue to success.
“Making things routine and predictable allows working memory to be less taxed,” she says. “For students who struggle with anxiety, predictability brings a sense of control, which eases anxiety. For students who struggle with explosive behavior, giving them a leadership role allows them to feel in control and valued.”
At Summit Academy Akron Middle School, job charts posted in every academic classroom enable students with ADHD to receive assignments that highlight their areas of confidence, says Principal Yingling. Other tasks provide children with pathways that also lead to classroom success.
Yingling draws on the example of the “classroom messenger” assignment. “This job is typically assigned to students who may need to take breaks to regain focus. If the teacher notices the student needs a break, they will ask them to deliver something to the office,” she says. “The walk to and from the office is usually enough time for them to refocus so when they get back to class, they are ready to work.”
Likewise, the “classroom helper” job allows students to get up out of their seats and assist the teacher with simple tasks such as passing out papers, collecting materials and straightening up the room.
“This job helps ADD/ADHD students get the movement they need within the room in a productive manner,” explains Yingling. “It also helps the student get to know other classmates.”
Other jobs, such as “line leader,” give students who may wander off or have pent-up energy a successful place in line for transitions, says Yingling. “Being the first in line positions the student near the teacher during transitions, builds leadership mentality and provides less distractions leading to more success in the halls,” she explains.
Planning Meetings
Richley-Duda meets regularly with school behavior specialists, performance coaches and principals to discuss the needs and progress of students with ADHD and other special needs. During a meeting with Yingling and Barnes, for example, Richley-Duda reviews the individual progress of each student using coping skills and other Individualized Education Plan (IEP) recommendations in place.
Such meetings typically take place monthly while staff meet weekly.
“We discuss students’ progress and how we can help those who are not making the progress we would like to see. Many of our students with ADHD are focusing on remaining on-task,” Barnes explains.
She describes that often, a student who stayed on task for two to five minutes at the beginning of the school year may increase that period to 15 or 20 minutes by the end of the school year. “We do this by utilizing fidgets, positive reinforcement, behavior incentives, classroom jobs and other supports,” says Barnes.
Yingling adds that the planning meetings span a gamut of topics to get a clear picture of a student as a whole.
“We gather and collect information from staff members who interact with the student. We discuss the behaviors that are being demonstrated throughout the day and look for trends. We look at how their academic performance is and what might be causing them to struggle,” Yingling explains, adding that the team then reviews the measures teachers are taking to help students be successful and whether those actions are working.
“Even though a student may have ADD/ADHD, each one of them has very unique needs and responds differently to approaches so this is very much a case-by-case situation,” Yingling explains.
Therapeutic Martial Arts
Several Summit Academy schools provide therapeutic martial arts as part of their curriculum. Led by a sensei inside a dojo, the lessons teach children calming breathing techniques, intention with words and actions, and control of their minds and bodies. “This is also an opportunity where we see students succeed because of the routine that is martial arts,” says Richley-Duda.
Yingling describes her school’s therapeutic martial arts program as a cornerstone of students’ success, especially those who have ADHD.
“The essence of our program is to help students learn to focus and control their minds and bodies,” says Yingling, describing how the program concentrates on the corpus callosum. “This area of the brain is a large bundle of fibers that are essential to the communication of the right and left hemispheres of the brain. The left side of the brain is primarily responsible for language and the right side controls attention.”
When students participate in therapeutic martial arts, they practice cross-lateral movements that force both hemispheres of the brain to work together simultaneously and connect neurons so they can communicate more efficiently, Yingling explains.
“Continued repetition of cross-lateral exercises strengthens those connections so that the signal between the neurons continuously strengthens. This is why our school provides students with 54 minutes of therapeutic martial arts every day,” Yingling says. “During my years working here I have witnessed the effectiveness of this program time and time again through seeing students increase their attention in the classroom and become better at communicating with peers and staff.”
Flex Seating and Fidget Toys
A classroom with a generous supply of stress balls and fidget toys will help students with ADHD manage tension so they can concentrate on lessons. Likewise, other classroom aids such as flex seating also help students remain focused in the classroom.
“This type of seating is great for students who tend to fidget or need body movement to stay focused,” says Yingling. Her school incorporates a sensory room where students can deescalate. Named the “Zone” room, the classroom includes trampolines and medicine balls, beanbag chairs, weighted blankets and other tools to help students according to their individual needs.
“The goal of our Zone room is to help students utilize the coping skills they are learning or already have in a safe environment so they can self-regulate and return to instruction,” Yingling says.
Barnes adds that students are encouraged to use their coping skills in class first. However, if they need a break or extra reinforcement, they are allowed to go into the Zone room with permission.