ADHD & Failing in School

by Sandra L. Campbell, Demand Media

Children with ADHD face many academic challenges.

Parents and teachers understand the difficulty of managing a child with attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder. Children with ADHD have problems with focus and hyperactivity. This
not only affects social development with peers, but also academic achievement. According to
an article on the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry website, Your Child:
ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder occurs in 3 to 5 percent of children.
Understanding the connection between this disorder and failing grades can help parents
improve their children's success in school.

Inability to Complete Assignments

Staying on task is a challenge for children with ADHD. The article, "Your Child: ADHD,"
reports that noises and outside stimuli often distract students with this disorder, which makes
it difficult for them to maintain attention in class. As a result, the child will often produce below
grade-level work or turn in assignments that are not complete. For example, a book falling on
the floor or a multimedia classroom assignment can cause a child with ADHD to lose focus
because too much information is coming in for them to process. Because noise easily
distracts the child, she may not listen carefully to the teacher's instructions. This can affect the
child's ability to finish assignments.

Impulsiveness in School
Impulsiveness is a common characteristic among children with ADHD. When a child is unable
to control his impulses, it causes behavioral problems in class, which can affect his grades.
According to the article, "Your Child: ADHD," some common examples of impulsive behavior
in children with this disorder include constantly interrupting the teacher during lessons, talking
out of turn, frequent fidgeting and disrupting other children. Teachers may give a child with
ADHD detentions or they may expel the child. Disruptions in learning and absences from
class cause the child to fall behind in school and ratcheting up the cycle of failure.

Poor Social Skills

In addition to attention issues and impulsive behavior, children with ADHD face isolation from
their peers because of undeveloped social skills. According to the article, Your Child: ADHD,
children with the disorder have poor social cues and are unable to interpret situations and
modify their behavior. Some children may alienate peers by being overly aggressive, or by
being pushy or bossy during sports and during classroom group activities. For example,
children with ADHD tend to get their peers in trouble they might disrupt the class by throwing
objects in the classroom or disrespecting the teacher with derogatory words. These children
may not understand when their behavior is inappropriate. The ADHD child's inability to judge
social situations and adjust her social behavior ostracizes the child from her main peer group.
Often, children with the disorder find themselves with fewer friends and this can cause
depression, low self-esteem and anxiety. With low self-esteem, the child loses confidence and
this affects academic achievement.

Modifications to Improve Grades

According to an article on the LD Online website, "ADHD: Building Academic Success, at
least 30 percent of the children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have learning
disabilities in subjects such as reading and writing. Students with ADHD have trouble
comprehending what they read because of their inattention. According to "Your Child: ADHD,"
students with this disorder have difficulty remembering items in sequential order, such as
important details in a main idea exercise for reading comprehension, and they often have fine
motor problems, which can affect handwriting. Providing accommodations to help children
with this disorder can improve academic success. Modifications can include offering a smaller
structured environment for the child to learn, re-explaining homework or class assignments
and creating instructions that are more step-by-step so that the child can process them more
easily.