Quiet, Sustained Attention Is Not Natural for Our Kids. Here's What Is.

It's not always realistic to expect students with ADHD to sit quietly absorbing and processing information from a printed page. But here are some accommodations that bring reading — and writing and math — to life.

CatMa

December 10, 2021 at 11:18 am

I’m curious! oh, first — I enjoyed this article, and it’s got me thinking about myself, and about my ADHD Coaching clients. I’m working with several college students, and one of the things they report is problems with sitting and reading their textbooks. Most of it is heavy stuff, and textbook chapters tend to be long. There’s not a lot of time to just take it a few pages at a time, so as to absorb the material between sessions. I had some trouble with this also, back in college studying for my BSc degree in ecology. It was easiest when I had knowledge already about the topic,so that the learning was far more contextual – I had the background to relate it to, and the new information filled in gaps, etc. But. The new stuff was hard! My 2 questions are:
1) What techniques work for college students, when a course includes so much reading?
2) Why can I, or anyone, settle into a book and read for hours, for fun, and race through it? (And I’m realizing that I am never quizzed on the content of my fun books! Hmmm.)

Thank you for this information, again — it’s very helpful. And much of it is applicable to older students, as well as the younger set. ☺ ~ Rita in Michigan