15 Achievable ADHD Accommodations Checklist for Teachers

As a teacher with ADHD working with students who also have ADHD, you face unique challenges.

These require creative solutions not just for your learners, but also yourself.

By the end of this post, you will have 15 ideas that do just that!

This blog offers educational content; not medical advice. Please, consult a healthcare professional for personal mental health concerns.

15 Achievable ADHD Accommodations Checklist for Teachers

Understanding and managing your ADHD while supporting ADHD students can feel like a never-ending uphill climb.

ADHD not only affects attention regulation, but also crucial executive functions like organization, prioritization, time management, and emotional resilience.

On a time crunch? Totally get it. Here is the 15 Achievable ADHD Accommodations Checklist. (Read on for how to apply to your own ADHD teacher life.)

• Noise-canceling headphones
• Preferential seating
• Assistive technology
• Extended time on tests and assignments
• Written instructions
• Hands-on learning
• Frequent breaks
• Positive reinforcement
• Flexible seating options
• Regular communication
• Collaboration with school personnel
• Alternative assignments
• Break cards
• Organizational tools
• Accountability buddies

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Understanding ADHD

What is ADHD?

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting children and adults.

It’s not just about having trouble attending to what you want and need to; it involves a variety of symptoms, including:

• Inattention: Easily distracted, forgetful, and struggling to focus.
• Hyperactivity: Constant movement, fidgeting, racing thoughts, or difficulty staying still.
• Impulsivity: Acting without thinking, speaking inappropriately, interrupting others, and trouble waiting turns.

Symptoms vary greatly among individuals.

Some may lean more towards inattention, while others may struggle more with outwardly demonstrated hyperactivity or impulsivity.

Recognizing these traits helps in tailoring support for ADHD students.

Common Challenges Faced by ADHD Students

Difficulty Regulating Focus: ADHD students might start tasks but get sidetracked easily, similar to how your mind might wander during a lesson.

Impulsivity and Hyperactivity: Impulsive behavior can lead to blurting out answers or leaving their seats excessively.

Executive Function Deficits: These include issues with planning, deciding, starting, and finishing tasks.

For ADHD students, managing assignments can feel like juggling while riding a unicycle.

Emotional Regulation: Disproportionate emotional responses to even small setbacks or corrections make it hard for students to calm down once upset, operating on a high emotional charge.

Creating an ADHD-Friendly Classroom Environment

ADHD Accommodations Checklist: Noise-Canceling Headphones

Noise-canceling headphones are invaluable for reducing distractions.

Imagine trying to hear someone talking as a train rolls in. What?!

That’s how an ADHD student might feel in a noisy classroom, or even a mostly quiet one.

Encourage their use during independent work.

For your planning periods, consider using them as well to create an interruption-free zone, boosting your productivity and allowing you to prepare lessons with undivided attention.

(Use them only when and where it is safe and appropriate to do so.)

Preferential Seating

Seating arrangements can significantly impact a student's focus.

Preferential seating places ADHD students in spots conducive to learning, typically closer to the teacher and away from high-traffic areas.

For meetings, choose seating that helps you stay focused, like near the speaker or away from distractions.

Alternatively, stand in the back of the room so you can move around.

Assistive Technology

In today’s digital age, assistive technology can be a game-changer for ADHD students:

• Speech-to-Text Software: Converts spoken words into text, easing note-taking.
• Organizational Apps: Tools like Google Keep or Trello can help track assignments and deadlines.

For your tasks, consider voice-over software for reading lengthy texts or documents and apps like ChatGPT for drafting lesson plans quickly.

Instructional Strategies

Extended Time on Tests and Assignments

Allowing ADHD students extra time to complete tasks can help relieve unhelpful pressure.

Tests and assignments can be stressful, and the added annoyance of a ticking clock exacerbates this stress.

Extended time levels the playing field, letting students showcase their true abilities.

Consider breaking assignments into smaller, manageable chunks or focusing on quality over quantity in homework.

These adjustments can significantly reduce anxiety and boost not only performance but also satisfaction.

For yourself, this would look more like finding ways to lighten the amount of time and energy you need to invest in a project.

Can you divide grading up into four steps?

Make a commitment with an accountability partner to do one step a day until it's done.

Written Instructions

Lengthy verbal instructions can sometimes be overwhelming for ADHD students.

Written instructions help to clarify doubt and feel organized.

Checklists, acting like recipes for tasks, guide students through each step, ensuring nothing is forgotten.

Just as your having a checklist significantly boosts your own productivity.

Encourage students to check off each item as they go, providing a sense of accomplishment and keeping them motivated.

For yourself, consider creating or purchasing a standard operating procedure (SOP) for your common tasks.

Refer back to it in order to ease the drain placed on your executive functions.

Visual Aids and Hands-On Learning

Visual aids and hands-on learning can make concepts clearer and more engaging. This is why the fine and performing arts are so amazingly beneficial.

Or, use charts, diagrams, and physical objects during lessons. These tools help ADHD students grasp concepts better and stay engaged.

Incorporate music and movement into lessons. For instance, using physical objects during math lessons or role-playing a historical event can enhance understanding.

Visual aids can also be part of organizational systems, like color-coded folders or visual schedules.

For yourself, consider having a checklist with an eye-catching image placed prominently by the inside of your classroom door, to remind you what to take to the field.

Classroom Management Techniques

Frequent Breaks

Frequent breaks are essential for maintaining focus and reducing stress.

Short breaks allow students to recharge and return to tasks with renewed energy.

Integrate short, regular breaks into your classroom schedule.

Remember, you need breaks too. If you feel overwhelmed, take a moment to step outside, have a sip of water, or a quick snack to re-energize yourself.

Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is a powerful motivator for ADHD students. In general, people with ADHD are motivated by interest, novelty, and challenge.

Find out what your students are into, and see how you can incorporate that into your systems and lesson plans.

Give yourself some credit too. Reward yourself for sticking to your lesson plan or simply navigating a tough day.

Treat yourself to your favorite coffee or take an evening off to relax.

Flexible Seating Options

Traditional desks often don’t suit ADHD students. Flexible seating options can improve focus and engagement.

Provide diverse seating options like yoga balls, standing desks, or cozy corners with bean bags.

Just make the expectations clear that this is to help your students concentrate. Practice how you want these items to be used.

Create a flexible workspace for yourself, too. Switch it up with a standing desk or a comfortable chair.

Add elements like a lava lamp, or art that brings you joy. Just as your students need a conducive space for learning, you need a happy place for teaching.

Communicating with Families and the School

Regular Updates

Keeping families informed about their child’s progress is key.

Regular updates give parents a clear view of their child’s achievements and areas needing attention. Set reminders for providing these updates.

Consider scheduling a standard email message to go out to certain families once a week.

Then, you can tailor additional messages to the student in mind without worrying about forgetting all together.

Use templates for progress reports, behavior charts, or feedback forms to save time and streamline processes.

This helps make regular updates more manageable and efficient.

You can also set expectations with families ahead of time so that they know if you don't send any information one week, that means there are no problems.

The point is to find ways to lighten your load while also being helpful and communicative.

If this resonates with you, please consider joining the Teach with ND community.

Collaboration with School Personnel

Working with the school, including special education coordinators and counselors, ensures necessary resources and support for effective accommodations.

Be clear and specific about your needs as a teacher and don’t hesitate to ask for assistance.

Being proactive means also requesting what you need in order to do your best at work. This can be done in ways that don't overtly disclose your diagnosis.

For example, if the fluorescent lights bother your students and your eyes, consider asking your administration for covers to reduce glare.

Keep it simple while also advocating for what you need to be happy, healthy, and effective at work.

Additional Accommodations

Alternative Assignments

Offer creative alternatives to traditional assignments to play to students’ strengths.

Could a student illustrate a story instead of writing an essay?

Tuning into passions allows students to demonstrate their knowledge while exploring what they enjoy; and in which they are likely quite talented.

Visual aids and hands-on projects make learning more engaging.

Consider asking students to build a model or create a video presentation instead of a written report.

If you have a creative streak that you don't often share with students, this is a great time to do so.

Not only will you feel good, but your students will respond to you in new ways.

Break Cards

Even with scheduled breaks, students might sometimes need an unexpected pause.

Break cards allow students to step away and regroup without disrupting the class.

They can help prevent higher intensity outbursts and helps them return ready to learn. Create a set of break cards for students to use when needed.

They can have your own ideas, or you can buy a set of Yoga Pretzels by Guber, Kalish, and Fatus.

Determine how many cards can be used in a day, ensuring this accommodation is helpful but not overused.

Your school might also have a Zen Room or similar concept where students can request a few minutes to regroup.

You can create a similar refuge for yourself with a little creativity and imagination.

On a planning period (if you're so lucky) you could sit outside with your headphones on and close your eyes for five minutes.

There you can imagine you are traveling to a safe space in your mind that's all your own.

When your five minute timer buzzes, wiggle your fingers and toes, take three slow breaths, and return to your day.

Organizational Tools

Introduce tools like color-coded folders, planners, and visual schedules to help ADHD students stay organized.

When students get bored of their systems, which they will, see how you can help them tweak it without completely tossing it.

The ADHDer brain loves a fresh start! But that comes with a time efficiency cost.

Sometimes just changing the order of steps in a routine is enough to reinvigorate the mind.

If your students are complaining they are tired of always reading for thirty minutes after snack, consider adding a free-time break beforehand.

It is honestly amazing how five minutes of free time is sometimes all a kid really wants and needs to feel even-keeled again.

Share your strategies for staying organized.

Personal tips and tricks might be just what students need to find their own effective system.

As a teacher with ADHD, this is a chance for you to share some of your own challenges in a way that's helpful.

Just don't go overboard with what you share. They don't need to know all the details.

Accountability Buddies

Pairing students with a friend provides social and academic support.

Select patient, understanding, and responsible students as peers to help struggling students stay on task or to feel included.

Of course, use common sense with this approach, as you don't want to embarrass anyone.

But if you have some weeks of observing social circles and happen to notice one kid that's always left out, you want to do something right?

Not only will this help socially and emotionally, but also academically.

You can also benefit from an accountability partner.

These are folks whose help you enlist by sharing what you plan to accomplish each day, and reporting back to them at the end of the day to explain how it went.

They help hold you accountable. For a lot of people with ADHD, this tactic is extremely helpful.

FAQs

What are reasonable accommodations for ADHD students?

Reasonable accommodations like extended time on tests, preferential seating, and voice over technology help level the playing field.

Extended time reduces the pressure of tight deadlines, while preferential seating minimizes distractions.

Assistive technology like audio book software makes reading less laborious and more accessible.

How can teachers with ADHD manage their own symptoms while teaching?

Use specialized ADHD planners, digital calendars, and visual aids to stay organized. Break tasks into smaller chunks.

Maintaining a structured routine reduces the mental load of daily tasks. Use a timer on your watch to help with your lesson pacing.

How can noise-canceling headphones help ADHD students?

Noise-canceling headphones block out background noise, helping students concentrate better and boost productivity.

Similarly for teachers, you can use them to help concentrate more on your planning, grading, or participating in training modules.

(Only use when safe and appropriate to do so.)

How does extended time impact academic success for ADHD students?

Extended time allows students to work at their own pace, showcasing their true abilities and leading to more accurate assessments of their understanding.

For teachers, you can grant yourself ‘extra time' by working with an accountability partner and getting started as early as possible on long-term projects.

Alternatively if there is a different kind of deadline your administration is waiting on, consider asking for a couple of extra days where appropriate.

Just remember it might be easier for you to modify how you do the task as opposed to always asking for extensions.

How do school districts support accommodations for ADHD students?

School districts provide resources, training, and support for implementing IEPs and 504 Plans, ensuring coordinated ADHD accommodations.

They also enforce the legal requirements as set forth by the ADA.

Key Takeaways

Supporting ADHD students through effective accommodations fosters their academic and personal growth.

Implementing these strategies benefits both students and teachers, creating an inclusive and productive learning environment.

By understanding ADHD and using this checklist, you can transform challenges into opportunities, ensuring every student in your classroom has the chance to thrive.

You, the teacher with ADHD, just might even turn some of your own struggles into inspiration for your neurodivergent students.

For more tips on neurodivergent teacher accommodations, read the “Top 10 Essential Neurodivergent Teachers Accommodations” round-up!