Strategies to Engage Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Mainstream Students in the Classroom

Abstract

In this chapter I share my opinion about strategies used to engage ADHD and other students in the mainstream classroom. In Timor, where I am from, we do have children with special needs, but unfortunately they do not get the opportunity to go to school; their parents ask them to stay at home and do nothing, and they or their relatives will look after the children. We even do not diagnose whether students have ADHD or not. After I came to study in Australia, I learnt different ways of thinking while doing my teaching placement. In Australia it is important for schools to diagnose children with ADHD so that they can get medication and treatment and teachers can manage their behaviour accordingly. Students who are diagnosed as disabled must have an Educational Adjustment Plan (EAP), and the schools where I did my placement also have a Special Educational Teacher (SET) and Special Educational Students Assistant (SESA), both of whom conduct regular meetings with parents and the pediatrician based on the student’s medical report. At the same time, students who are not diagnosed as ADHD can show the same types of disruptive behaviour as ADHD students, and there are rules to deal with them. I want to share this information with people in Timor, especially teachers, to change their ways of thinking and see how important education is to all children in the world.