Academic

Academic Challenges

According to Robin (1998) “school is an educational endurance test for most ADHD adolescents” (p. 254). Although many appear to enjoy some form of participation in school, for example, sports, the arts, or a favorite subject, these students generally do not look forward to the daily “grind” of being prepared and ready to go! The author maintains that “school is their full-time job” (p. 254) and when they do not do well in school, the consequences can be substantial.

There are three major problems that oftentimes interfere with school success for these ADHD adolescents. They are: “(a) hidden learning problems, (b) executive function deficits, and (c) problems with medications” (Robin 1998, p. 29). Additionally, the author offers that

if these learning problems are left untreated and ignored, adolescents with ADHD are more likely to fail a subject, be retained, be suspended, drop out of high school and never attend college . . . 90% of ADHD adolescents will experience some difficulty during their school years (p.29).

To be fair, some ADHD adolescents have difficulty in school due to the very nature of ADHD compounded by a specific Learning Disability (LD). All too often it is the inappropriate behavior related to ADHD that becomes the focal point for school interventions, and as a result, learning problems may get overlooked. For some ADHD adolescents, experiencing academic failure may be at the root of misbehaviors. Future attention must be paid to this “lose-lose” dilemma.

Teeter (1998) is in agreement with the above premise as learning problems or disabilities do overlap with ADHD. A closer look at the symptoms of ADHD is warranted. Most ADHD adolescents experience problems with inattention and poor concentration, impulsivity and rushing through tasks, poor organizational skills and not planning ahead, and an impaired sense of time and procrastination.

Many Learning Disabled (LD) ADHD adolescents can have learning problems that contribute to language deficits such as spoken language or oral expression, written language or verbal expression, processing speed, math computation, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension. Additionally, ADHD adolescents with poor memories have difficulties with short-term, long-term and/or working memory. Oftentimes these skills are intertwined with forgetfulness as well. Compounding these difficulties is poor fine-motor coordination. ADHD adolescents with or without LD usually have poor handwriting skills. The writing is usually difficult to decipher and comprehend. Many times these students do not do homework or projects. As a result, these students generally choose to do less written work, and ultimately fail.