The following are excerpts from an interview with a teacher, Mrs. Grace Flores-Osio who has successfully managed students with ADHD in her classroom and has actively advocated for them.

How do you handle a regular class with an ADHD child in the classroom? What strategies do you use in managing the class? How do you handle situations such as an ADHD child getting involved in a fight?

Handling a regular class with an ADHD child is truly a challenge. I personally try to strike a balance between attending to the very different learning needs of the ADHD child without shot-changing the regular children in the classroom.

I haven’t always been successful since what worked for one class would not always work for another class which had a different ADHD child. I try to keep things basically "normal" for everybody. I don’t want to unnecessarily single out the ADHD child, so I try to come up with rules or strategies that would include all the children, not just those with ADHD. Some strategies I use include seating the child in a location farthest from distractions and giving the child extra time to complete tasks, especially if it is written work.

Fights are difficult to deal with, especially since they happen often with the ADHD child. I make sure that rules are laid out early on in the school year and that they apply to all the children. Consequences are made clear all the time.

How do you entertain questions from your regular students regarding their ADHD classmate? How do they react to their classmate’s negative behaviors? How do you deal with this?

For younger children, it is always difficult to explain the frequent misbehavior of their ADHD peer. They get easily frustrated with their ADHD classmate over the latter’s not remembering what to bring for their project or his not doing his part in the group work, and often gets into fights with him/her.

I have found that with older children, it sometimes helps to explain to the class what ADHDis and how it affects their classmate. Itry to explain to them without being very technical, making them understand that their ADHD classmate is a little bit different from all of them and that there are allowances that have to be made. Ithink that helps in terms of knowing what part of work to assign to their ADHDclassmate, or knowing what their classmate’s strengths are not making the classmate do something they know he is not good at.

How do you know that a class can handle information about this?

I play it by ear and Ilook at the class composition. I try to weigh whether this is a class that can handle knowing that their classmate has ADHD or not. I make sure that it is explained to them well so that they understand that it’s not some sort of disease that their classmate has, that it’s not something contagious or weird or abnormal, that he is not retarded, that the classmate is not to be made fun of. It’s a rather delicate situation.

Telling the class is a carefully-made decision based on factors such as class composition, the "social" standing of the child in the classroom and the general personality of the class. The maturity of the class as a whole, the ADHD child’s relationship with the class, and the permission of the child and his family to talk about the child and ADHD need to be considered.

Do you modify your class program in order to be able to meet the needs of the ADHD child?

Our school maintains the same grading system and schedule for the child. Time limits to complete tasks and evaluation are modified. The child is usually given more time to work on his exams, especially if it requires much written work. Or, instead of making the child go through a written evaluation, he is evaluated orally.

One thing we have done in the classroom is to control seating arrangement. I make sure that he is far from the scenes of action In the classroom, e.g. far from the window, door and trash can, near enough to the blackboard but not beside anyone who would distract him even more.

I usually place a child with ADHD in from of the classroom within arms length so that he is easier to handle without verbally reprimanding him.

Verbal reprimands have adverse effects, not only for the child but also for the class. If the class notices that you often reprimand the child, they tend to do it also after sometime, so I have to think ways to reprimand a child with ADHD without calling him aloud all the time. I may just tap his desk, tap his shoulder or physically move his head if I want his attention. It is also easier to give positive reinforcement, e.g. a pat on the shoulder, and accommodate questions if he is within reach.

We also know that the child with ADHD has to move a lot more than the normal child does. Sending him to do chores in the classroom or allowing them to jump outside the classroom is one way for him to expand his

energy. We are more tolerant in terms of extra movement as long as they do not distract anybody in the classroom. Within the rules, they can move as much as they want to.

Early in your work with ADHD children, did you need any kind of support from your administrator and your co-teachers?

Yes. Administration was always very supportive in terms of sending me to training and whatever conferences were available regarding ADHD. My co-teachers were also very supportive in terms of sharing with me what they were doing with their ADHD students.

How did you cope and continue to cope with the pressure of handling a child with ADHD in a class of regular students?

It has been quite difficult. The first two years were harrowing at the very least! I continue to educate myself in the field and find strategies that might be effective. Likewise, I endeavor to see the child and not the disorder, constantly reminding myself that the child is special and unique in the eyes of God.

I also make an effort to develop a personal relationship with the child to facilitate better rapport in and out of the classroom. We talk about what we can do inside and outside the classroom, on how we can help each other out, and how to make the classroom experience more pleasant for both of us. Imake it possible for the child to realize that his teacher is his ally and not the villain in his struggle with AD/HD. I want him to see that I am not going to make things harder for him and that I want to help him, but that this will require that he help me out also because it has to be a two-way thing. I have found this to be quite effective as tension between the ADHD child and his/her teacher can mount easily on any given day.

I have also has to learn to de-stress myself as a teacher of a child with ADHD. During off-hours, Ireally try not to do anything related to the classroom, especially during weekends. I have realized that teachers need to be a little bit kinder to themselves, to not blame themselves each time an AD/HDchild misbehaves, to not take everything so personally. I have had to keep reminding myself that not everything the child does in the classroom is a personal attack against me or what I do.

Do you regularly confer with other professionals involved in giving interventions to the child? Do you work in collaboration with the parents and other professionals? How do you explain to the parents your teaching/learning styles and strategies?

Collaboration with parents and other professionals is a must. Iconfer with them as often as necessary, especially at times when I am at loss in terms of what I want to do and I need to confirm if my plan is right.

Collaborating with others also helps in keeping track of the child’s progress and strategies that are working.

It is essential to make sure that the parents understand what ADHDis, and the teachers are their allies in helping their child.

Can you talk about blessings that come with teaching ADHD children?

There are lots of blessings in terms of working with ADHD children. Working with them has reinforced my desire to enrich myself and know more about the condition so that I can work better with children who have this special ability.

I am continuously amazed with the courage that these children have because I believe that it takes enormous courage to come to school everyday when you are more often than not failing from the teacher’s perspective. Maybe from their point of view they are not, but from the teacher’s perspective, they are and yet they keep coming to school. I have become more tolerant because of them.

I have learned to become more secure in terms of my position in the classroom; I don’t get threatened anymore. Before, I was threatened is they would try and grab power from me. Now I know that it’s not about power in the classroom but that they are also threatened by their need to express them selves.

I am amazed by their gifts, because I know that even with ADHD, they are gifted children. For them to be able to do well in the classroom despite their disability, I think is something that they should be truly commended for. I’ve learned a lot from them and Ilike working with these children because I feel they have lot to teach us.

Editha R. Martelino is the current president of the ADHD Society of the Philippines. A parent of two children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), she initiated and played an active role in the ADHD School Caravan, a public awareness campaign on the disorder. She is an AB Literature graduate of the University of Santo Tomas and is a writer by profession.