How can you teach critical reading to students with ADHD?

Use non-conventional (comics,story books)reading materials that stimulate their interests. Allow them to do the reading tasks while they are moving. Have them "ground" themselves with body weight on their hands e.g. let them hang over a peanut ball (with hands & reading material on the floor).Or have them sit on a gym ball and when they have to use their core muscles to keep themselves steady increasing attention span & refoucsing them to the task naturally without human prompting. Do some yoga/gymnastics prior to begining the task helping mind and body calm down first. Start with sentences that they are familar with so they can move from sense of competence to feeling of being challenged to help confidence and self esteem.

Students with ADHD face critical reading challenges due to distractions, working memory & executive function issues. Strategies like quiet spaces, chunking text, & graphic organizers can help them engage & succeed. Collaboration with teachers & families is crucial (699 characters).

Distracts, working memory and executive function are only problems when using a traditional model. In schools where children with ADHD are expected to fit the mould and act in the same way as other children, of course these will be the biggest issues. By allowing children who are struggling (regardless of ADHD) the chance to read aloud in a safe environment free from ridicule, they will naturally slow themselves down and focus on the content, not just finishing the page. Work with the child to identify what they enjoy and things they are naturally good at, while helping to improve areas they struggle in through cooperation and reward based incentives to keep the dopamine flowing.

As a parent of an ADHD child, this is something I can give a first-hand account of. She loved reading graphic novels because they moved fast, didn’t have a lot of words per page, and had pictures to hold her attention. Since the material was broken up into pieces, she was able to remember the content better. Expecting a child with ADHD to be able to sit for more than 10 min, sometimes less, and read paragraph after paragraph is not going to happen. Nor is she going to remember and comprehend any of it. Have her read a few pages, then talk about it. Or, if she enjoys drawing, have her draw a picture. Spending a few extra moments with the small chunks of material helps it to sink in. Another tool I found works is to trade off reading.

Multi-Sensory Learning can support the literacy development of students with ADHD. By incorporating multi-sensory learning techniques that engage students with ADHD, we can minimise the need for distractibility. Using tools such as visual aids, hands-on activities, and interactive materials to enhance comprehension and retention of reading material can be very beneficial. For example, provide visual organisers, such as graphic organisers or mind maps, to help students organise their thoughts while reading.

Teaching critical reading to students with ADHD using behavior analysis involves strategies tailored to their unique needs. Here are what i have found to be most helpful: 1. Break tasks into manageable steps. In behavior analysis we call this “Task Analysis”. 2. Use visual aids. 3. Provide immediate feedback. In Behavior analysis it is called positive reinforcement and specific feedback, not a general feedback such as ‘good job’. Instead use descriptive praise such as ‘i like how you are reading that word/phrase, etc.’ 4. Implement structured routines: a timer that signals the start and end of the reading time can be helpful. 5. Teach self monitoring skills.

Graphic organizers can be game changers for students with ADHD. So can giving them weird mindsets to hold onto while reading. I've sometimes told students to pretend that they are a successful CEO who is a little ... mean. Someone who criticizes people while they talk and would mark up a report so that it's covered in red ink. We get them in that mindset, then have them read the passage while pretending to be that person. It's interesting how many more details students can remember when they use this mindset - instead of just remembering the passage, they're remembering their "pretend person's" reaction to the passage!

One of the biggest hurdles that we try to address first is motivation. What we've found to work quite well is to put aside the reading skills at the start and focus instead on building up intrinsic motivation for the skill itself. In other words, we are aiming to give children a reason to want to read. Whether that's by reading "silly" books first (Captain Underpants anyone?) or by making our own books instead, showing a child how reading can benefit them is usually our starting point for most children with ADHD.

Reward-based incentives are a very effective way to keep dopamine production going. Rather than it being a "You read a book so here's a reward", set clear expectations. If you read 5 books, you get x. If you read 10, you get y. If you read 15, you get z. Make sure to keep the rewards relevant and appropriate, and scale the challenge to keep the reader interested. If the reader is blasting through content faster than their peers, the chances are that it's simply not challenging enough.

Gamify the learning experience through competitive and rewarding challenges. Limit homework and projects that AREN'T done inside of a classroom.

Work with the student to identify what they struggle with. ADHD very rarely presents the same way for everyone, so a one-size-fits-all approach simply will not work. Some people, like myself, found reading incredibly easy - and it wasn't until later in my education that I started to struggle. This wasn't due to a lack of ability, if anything, the opposite. I very quickly ran out of reading material that challenged me - so of course I ended up falling behind. Why would I want to read books that I've already read? Why would I read books that are too easy? It's important to remember that children aren't always falling behind because of a lack of ability - sometimes it's because they aren't being challenged effectively.

Setting up the environment for success is something else to consider. * Establish a comfortable and distraction-free environment for reading, and consider accommodations such as preferential seating or noise-canceling headphones if needed. * Provide frequent breaks: Break up reading sessions into shorter intervals and allow the student to take short breaks to move around or engage in a preferred activity. This can help them stay focused and prevent frustration. * Flexible seating options: Offer flexible seating arrangements to accommodate different learning preferences and sensory needs. Allow students to choose seating that works best for them, such as standing desks, stability balls, or fidget tools.