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Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance | Angela Lee Duckworth | TED

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This book provides practical advice for teenagers on how to improve their focus, set goals, and achieve success in school and life.

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Dweck explains how developing a growth mindset can help students stay motivated and overcome challenges in their learning.

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This resource provides an overview of ADHD and its impact on learning, which can be helpful for students to understand their own attention challenges.

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American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

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Last updated September 2023

About

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition which includes difficulties with attention, increased activity, and difficulties with impulsivity. Estimates show that up to 10 percent of school-aged children and about 4 percent of adults have ADHD. It is usually first identified when children are school-aged, although it also can be diagnosed in people of all age groups. In an average classroom of 30 children, research suggests that at least one will have ADHD.

No single biological cause for ADHD has been found. But most research points to genes inherited from parents as the leading contributor to ADHD. ADHD often runs in families.

The good news is that there are safe and effective treatments for children and adolescents with ADHD. Treatment is most effective when it begins early and when intervention is individualized to the needs of the child.
Choose a topic: Glossary of Symptoms: ADHD
Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is ADHD?

2. How common is ADHD?

3. What causes ADHD?

4. Common signs and symptoms of ADHD?

5. What are the types of treatment for ADHD?

6. When is it okay to stop taking ADHD medication?

7. What are the consequences of untreated ADHD?

Treatment Resources

Parents' Medication Guide

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) created the Parents' Medication Guide series.

Included in these guides are new research on effective treatments for child and adolescent ADHD. The goal of the guide is to help parents make informed decisions about getting the best care for a child or adolescent with ADHD.

Facts for Families

AACAP's Facts for Families provide concise up-to-date information on issues that affect children, teenagers, and their families. Below are links to Facts for Families with information that may be useful to families of children with ADHD.

Video Clips

ADHD: A Guide for Families
Many children have restless behaviors that are typical of ADHD. When fidgeting, poor concentration, or impulsiveness begins disrupting performance in school, at home, or in relationships with other children, the cause might be ADHD. To be a good advocate for your child, you need to learn as much as you can about ADHD.

The following are chapters from the ADHD: A Guide for Families book:

Clinical Resources

Information about Choices in Psychotherapy Treatment

Treatment for ADHD comes in the form of medication and psychotherapy treatment. Both can be important elements of a comprehensive treatment plan. There are several psychotherapies that are helpful for children with ADHD. We have the most evidence that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and behavioral management techniques can be helpful for children with ADHD.
Learn more about the types of psychotherapy that are available to help children and adolescents with mental illness here.
Information about Choices in Medication
Learn more about how psychiatric medication is used to treat children and adolescents here Learn more about the types of psychiatric medication that are available to treat children and adolescents with mental health disorder here. .
Vanderbilt Diagnostic Parent Rating Scale
Parents who have a child or adolescent with ADHD, or any mental health condition, are often left facing difficult decisions regarding medication.

View up-to-date information about advances in psychopharmacological treatment for mood disorders here.

ADHD Rating Scales

Two rating scales which can be used by clinicians to help identify ADHD and monitor symptoms are the SWAN rating scale and the SNAP-IV rating scale. These scales are completed separately by a parent and a teacher.

The SWAN Rating Scale has 30 items and includes ADHD symptoms and symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder. Download the SWAN Rating Scale.

The SNAP-IV Rating Scale contains 90 items and includes symptoms of ADHD and also ODD and aggression. Download the SNAP-IV Rating Scale.

Research and Training

AHRQ review of ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Diagnosis and Treatment in Children and Adolescents

The abstract for the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD is an NIMH sponsored research study that examined close to 600 children with ADHD and studied how they responded to different treatments. Click here to find a brief description of results from this study:
Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD

Learn more about the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD and results from this large research study.

Books

AACAP's books: and Your Adolescent offer easy-to-understand and comprehensive information on the emotional development and behavior of children from infancy through the teen years.

A Bird's-Eye View of Life with ADD and ADHD: Advice from Young Survivors
Chris A. Zeigler Dendy and Alex Zeigler

ADHD and Me: Forty Years in a Fog
Ken Patterson

For more bibliotherapy resources, visit Living with Mental Illness: Books, Stories and Memoirs.

Getting Help

Getting help is the most important thing that parents can do for children and adolescents with a mental health concern. Parents should try to find a mental health professional with advanced training and experience evaluating and treating children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Also, it is important to find a comfortable match between your child, your family, and the mental health professional.

A child and adolescent psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders that affect children and adolescents. Child and adolescent psychiatrists have completed four years of medical school, and at least three years of residency training in medicine, neurology, or general psychiatry with adults, and two years of additional training in psychiatric work with children and adolescents.

Find a child and adolescent psychiatrist in your area.
Services In School For Children With Special Needs: What Parents Need To Know
To learn about accessing child and adolescent psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, please read Where To Find Help For Your Child.

Oftentimes, parents are unsure when to seek a referral to a child and adolescent psychiatrist. For more information on when to seek a referral, please read this article.

Learn more about understanding mental health insurance, please read AACAP's Facts For Families on Mental Health Insurance.

Related Websites

This Resource Center was made possible through funding from the Lasdon Foundation.

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Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition which includes difficulties with attention, increased activity, and difficulties with impulsivity.

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Study Skills: 50 Strategies for Better Learning

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Study Skills: 50 Strategies for Better Learning

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This article offers practical tips and techniques that students can use to improve their focus and study habits.

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Find new ideas and inspiration with the 50 Strategies series!

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An introduction to the Pomodoro Technique, a time management method that can help students improve their focus and productivity.

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Pomodoro Technique | Dietrich Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Studies

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We have all tried heading to the library for a marathon study session before an exam only to find that we spent a good bit of that time unfocused and distracted. The Pomodoro technique is a great tool to help you focus better when studying. Next time you need to study, try out the Pomodoro technique which is a structured series of shorter periods of focus that builds in time for your brain to take a break. Here’s the general structure:

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Meditation for Kids: A Children's Meditation Book

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Meditation for Kids: A Children's Meditation Book

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This book introduces simple meditation techniques that can help students improve their attention and manage stress.

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This book provides strategies for teens to strengthen their executive skills, including attention and motivation.

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The Middle School Student's Guide to Academic Success

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The Middle School Student's Guide to Academic Success

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This guide offers practical advice on organization, time management, and study skills specifically tailored for middle school students.

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This website offers a wealth of information and resources for students with attention difficulties, including strategies for success in school.

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Students with ADHD have difficulty with attention and self-control. And at school, that can look like inattention, distractibility, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and disorganization - all of which can get in the way of learning. What classroom accommodations can help students with ADHD? Here are some strategies teachers can try.

Setting up the classroom environment

Use flexible seating, like wiggle chairs, standing desks, footrests, seat cushions, or resistance bands on chair legs.

Increase the space between desks or work tables (if social distancing guidelines aren't already in place).

Designate a quiet work space in the classroom.

Set up preferential seating close to the teacher and/or away from high-traffic areas.

Post a written schedule for daily routines and rules. When possible, let the student know ahead of time about schedule changes.

Building organization skills

Use an assignment notebook or an electronic calendar.

Provide an extra set of books to keep at home.

Provide folders and baskets of supplies to keep desk organized.

Color-code materials for each subject.

Provide typed notes or an outline of the lesson to help with taking notes.

Teach note-taking strategies, like using graphic organizers and mind-mapping software.

Have a buddy take notes for the student.

Give directions out loud and in writing, and have the student repeat them.

Provide a lesson outline that details instructions and assignments.

Keep instructions simple, clear, and concrete.

Use pictures and graphs to help create visual interest.

Provide a rubric that describes the elements of a successfully completed assignment.

Help the student break long assignments into smaller chunks.

Completing tests and assignments

Allow understanding to be demonstrated in different ways, like oral reports, posters, and video presentations.

Provide different ways to respond to test questions, like saying the answers or circling them.

Minimize the number of questions and problems per worksheet.

Schedule frequent short quizzes, rather than one long test at the end of each unit.

Give credit for work done instead of taking away points for late or partial assignments (with a plan for moving toward completing assignments).

Grade for content, not for neatness.

Give extra time and quieter space for work and tests.

Use a behavior plan with a reward system.

Use a nonverbal signal (like a sticky note on the desk or a hand on a shoulder) to get the student's attention and indicate the need for things like taking a brain break.

Talk through behavior problems one-on-one.

Check in frequently to monitor the student's "emotional temperature" or frustration level.

Do you have a student who you think has difficulty with attention and self-control? See a fact sheet about ADHD.

About the author

About the author

Amanda Morin is the author of "The Everything Parent's Guide to Special Education" and the former director of thought leadership at Understood. As an expert and writer, she helped build Understood from its earliest days.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Ginny Osewalt is a dually certified elementary and special education teacher with more than 15 years of experience in general education, inclusion, resource room, and self-contained settings.

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What types of accommodations can help students with ADD and ADHD? Here are some classroom accommodations to talk over with your child's school.

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Learning to Learn: Strategies for Middle School Students

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Learning to Learn: Strategies for Middle School Students

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This article provides practical learning strategies specifically designed for middle school students to improve their academic performance.

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Learning How to Learn Could Be a Student’s Most Valuable Skill

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The best way to equip students for tomorrow’s fast-changing workplace may simply be to teach them to learn how to learn, some experts say.

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Expert Advice on Time Management and Focusing @ School

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Scan for Reading List Website with Links