Skills for Life, Not Just School: ADHD Deep Dive with Elisha Bauss
In this episode, I bring in my good friend Elisha Bauss, to discuss her insight into ADHD as an educator, school leader, and parent. What does ADHD really mean for our students and how can we help kids help themselves for life, not just school? Join us as we discuss Jerry McGuire, Icebergs, Traffic Controllers, real takeaways to help students with ADHD. Listen to the full episode below at the end of this post or watch the full interview on YouTube.
In my conversation with Elisha, there were so many great takeaways for working with kids with ADHD and other similar characteristics. This post is a brief summary of a few concepts we discussed. Follow Elisha on Twitter @edtechElisha.
ADHD presents itself in many ways, and to some degree many of us not diagnosed with ADHD may still be dealing with the same struggles of attention and focus.
Help Me, Help You
The first thing to consider is that we ultimately wan to help our students gain skills they can use in life, not just ones they need right now to turn in an assignment or sit in their chair. When we help them learn how they function best, and ways they can improve their own lives, they realize how much control they actually do have in their environment and their own success. When they know you are just trying to help them and not control them, then they will start to listen to your suggestions.
Busy Minds
The second thing to consider is how much is going on in the mind of a student (or adult) with ADHD. We often see surface level behaviors that look like kids are being lazy, defiant, or just not caring, but the reality is much different. We cannot assume that our interests and priorities are theirs. We need to dig deeper and find out the root cause of why things may not be getting done or why there may be off-task behaviors.
Practice, Not Preach
The third thing to consider is that we need to help kids practice how to self-regulate and control their focus. This can be done with games but also can be done by having them listen to podcasts with tips. Kids need help to form new habits such as writing out to do lists, keeping an agenda, and chunking apart larger projects into smaller tasks.
Podcast Examples
Here are a few podcasts that Elisha referenced in the podcast episode as helpful for her family:
*But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids
*Big Life Kids Podcast – “We have this paired with a journal for both kids, they love it.”
*Six Minutes – fiction story
*KidNuz – 5 minutes of daily news
*Socially Awkward – talk show style format
*Stuff You Should Know – nonfiction
* Journey With Me Through ADHD: A Podcast For Kids
Helping students learn how to be better in control of their choices is not easy and it doesn’t happen quickly. Stay patient, loving, and understanding even when it can be frustrating. Nothing good comes from trying to force change or letting our emotions get the better of us. At the end of the day, keep love and hope alive no matter what. Y
