|
Adjustment |
Barrier it addresses |
What the teacher does |
What to avoid |
|
Staged deadlines |
Multi-step assignments overload planning and time-management |
Set 2–3 interim checkpoints with feedback before the final deadline |
Treat staging as extending the deadline itself without checkpoints |
|
Materials shared in advance |
Unpredictable release of content increases anxiety and prep load |
Post readings/slides on a fixed day each week |
Release key materials only in the session itself |
|
Written + verbal instructions |
Working-memory limits make single-channel spoken instructions easy to lose |
Pair every verbal instruction with a written version |
Assume a student will remember a verbal-only instruction |
|
Movement / short breaks |
Extended stillness and passive listening are hard to sustain |
Build a brief break into sessions over ~60–90 minutes |
Treat a student stepping out briefly as disengagement |
|
Extra time in assessment |
Time pressure penalises processing/planning differences, not subject knowledge |
Apply agreed extra time consistently across all assessed components |
Apply it only where a student remembers to ask each time |
|
Preferred seating |
Visual and auditory distraction increases with distance from the front and with a busy sightline |
Reserve seating near the front, away from high-traffic areas, if requested |
Assume seating preference reflects disengagement rather than a genuine strategy |
|
Named point of contact |
Renegotiating adjustments with every individual staff member is exhausting and inconsistent |
Agree one named contact who coordinates adjustments across a module or programme |
Require the student to re-explain their needs to each new member of staff |
Adjustments should be based on what an individual student says helps them, not assumptions drawn from the diagnosis label — what works for one student with ADHD may not help, and can even hinder, another.