Having ADHD Makes Me a Better Teacher
Primary teacher David Keyte was in denial about his diagnosis until he began working with a pupil with the same condition
- by Teachwire
When I look back on my time at primary school, my overriding memories are those of boredom, disengagement and regular visits to the head’s office.
I had real difficulty sitting still and concentrating and saw little purpose to the lessons. I clearly remember a feeling of immense frustration: I knew what the ‘right thing’ to do was, but had real difficulty doing it. At age nine I was diagnosed with ADHD. At the time I had no appreciation of what this four-letter acronym meant.
I vividly recall assessments with a ‘special doctor’ and plenty of adults talking about me. I began taking a Ritalin pill every day before school and at lunchtime in the school office. In primary school I thought very little about the situation. However, when I reached secondary I began to become aware that it was not ‘normal’ to take medication at lunchtime and actively hid the fact that I did so from my friends.
At age 14, after lengthy discussions with my parents, we decided that I would try a period without medication to see how things went.
I’d reached a stage where I didn’t want to be seen as ‘different’, and passionately felt that I could cope without medical assistance. This trial period was a success and from that point forward my experience with Ritalin ended. From then until the age of 26 year (two years ago) I was in denial that I was somebody with ADHD.
I resented the fact that I had been labelled and felt sure that the diagnosis was incorrect. I could cope OK with everyday life – there must have been a mistake. I took on the role of LSA to gain some in-class experience prior to starting my teacher training and as part of my role I was given the responsibility of working one to one with an ADHD diagnosed pupil.
I was sent on a specialist ADHD training day and while there I can have what can only be described as a watershed moment.
When learning about the condition, undertaking roleplay scenarios and discussing prior experiences, I could relate completely to what was being discussed. I went home and spent a lot of time reading up on the condition. While I may be giving the impression that my views on ADHD are negative, and that I think medication for the condition is unnecessary, that’s not the case.
I still have trouble concentrating and have a very short attention span. I get bored in staff meetings, fiddle in assembly and find many of the situations that others find easy, very difficult indeed.
What I have now that I didn’t have as a ten-year-old are coping mechanisms and far greater social awareness. While I find certain tasks boring, I do them as I can contextualise their relevance.
Even though I want to get out of my chair and move around in a staff meeting, I don’t because I know that it isn’t appropriate. As a child I simply couldn’t do this. My education suffered and my lack of attention and focus in lessons meant that I was not able to reach my academic potential.
My parents made the decision to follow doctor’s advice and give me Ritalin and I have absolutely no problem with that. I managed to pass entrance exams to get into an illustrious private school and was set on the path to a happy future. As a teacher, I feel that my short attention span, huge amounts of energy, and busy mind are hugely beneficial.
When planning and teaching I regularly think, ‘Would I want to be in this lesson?’. If the answer is no, I immediately change things up to make it more engaging and exciting.
I can relate extremely well to disengaged pupils and clearly articulate the purpose of learning, often citing my own experiences when doing so. One of my educational heroes, Sir Ken Robinson, delivered a really engaging TED talk where he questioned the ADHD ‘epidemic’ sweeping America, blaming boredom and childhood for many of the issues and diagnoses of the condition.
Neither Sir Ken or I are experts on ADHD. However, I think he would agree when I say that ADHD or not, children learn best when lessons are engaging, purposeful and relevant.
David Keyte is an NQT working in Y4 in a school in Horley, Surrey. Follow him on Twitter at @mr_k_teacher and visit his website here. Browse resources for ADHD Awareness Month.
