9 Ways ADD Impacts School Performance & What To Do About It

ADD at school

ADD often has a powerful negative impact on a person’s ability to do well in school. Except for classes that are small or highly interesting, many people with ADD have significant problems. Here is a list of common school problems.

1. Restlessness

The hyperactivity that often accompanies ADD in childhood causes obvious problems in the classroom: the child is restless, out of his or her seat, irritating other kids (not to mention the teacher) and causing turmoil and disruption in his or her path. In teens and adults, the restlessness of ADD often distracts others in the class who notice the constant movement (i.e., legs shaking, shifting body posture in seats).

2. Short Attention Span and Distractibility

Having a short attention span and being easily distracted affects nearly every aspect of school, including a student’s ability to follow teachers in lectures, participate in small groups, attend while reading, and perform consistently on class assignments and tests.

3. Impulsiveness

Impulsiveness causes serious school problems. Blurting out answers in class, speaking tactlessly or disrespectfully to teachers, responding impulsively on quizzes or tests, and saying things without thinking are typical. With ADD, the mouth is often engaged before the brain.

4. Procrastination

Many people with ADD wait until the last minute to complete their tasks for school. If it isn’t the night before, they cannot get their brain upset enough to get their work done. Procrastination in school also causes the work to be done poorly or it is usually left undone or incomplete.

5. Trouble Shifting Attention

Some people with ADD have trouble shifting their attention from thing to thing. They have a tendency to get “stuck” or over-focus which can interfere with a student’s ability to follow a lecture or effectively take notes.

6. Forgetfulness

This symptom often upsets the parents and teachers of ADD students. Forgetting to bring home books, leaving clothes at school, and not turning in homework assignments that were completed are common complaints.

7. Learning Disabilities

Learning difficulties and disabilities are very common in people with ADD. It is essential to recognize and treat these disabilities if a student is going to perform at his or her potential. Common disabilities are writing disabilities (getting thoughts from the brain to the paper), reading disabilities (shifting or reversing letters or numbers) and visual processing problems and auditory processing problems (trouble accurately hearing what was said).

8. Unusual Study Habits

Many people with ADD have unusual study habits. Most need a very quiet place to study. Other people with ADD need noise in order to study. Some people have told me they need the TV or radio on, or they need some noise in order to keep themselves awake and focused.

9. Timed Situations

Timed testing situations are often a disaster for those with ADD. Whether it is short math “drill” exercises, classroom writing exercises or testing situations, the more time pressure that is put on these people, the worse it tends to get for them.

ADD, like many other conditions, is not just a single and simple disorder; therefore, treatment is not a one-size-fits-all solution. We have identified 7 types of ADD—and each requires a different treatment plan because of the diverse brain systems involved. What works for one person with ADD may not work for another—or could even make the symptoms worse!

85% of patients treated with the Amen Clinics Method experience improved quality of life after just 6 months of treatment!

Amen Clinics has helped tens of thousands of people with ADD from all over the world. With targeted treatment, you can change your brain and change your life. If you feel that you or a loved one could benefit from an evaluation, contact the Amen Clinics Care Center today at 888-288-9834.

8 Comments »

  1. Rip off they may help people, but what about the people that cant afford 3950 for spect scan? They offer no pro bonno or bill insurance. Let alone work with anyone who is disabled and only sourse of income is ssdi, and will not bill medicare or medicaid.

    Comment by Daniel Girard — July 27, 2016 @ 12:49 PM

  2. Too bad some of us are reading this after already being done with school. Had I known this info then, I could’ve had so much more potential.

    Comment by Nolan — July 28, 2016 @ 6:58 AM

  3. My child desperately needs your help. I am in South Africa. How can we connect?

    Comment by MaNdaba MTETWA — August 4, 2016 @ 2:18 PM

  4. Not helpful. The title of the article ends in “What to Do About It”. You have to get the 5000.00 brain scan- then what? No advice here on what to do about it:(

    Comment by Judy Stolz — May 12, 2017 @ 8:42 AM

  5. Forget the $5k scan. Most of it is merely interpreted and elective. I take B-5 and tyrosine, and just those two help minimize my ADHD symptoms a good deal. But those are just a couple of the many natural supplementation options for ADD/ADHD

    Comment by Nolan — May 14, 2017 @ 7:59 AM

  6. I know how to stop ADD-ADHD and all other Disorders….stop Vaccines!!!! I have 4 sons all harmed in some way by vaccines. I have Tourette’s and it was either caused by vaccines or maybe they triggered it? Can’t go back and unvaccinate but can educate others. It has become a business for a lot of doctors to capitalize on this and how unfortunate. I do pray that God reveals that this is something that was not supposed to go into our bodies, especially aborted fetuses and animal DNA. High levels of mercury and thermerisal.

    Comment by Monica Chastant — August 19, 2017 @ 7:26 AM

  7. it is about impacting the future generation so instead of complaining why don’t we all try to fix the next generations learning so they can have it better than we did right now you are straight up being selfish

    Comment by Kenzie — August 23, 2019 @ 9:46 AM

  8. My husband and i were comfortable Michael managed to do his survey with the ideas he grabbed through your site. It is now and again perplexing to simply find yourself giving away secrets and techniques that many other people could have been making money from. Therefore we remember we've got the blog owner to thank for that. The entire explanations you've made, the simple web site menu, the friendships you will help create – it's got all remarkable, and it's really assisting our son and our family reason why this issue is fun, and that's exceedingly serious. Many thanks for everything!

    Comment by zoritoler imol — November 26, 2023 @ 10:53 PM

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