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School-Based Interventions and Accommodations for ADHD

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Clinical Handbook of ADHD Assessment and Treatment Across the Lifespan

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Abstract

Children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are likely to exhibit substantial functional impairment in educational settings; on average, they receive lower grades and are also more likely to drop out of school, relative to their peers. However, a number of school-based interventions have been developed to address the organizational and related problems that likely mediate the relationship between ADHD symptoms and poor educational performance. This chapter reviews several standardized intervention programs that have been shown to be efficacious in school settings, as well as discussing moderators of efficacy. At times, interventions are insufficient, and students will need accommodations that change how instruction or assessments are delivered in some way. However, unlike interventions, accommodations raise the risk of providing an unfair advantage or otherwise compromising the educational program. This chapter discusses criteria that make an accommodation appropriate and reviews the available research literature on accommodations for this population. More research on interventions and accommodations is welcome, but the extant literature does provide a great deal of guidance to practitioners looking to implement evidence-based practices.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Indeed, accommodations are seen as desirable by students with and without disabilities (Lovett & Leja, 2013), and seeking accommodations is one reason why older students may even exaggerate symptoms of ADHD (Nelson & Lovett, 2019).

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Correspondence to Benjamin J. Lovett .

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Lovett, B.J., Fitzgerald, K., Schaberg, T.M., Nelson, J.M. (2023). School-Based Interventions and Accommodations for ADHD. In: Matson, J.L. (eds) Clinical Handbook of ADHD Assessment and Treatment Across the Lifespan. Autism and Child Psychopathology Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41709-2_17

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