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• What is ADHD?
• Associated strengths
• General information
• Impact on Employability Skills and Attributes
• Areas where ‘reasonable adjustments’ may be required
• General advice
• Resources/references

What is ADHD?

Inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity constitute the main characteristics of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A significant number of young people with ADHD leave education at an early stage as a direct result of the impact of their difficulties in an educational setting. Since a student's academic success is often dependent on their ability to attend to tasks and tutor expectations with minimal distractions, a student with ADHD who does reach higher education may struggle within the traditional Higher Education academic environment.

Activities that are associated with acquiring information necessary for completing tasks, completing assignments, and participating in discussions with their tutors and peers are all activities that can potentially be problematic for the student with ADHD.  It is important to note that ADHD commonly co-exists with other conditions such as dyslexia and dyspraxia.


Associated strengths

Some of the characteristics associated with ADHD can also be seen as positive attributes; these can include:

• An ability to see the big picture;
• Good attention to detail;
• Creativity and inventiveness;
• Risk-taking that can produce important discoveries;
• An ability to process information and make broader observations;
• High levels of energy; (although this is sometimes limited to short periods of time)
• Good negotiation skills;
• Intuitiveness and speedy reactivity;
• Ability to hyper-focus.

G eneral information

ADHD is one of the most common disorders of childhood and adolescence and is characterised by impulsivity and hyperactivity and/or inattention. The characteristics are not seen to the same degree in all people diagnosed with the disorder and healthcare professionals recognise that there are 3 main combinations of characteristics:

• predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type;
• predominantly inattentive type;
• a combined type (this makes up the majority of ADHD cases).

Hyperactive or impulsive behaviours may include: fidgeting, having trouble interacting quietly, interrupting others and always being 'on the go'. Characteristics of inattention may include: being disorganised, forgetful and easily distracted, and finding it difficult to sustain attention during tasks or learning activities. These behaviours are usually first noticed in early childhood and they are more extreme than simple misbehaving. Whilst ADHD behaviours occur to some extent in all of us, the difference between ADHD and normal behaviour may be perceived as the degree of the problem and the difficulties it causes. Individuals with ADHD show this behaviour to a significantly greater extent and severity, and in more than one setting, for example, school/university and home.

A way of regarding this pattern of strengths and weaknesses of ADHD is as a cognitive or learning style. In fact many students themselves experience their condition as a difference in the way they think or learn. The term neurodiversity asserts that atypical (neurodivergent) neurological development is a human difference that is to be recognised and respected in the same way as any other human variation.

Individuals with ADHD may exhibit behaviours that cannot be explained by any other psychiatric condition and are not in keeping with the individual's age and intellectual ability. Mood swings, anxiety, depression and social clumsiness are common. Parents and tutors may report that these individuals often misread the accepted social cues, saying or doing inappropriate things. Social difficulties often hit a peak in primary school and start to ease in secondary school, although in adolescence any remaining insecurities make the normal social uncertainties of this stage of life even greater.  Self medication e.g. the use of cannabis is not uncommon amongst young adults with ADHD as it can reduce anxiety and slow down thought processes

ADHD is most commonly noticed around the age of 5 and, according to medical guidelines, it affects 5% of school-aged children with the male to female ratio in diagnosed ADHD prevalence being at least 4 to 1. The observed prevalence of ADHD in boys and girls is skewed by the fact that characteristics of hyperactivity and impulsivity are more common in boys, whereas girls with ADHD more commonly have inattentive characteristics. Research suggests that 80% of children diagnosed with ADHD continue to experience characteristics during adolescence and 67% continue to have the characteristics into adulthood. Although the symptoms of ADHD commonly continue into adulthood, its impact can be modified as the environment can more easily be altered.

ADHD remains controversial in that, although it is recognised as a specific condition, there is often the feeling among the public that it is not so much on the increase as being massively over-diagnosed.

Psychological difficulties are, in some ways, the hidden disabilities of colleges and of universities in general. Students may often decide not to disclose their difficulties and this is their entitlement under the Disability Discrimination Act (2005).  Due to non disclosure, official figures for students with psychological difficulties can sometimes appear low or nonexistent; consequently, staff may mistakenly assume that the problem does not exist within their department or institution. 

Impact on life skills

• Poor attention; excessive distractibility
• Physical restlessness or hyperactivity
• Excessive impulsivity; saying or doing things without thinking
• Excessive and chronic procrastination
• Difficulty getting started on tasks
• Difficulty completing tasks
• Frequently losing things
• Poor organisation, planning, and time management skills
• Excessive forgetfulness

Not every person with ADHD displays all of the behaviours above, nor does every person with ADHD experience the symptoms of ADHD to the same level of severity or impairment. Some people have mild ADHD, while others have severe ADHD resulting in significant impairments. ADHD can cause problems in education, in jobs and careers, at home, in family and other relationships, and with tasks of daily living.


Impact on Employability Skills and Attributes

Students with ADHD may experience difficulties with the following abilities:

• Empathy
• Information processing
• Self organisation

Although most people depend on the above abilities in the following employability skills, this does not mean that people who have ADHD cannot possess these skills; rather, they may need reasonable adjustments to practice to enable them to develop or evidence the skills. 

Click below for further information about reasonable adjustments that may be made for each of the employability skills/attributes shown:

• Empathy and Oral Communication
• Empathy and Interpersonal Skills
  
• Empathy and Teamwork
  

• Information Processing and Information Literacy
• Information Processing and Literacy - Reading
  
• Information Processing and Numeracy
• Information Processing and Written Communication
  

• Self Organisation and Adaptability
• Self Organisation and Information Literacy
• Self Organisation and Problem Solving
  
• Self Organisation and Self Management
• Self Organisation and Time Management

NB: The experience and characteristics of different impairments/conditions are highly variable between individuals. For this reason it is really important that you never make assumptions about what a person can or cannot do. Though someone may have significant difficulties, they may also have devised sophisticated means of compensating for these, so talk to the person concerned and make judgements only on an individual basis.

 
Areas where ‘reasonable adjustments may be required

Paying attention - Individuals may be disrupted by their own thoughts or daydreaming, moving quickly onto a new topic of conversation before finishing the current one, and producing work that is of variable quality.

Restricting impulsiveness -  The individual may have an impairment of internal dialogue, finish other people's sentences and/or interrupt.

Short-term memory – They may have poor note-taking ability, poor hindsight and forethought leading to an inability to learn from mistakes or draw on previous experience.
Mood stability –Their moods may swing ranging from restlessness and fidgety behaviour to procrastinating (affecting coursework and revision for examinations).

Organisation and time management – Distractibility can lead to the lack of a systematic approach to study

Careful consideration of risks – People with ADHD often seek the excitement of high risk activities without consideration of the possible consequences.
Interpersonal relationships and emotional functioning - People with ADHD may appear sociable, but friendships can be superficial.


General advice

• As students with ADHD may experience difficulties with the structured environment required for  a tutorial or lecture; they may need adjustments to the learning environment to help them remain focused on the task in hand. Students may need to be asked where they prefer to sit within the learning environment to help them to focus on what is being said. 
• They may benefit from working closely with another student who can help them to develop their cooperation skills
• If space permits, they may wish to work in separate learning areas, away from the distraction of other students.
• Different students will find different scenarios work better for them and open communication with the student about this is essential.

Resources/references

Diagnostic evaluation for ADHD in adults