ADHD in Early Years: What Really Works?

Zoë Austin explains understanding ADHD in Early Years - The ADHD School-to-Prison pipeline and why we should care about it in Early Years Greetings, fellow travellers! Last month, I wrote to you about 'naughty' boys: labelled ‘bad’ by the education system, a label they internalise, which can stay with them for life.

Many of these boys have undiagnosed ADHD. Unable, through no fault of their own, to concentrate, retain information, keep still, remain interested in subjects which bore them, they are seen as rude, lazy, and stupid. Eventually, this can lead to exclusion and falling in with a 'dodgy' social group. I have seen this happening in the life of a 9-year-old with whom I worked last year. Nine years old: he already believed he was ‘bad’ - he told me as much. And he was already out committing crimes.

11% of ADHD children have been permanently excluded (compare that with the fact that only 0.13% of all UK children have been permanently excluded, and you see that ADHD children are nearly 100x more likely to be so). A 2021 parliamentary committee (link below) found that 25% of UK prison inmates had ADHD diagnoses, with the actual figure probably far higher. As anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock for the past two years will know, the rate of ADHD diagnosis, particularly amongst women, is currently skyrocketing due to increased understanding of the neurotype.

ADHD in Early Years Education and the School-to-Prison Pipeline

What is the 'pipeline'? Why may exclusion from school eventually lead to incarceration? Well, I alluded to the 'getting in with the wrong sort of company' from a young age. The impulsive and dopamine-seeking ADHD brain, which loves adventure, and the low self-esteem of the oppressed ADHD child may combine to seek fun and excitement/acceptance wherever they can. If you’re not getting praise at home or at school, you will take it where you can find it. If you’ve already been labelled as 'bad', why not prove those who labelled you right? Add to this the fact that there is a significantly higher chance of people with ADHD developing substance misuse disorders for reasons of said impulsivity, self-medication, complex PTSD et al. and we begin to understand the bigger picture.

Why do we need to know these things in early years? Because, as I keep saying, it starts with us. We can help our children and their families understand how their little brains work, who to turn to for support, what to do when dysregulation strikes, that learning can be fun and enjoyable, and, most importantly, that they are loved just as they are. We can give them a sense of learning environments, feeling safe, creative, active, and happy. We can give them the dopamine hit of a job well done, shower them with praise for their achievements, support them in struggles and nurture their strengths. (I cannot find reliable statistics on this in the time for publication, but do have a Google if you want to learn more).

Supporting ADHD in Early Years: Inclusive Practice Tips

Zoë’s Top Tips for providing an inclusive, supportive provision for neurodivergent children who may be ADHD: (These are written with the understanding that ADHDers experience huge emotions very quickly, including rage; that learning needs to feel relevant to us to retain our attention; and that we are creative, active souls who love novelty.)

Teach all your children that all brains are different. Don’t be afraid to compare how they each process things: say their names. "X finds it difficult to be in a room with lots of noise going on, just like you find it difficult when you have to say goodbye to Mummy in the morning." "Y is having some big, strong feelings right now, and that’s OK. We just need to give them some time and space to feel better" (whilst shepherding curious children away from their dysregulated friend).

Begin to help them create regulation solutions which work for them. When they are calm and regulated, communicate with them 1:1 about how they feel when a particular trigger arises (e.g. they feel like they can’t do something, someone takes a toy they wanted, etc.) Use whatever metaphors or tools necessary to help them explore what this feeling 'looks', 'sounds', 'feels' like, where they experience it in their body. Books like The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas (as we well know!) can be really helpful to young children exploring their emotions because, unlike adults, children do not have the language or cognition to tell us how they feel. Once they have been able to label an emotion, work with them to provide possible solutions for when they next experience it, e.g.:

Go outside and run around.

Spend time in the quiet corner.

Play with fidget/sensory objects.

Play catch/throwing/kicking balls.

Shout into a pillow.

Let them know that their key person will be nearby when they are doing these activities. Ask them if they want that person to join in or give them space. If the child doesn’t know, help them establish something they can use as signals for ‘help’, ‘stay away’, etc. In the heat of the dysregulated moment, they may be unable to access the parts of their brain which help them choose an activity or be able to communicate, in which case it is up to us to learn to read their signals and comply with them. If a child becomes even more upset/aggressive when we approach them during dysregulation, they’re not being rude; they are communicating that we are making things worse and need to back off. Then we can say, "I’m giving you space, but I’m going to stand over there so I can see that you are safe. Make learning relevant to them and their interests, and don’t chastise them for getting bored. If they’re bored, we’re doing something wrong!

Looking Ahead: Deepening Understanding of ADHD in Early Years Education

I acknowledge that I have made some assumptions about readers’ understanding of ADHD in this article, so next month I will deliver an in-depth explanation of what I understand the neurotype to be, how we can identify it, and what the ADHD brain needs in order to be happy.

Safe travels, Zoë