neurological diversity ADHD Tony Lloyd
neurological diversity ADHD Tony Lloyd
Discussing with Tony Lloyd head of the ADHD foundation this morning.
Tony made some interesting points around schooling, exams and pupil assessments and. Coming at secondary education with neurological diversity as a strength. With better training and understanding the ADHD pupils will not only be better served with schools and exams but career pathways will improve as society gets better at recognising the strengths that ADHD brings.
Tony used the example of in the 19th century if you had poor eyesight, you often didn't do well at school because you couldn’t see the black board nor the exam papers.
The same can be true for children with ADHD. As ADHD suffering pupils grow up and fail to thrive at school and exams they will often finally be found in the dole queues and prisons. With the luckier ones being about to enter entrepreneurship at a younger age as a matter of having no other choice.
In the last 30 years schools have become more successful at identifying children with dyslexia. Finally getting to understand the ADHD identification and the effect it has on pupils who are sufferers. The hope is that, as with the worst challenges that dyslexia are overcome with new technology, that better understanding and support for ADHD sufferers will have the same trajectory of increased support.
With better training of teachers and an improved school environment for pupils who do suffer the challenge of ADHD, the skills that this disorder brings will also be able to be harnessed.
Neuro diversity in schools is now the understanding of characteristics of each pupil and have increasingly found that ADHD in pupils is under diagnosed. Similar to how dyslexia was under diagnosed 30 years ago.
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Neuro diversity It is the idea that there is a wide variety of neurological differences in children. Including but not exclusively dis orders which as Autism, dyslexic, language impairment and dyscalculia.
The word neuro diversity was developed by autism activist Judy Singer in the 1990s. Who rightly thought that there was a better pathway to move away from negative connotations that the word autism brought and something to be cured.
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Here at the Exam House we want to excel in offering the widest opportunity of pupils to be able to sit GCSE andA level exams. Whatever their neuro diversity, they can have the highest exam sitting experience.
More info on the ADHD foundation please go to https://www.adhdfoundation.org.uk/