Practical+Solutions

**Practical Solutions **
The aim of this electronic resource is to provide information for school-based educators, adolescents with ADHD, Anxiety and/or comorbid ADHD and Anxiety, and their families and supporters.

It is also appropriate to outline what the theoretical literature suggests to school and district staff.

Studies suggest that it is vital that teachers become increasingly aware of the insights “into the current debates over best practice in the diagnosis, not just of ADHD, but especially comorbid conditions… given the role they can or could play in diagnosis and intervention” (Kellner, Houghton, & Douglas, 2003).

As is the case with most approaches to interventions for students with learning disabilities, early assessment and intervention is key. Research suggests that the early identification, intervention and remediation of academic and behavioral skill deficits is critical to the success of students with ADHD, Anxiety or comorbid ADHD and Anxiety (Mason & Reid, 2011; Wilson et al., 2009).

Research also calls for more than merely academic assessment, which is customary in education, but for the assessment of all aspects of the person (Wilson et al., 2009). In fact, Wilson et al. (2009) suggests that the “movement toward academic intervention based less on clinical diagnosis and more on academic underachievement may postpone the recognition of potential mental health problems” (Wilson et al., 2009).

Much coordination and collaboration between educational and mental health professionals is needed both within the school, district and community along with the family in order to provide “appropriate services” (Wilson et al., 2009). Before such services can be coordinated, school staff members need to be aware that they exist.

While it is outside the scope of secondary school educators’ expertise to have detailed knowledge about clinical treatment options, some may want to be aware of what is happening in the field. Roberts and colleagues’ summary of research findings of psychotherapy (2003) suggest that compared with other psychosocial interventions for anxiety disorders, cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) has received the most research-based evidence of success for adolescents.

Researchers in British Columbia have highlighted 3 types of interventions that they deem indispensable for the management of ADHD in all cases; educate families and children about ADHA, inform families of successful coping strategies, communicate with the school (Weiss et al., 2009). The same researchers have developed a workshop on ADHD that includes information about the etiology, comorbidity, treatment, behavioral management, nutrition, sleep hygiene, school adaptations, and developmental outcome” (Weiss et al., 2009). See the BC Children's Hospital Resources page for more information on this workshop.