Hear me out

Should schools have the same behavioural plans in place for all students?

If the stats show that 1 in 20 children in Australia have ADHD that would indicate that 1-2 are likely to have it in the average classroom within a state school.

The above numbers are an approximation but if less than 10 percent of children in a classroom have ADHD why should they sit within the same behavioural plan as the 90 percent of neurotypical children at the same school?

If my ADHD child struggles with their emotions and finds it hard to regulate after an incident at school for which they are not to blame why should he or she be penalised for not being able to regulate the same way other children might?

In my opinion what we are saying to these children is that you will be disciplined for something that is essentially out of your control.

Do we want our ADHD children to improve their reactions to situations? Yes. Do we want them to be able to regulate better and calm down quickly after an incident? Yes. But it’s not always easy and it’s not always possible.

Last week at school Leni received detention. This isn’t the first time and won’t be the last but I am getting increasingly frustrated because he is being punished yes let’s not sugar coat it people, for a neurological disorder that he can not always control.

Leni was hurt by a student that has continuously been a problem for him since he started at the school a few years ago.

After being physically hurt by this child Leni struggled to focus in class again and instead of listening to his teacher he became withdrawn.

His teacher asked him to leave the room and make his way to his buddy class (this is where a child is sent for time out) to calm down for 10 minutes.

The child that had hurt Leni was in that buddy class so instead of heading to the class he walked around the school looking for a teacher that he feels comfortable with. This teacher has said to Leni in the past if your upset come and find me so that’s what Leni decided to do in that moment.

His teacher and the buddy teacher were worried that he hadn’t made it to the buddy class so he was called to the office and he made his way there.

He explained that he had been looking for his safe teacher to talk to but had not been able to find him.

For not making his way to the buddy class he was given reflection and an orange behaviour slip.

He got in trouble for doing what he has been told to do previously which for a child with ADHD is so bloody confusing.

I don’t understand why instead of assuming he was absconding from class for all the wrong reasons they have decided to implement a punishment of detention instead of hearing him out.

The school calls their detention reflection which to me seems silly. Let’s just call it what it is! The child is not sitting there reflecting on their behaviour they are sitting there thinking of everything but!

I am always hopeful that at some point in time schools will implement behavioural plans that cater for all students and are inclusive of their disorders.

Leni and I spoke about what happened at school. He doesn’t choose to hold onto his big feelings but he just does. I am trying to come up with strategies to help him in those difficult moments but essentially I want them to think about how they address these challenges with Leni better instead of placing him in the same box that they do for every other child.

If I can’t be there to help him when he faces these struggles at school you can bet I will be advocating loudly for things to change.

I’m not asking schools to reimagine their behavioural plans, I’m asking them to be mindful of how they address certain things with children who have known disorders. It doesn’t need to be complicated it just needs to be inclusive.