How to Make Adjustments for ADHD

Quick answer

Start with the barrier, not the label.

• If a student with ADHD loses track of multi-step instructions, break the task into smaller steps and use a visual checklist.
• If writing is the barrier, reduce handwriting load and use voice-to-text or a laptop where appropriate.
• If transitions trigger dysregulation, give clear warnings, a predictable routine, and a familiar transition support.
• If regulation is the issue, build in movement or energy breaks, use calm choices, and record what helped and what changed.
• Then document the adjustment, consultation, and review in plain English.

Start with functional impact, not the label

For NCCD, ADHD should not be treated as a one-size-fits-all profile. A diagnosis on its own does not tell the school what the student needs in class. The evidence needs to show the functional impact of the disability and the adjustment the school is making in response.

That means two students with ADHD may need very different support. One may need help with writing output and task initiation. Another may need support with transitions, sensory load and emotional regulation. The adjustment should match the barrier you can actually see.

Common ADHD barriers schools should look for

Understanding the specific barrier helps you choose the right adjustment. Here are common barriers and useful starting points for support.

• Attention and task start: Student drifts, forgets the first step, or never gets started. Useful adjustments include chunked instructions, one clear starting action, visual checklist, and teacher check-in.
• Writing output: Student knows the content but stalls on handwriting or sustained written output. Useful adjustments include voice-to-text, laptop or tablet, graphic organiser, and reduced handwriting load.
• Transitions: Student becomes unsettled moving between tasks, rooms or routines. Useful adjustments include advance warning, transition cue, predictable sequence, and brief check-in.
• Regulation and movement: Student becomes dysregulated, restless or frustrated during long tasks. Useful adjustments include energy break, sensory tool, fair choices, and calm reset routine.
• Working memory and organisation: Student loses track of equipment, deadlines or multi-step processes. Useful adjustments include visual schedule, colour-coded materials, repeated model, and scaffolded sequence.

Adjustments for attention and task initiation

Use short, sequenced instructions. Break larger tasks into smaller steps. Give one starting action first, then the next step once the student is moving.

Visual timetables, checklists and clear lesson goals help reduce drift. These supports make the learning path visible instead of expecting the student to hold the whole sequence in working memory.

Open-ended tasks often create friction. Where possible, narrow the entry point: start with a model, a sentence starter, a worked example, or a clearly defined first question.

Adjustments for writing and output

Writing can be a genuine barrier for some students with ADHD, even when they understand the content. In those cases, the adjustment should reduce output friction without lowering the learning intention.

Useful options include voice-to-text, a laptop or tablet, online timers, reduced handwriting load, scaffolded templates, graphic organisers, and chunked deadlines.

A student may still complete the same core task, but through a more accessible pathway.

Adjustments for transitions and routines

Transitions are often where ADHD support breaks down. A student may manage the lesson content but struggle to shift between classes, activities, or expectations.

Use consistent warning cues before change, a predictable routine, and a familiar support item or process. For some students, that may be a transition card, a visual cue, a brief teacher check-in, or a set movement route.

The goal is not just smoother behaviour. It is more reliable access to learning time.

Adjustments for emotional regulation and movement

What looks like misbehaviour can be a student trying to manage overload, frustration, anxiety or energy. A useful adjustment is one that helps the student regulate earlier, not just one that reacts after the lesson has already broken down.

Movement or energy breaks, calm choices, access to sensory tools, and a clear reward or reinforcement system can all be appropriate when they are linked to a defined need and reviewed over time.

If a strategy is used, record what it was for, when it was used, and whether it helped.

Adjustments to the classroom environment

The environment matters more than many schools realise. Classroom acoustics, desk layout, visual clutter and seating position can all affect how a student with ADHD sustains attention.

Simple environmental changes may include thoughtful seating, reduced distraction near work areas, visual structure on the wall, quieter work zones, and access to calming tools.

These can sit within QDTP or move into a higher level of adjustment depending on intensity, frequency and individualisation.

Year-level examples of ADHD adjustments

The same condition can look different across year levels. The examples below are not fixed rules. They show how the adjustment should follow the classroom demand.

• Early primary: Common pressure points include sitting for whole-group instruction and shifting between stations. Adjustments may include short visual routine, first-then prompts, movement break, and hands-on task start.
• Upper primary: Common pressure points include longer writing tasks and independent work blocks. Adjustments may include graphic organiser, timer, voice-to-text, and staged check-ins for task completion.
• Secondary: Common pressure points include multiple teachers, changing rooms, assessment load and missed deadlines. Adjustments may include subject-specific checklist, digital planner, transition cue, and adjusted output method in selected classes.

QDTP vs supplementary for ADHD

Many ADHD adjustments begin inside Quality Differentiated Teaching Practice. That includes strategies a teacher can reasonably provide through usual classroom practice, such as chunking instructions, using a visual timetable, or narrowing task entry points.

A student moves toward supplementary when the support goes beyond what is available to all students and is provided for particular activities or times on a more targeted basis. That might include regular assistive technology for writing, targeted transition support, or repeated individual check-ins attached to a documented need.

The school should classify the level that best reflects the evidence of what is actually being provided.

Why this matters

Strong ADHD adjustments do two jobs at once. They help the student participate more consistently in class, and they create a clearer school record of what support is being provided.

That matters because NCCD is built around evidence of need, adjustment, consultation and review. When the record is clear, moderation is easier, levels are easier to justify, and support is easier to continue across staff and across terms.

Common mistake

The most common mistake is recording the condition but not the classroom impact. "ADHD" is not yet an adjustment note. The entry becomes useful when it shows the barrier, the support, and the effect.

What to do next

Review your current ADHD entries against one simple test: could another teacher understand the barrier, repeat the adjustment, and see why it counts? If not, tighten the language.

Then link this page to your broader evidence guide, your QDTP vs supplementary page, and your NCCD evidence examples page so the reader has a clear next step.

Frequently Asked Questions