ADHD in the Classroom

Credit

Speaker

Emily Kircher-Morris, MA, MEd, LPC Related seminars and products

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Emily Kircher-Morris, MA, MEd, LPC, is a licensed professional counselor specializing in neurodivergent children, adolescents, and adults. With a background in both education and mental health, she integrates neurodiversity-affirming and strengths-based approaches into her clinical work, consultation, and training for clinicians.

Emily is the host of The Neurodiversity Podcast, where she explores evidence-informed counseling practices, identity development, executive functioning, and systemic supports for neurodivergent individuals. She is the author of multiple books, including Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools: Transforming Practices So All Students Feel Accepted and Supported (2025). She provides continuing education and professional development nationally and internationally.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Emily Kircher-Morris is the owner of Neurodiversity Alliance and the podcast host of The Neurodiversity Podcast. She receives compensation as a consultant and national speaker. Emily Kircher-Morris receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Emily Kircher-Morris is a member of the National Association for Gifted Children.

Additional Info

Program Information

You will have access for 90 days after the program for review. For live CE credit, you must watch the live webcast in its entirety at its scheduled time and complete the CE quiz and evaluation within one week. Please note that this requirement may vary by credit type. Please see detailed credit information for specific requirements for each credit type.

Please note: There will be a 70-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Lunch and break times will be announced by the speaker and at their discretion. A more detailed schedule is available upon request.

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Objectives

1. Differentiate ADHD from common misconceptions by explaining how ADHD traits may influence classroom presentation.
2. Analyze how executive functioning demands contribute to task initiation difficulties, overwhelm, planning challenges, and self-regulation problems for ADHD students in school settings.
3. Interpret common behavior patterns in ADHD students through the lens of dysregulation, frustration, shame, and skill mismatch rather than willful noncompliance.
4. Differentiate motivational barriers from access barriers by analyzing how interest-based performance patterns may affect classroom engagement and follow-thorough.
5. Apply neurodiversity-affirming and Universal Design principles to create classroom systems that reduce cognitive load and support regulation, access, and participation for ADHD students.
6. Match common classroom barriers experienced by ADHD students with appropriate accommodations and follow-through supports related to workload, task initiation, organization, and demonstration of learning.

Outline

Understanding ADHD in School Settings

• How ADHD affects learning and behavior across different classroom contexts
• Common misconceptions and how they shape the way students are perceived
• ADHD as a difference in regulation, executive functioning, and access
• Why presentation varies, especially with co-occurring diagnoses

Executive Functioning and Everyday School Demands

• How planning, working memory, organization, and inhibition affect classroom functioning
• Time blindness, task initiation, and the roots of overwhelm
• The gap between knowing what to do and being able to do it
• How executive functioning connects to self-regulation and independent performance

Emotion, Frustration, and Behavior

• Emotional reactivity, frustration tolerance, and stress responses
• How shame and learned helplessness lead to shutdown or escalation
• Read behavior as a signal of overload, not defiance
• Move past assumptions of laziness or lack of motivation

Motivation, Interest, and Engagement

• How novelty, urgency, challenge, and meaning drive engagement
• Why interest-based attention looks like inconsistency or selective effort
• The difference between a motivation problem and an access problem
• What reinforcement systems can and can’t do for this population

Classroom Systems that Reduce Barriers

• Use predictability, routines, and visual supports to reduce dependence on memory and self-initiation
• Universal Design principles and proactive environmental supports
• Practical ways to reduce overwhelm and improve follow-through
• Build structure that works without singling students out

Accommodations and Supports for Follow-Through

• Targeted supports for task initiation, pacing, organization, and multi-step assignments
• Flexible approaches to output, work completion, and demonstrating learning
• Scaffolds that build toward independence rather than dependence
• Maintain high expectations while making success genuinely accessible

Target Audience

• Counselors
• School Counselors
• General Education Teachers
• Special and Gifted Education Teachers
• School and Clinical Social Workers
• School Administrators
• Psychologists
• School Psychologists
• Ancillary Service Providers
• Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists