A Moms Diary

Exploring the writing challenges of a son with ADHD

The son

Name: Jackson
Age: 8
Likes: Swimming, playing with his
friends, summer
Dislikes: Bedtime, vegetables,
writing



Day 1 Setting the stage
Jackson consistently struggles with writing both the act of physically writing and creating pieces in the
various formats required of him in school. He otherwise does fine with schoolwork and on assessments,
though he does have several accommodations under a 504 plan for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD). (A 504 Plan is a plan developed to ensure that a child who has a disability identified
under the law and is attending an elementary or secondary educational institution receives
accommodations that will ensure their academic success and access to the learning environment
(University of Washington, 2015)). Bottom line, English Language Arts (ELA) is a struggle for him. I want
to find out more about what it is specifically that he likes and doesnt like. Which aspects are the
hardest for him? Do those aspects have anything to do with his ADHD? Im going to interview him to
get answers to some of these questions.

Day 2 The interview
Today, I interviewed Jackson and asked him to write down the answers in his notebook. Oh my! What a
challenge this was, for both of us. The following snippets are what I extracted one hour later. One hour
later. One hour of cajoling, wheedling, promising, bribing (from me). One hour of whining, complaining,
fake crying, self-defeating talk (from him). Though many of those were easily interchangeable.
Question: What is your opinion of writing? Is it a school subject that you enjoy?

Question: What is your favorite part of writing?



Question: What part of writing is the most difficult for you?

Question: What would help you better enjoy writing? Perform better?

Day 3 Reflection and response

After letting his answers sink in, I wanted to examine the answers and add on a bit further from my
perspective.
Question: What is your opinion of writing? Is it a school subject that you enjoy?

Jacksons answer: Its horadle. I do not injoy it. It hearts [hurts] my hand. And it takes a long time.
This is a good example of the self-defeating attitude towards writing. I understand that
sometimes challenges with writing are due partly to Executive Function Disorder, very prevalent
in children with attention disorders (Morin). According to Child Mind Institute, Executive
functions are mental skills that we all use every day to get things done. We use them to set
goals, plan how we're going to do something, prioritize, remember things, manage our time and
possessions, finish what we start. Some children have weaknesses in executive functions, and,
regardless of how bright they are, they struggle to do schoolwork.... Planning is a big part of
the writing process, so when planning is hard, writing is probably hard as well.
Its also a focus issue. According to Reid, problems with establishing goals, holding goals in
memory, persisting in efforts toward goal completion, and shaping and directing behaviors in
order to achieve goals are seen as central to ADHD (2008, p. 472). Writing requires sustained
attention and work toward and end goals. No wonder he takes a self-defeating attitude!

Question: What is your favorite part of writing?
Jacksons answer: Nothing.
Yes, this sounds about right. But he really does have quite an imagination and can tell fun,
engaging stories. Hell often tell me about a crazy dream he had the night before. I encourage
him to write it down, to keep the memory fresh. Needless to say he has not done that once.
After performing some research, I understand a bit better. According to Lougy & DeRuvo, that
prompt (write it down!) probably did not provide enough structure for him to be able to
complete this successfully. Their research recommends scaffolding strategies at each step in the
process - with modeling to promote success in students with ADHD (2007, p. 92).

Question: What part of writing is the most difficult for you?
Jacksons answer: Writing. [He means actually putting it down on paper]
I understand. Children with ADHD often have impaired handwriting (Murphy, 2015, p.95).
Although he finds the physical writing part to be hard, I also think a part of the problem is just
the difficulty getting started. I understand that with ADHD children, a long assignment or a
blank page can be overwhelming. I think Jackson gets caught up in the whats next, and can
only foresee the paragraphs or sentences full of writing. He can only focus on how many steps
or how long this might take. Therefore, its better to not even start so it wont be hard.
Additionally, he doesnt seem to do well when hes not interested in the assignment. Earlier this
year, his teacher gave the class an assignment to write a diary entry from the point of view of a
turkey on Thanksgiving. He clearly wasnt interested/didnt care. He took multiple days to

complete and didnt finish the assignment until a week after Thanksgiving. However, when she
gave him a prompt to write about his favorite sport, Jackson was very easily able to dive right in.
He didnt plan out the narrative ahead of time; he simply started to write.

Question: What would help you better enjoy writing? Perform better?
Jacksons answer: My teacher writing for me. When I have a sub it is hard because the sub does not
write it for me.
Jack does seem to do well when we doesnt have to physically write he dictates to his teacher
who transcribes on the computer. Right now, since hes only 8, he isnt very proficient in typing
on his own. So using technology to type his paper would make the assignment longer, thereby
making it more difficult, to him. Additionally, his teacher breaks down his assignments
(including writing) into manageable pieces, so it doesnt become overwhelming. This strategy is
also supported by Murphy (2015, p. 86). Lastly, if he is able to have some quiet time when he
needs to focus on something, he tends to be able to focus on his assignments better. All of
these strategies working together could help him work better in ELA.

Day 4 Next steps

The interview and research about this topic were eye-opening. Id like to find more information about
what strategies are effective so I can have a conversation with his teacher. Id also be interested in
knowing, in general, whether his teacher (or other teachers) are well-versed in how to support ADHD
children. If not, I may need to advocate for additional supports and resources to ensure all ADHD kids
can get the accommodations needed to succeed.