ADHD knowledge 'crucial' in primary teachers

02 Oct 2008

A teacher's ability to identify and manage children with ADHD is crucial for their educational development, according to experts in the condition.

Founder of ADHD support charity Misunderstood, Jacqui George, explained: "It is very important for teachers to be taught how to recognise and work with ADHD sufferers.

"People put children with ADHD and associated illnesses down as poor achievers. That is fallacy… I think all teachers, anyone in education, need to know the ins and outs of ADHD."

ADHD is thought to affect between three and seven per cent of schoolchildren and is normally diagnosed around the age of five.

However, recent findings reported at the annual conference of Royal College of Psychiatrists' Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry revealed that only 35 per cent of primary school teachers questioned had received any training in understanding or managing ADHD behaviour.

Statistics indicate that there are currently an estimated 365,000 children in the UK who suffer from the condition.

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