Every classroom has one: the child who calls out answers, loses the pencil again, stares out of the window, or cannot stay in the seat. Too often we call that child naughty or lazy. After more than 25 years in classrooms and school leadership, I have learned that these words usually hide something else.
What the research in India tells us
Studies with Indian teachers keep finding the same gap:
- In a study of 30 teachers in Kottayam, Kerala, none had a good level of knowledge about ADHD. 80% had average knowledge and 20% had poor knowledge. Teachers knew general facts but struggled most with symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.
- An earlier study of 312 teachers found that only 29% had a good level of knowledge.
- A 2019 study in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry reported that when teachers did not recognise ADHD, some fell back on spanking, blaming and corporal punishment.
This is not the teachers' fault. Most of us were simply never trained.
The three groups of signs
ADHD shows up in three ways. A child may have mainly one, or a mix:
- Inattention: loses things, forgets instructions, makes careless mistakes, starts tasks but does not finish them, seems not to listen.
- Hyperactivity: fidgets, leaves the seat, runs or climbs at the wrong time, talks a lot.
- Impulsivity: blurts out answers, cannot wait for a turn, interrupts others.
Every child does these things sometimes. With ADHD, the signs are frequent, last more than six months, appear in more than one place (school and home), and get in the way of learning or friendships.
What a teacher can do this week
- Observe, do not label. Write down what you see, when, and how often, for two weeks.
- Talk to the parents with care. Share observations, not conclusions. Say "I have noticed…" rather than "I think your child has ADHD."
- Refer. Only a qualified doctor or psychologist can diagnose ADHD. Your notes will help them.
- Support now. You do not need a diagnosis to seat a child near you, give one instruction at a time, or praise effort.
A child who is struggling is not a bad child. Sometimes they are a child whose brain needs a different kind of support.
Sources: Teacher knowledge of ADHD, Kottayam (Kerala) study; 2014 study of 312 teachers; Indian Journal of Psychiatry (2019); International Journal of Indian Psychology (2025).
This article is for education and awareness. It is not medical advice. Only a qualified doctor or psychologist can diagnose ADHD.