Promoting Success Across School Years for Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Collaborative School-Home Intervention

Abstract

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) typically experience significant difficulties in school, including academic underachievement and impairment in social relationships, such that they are at higher than average risk for special education placement, grade retention, school dropout, and lower lifetime educational attainment.¹ The chronicity of ADHD symptoms and associated impairments requires proactive maintenance of treatment components across school years if amelioration of deleterious long-term outcomes is to be realized. Pfiffner et al.² directly address the ongoing school impairments experienced by students with ADHD by following intensive intervention in 1 school year with booster treatment in a subsequent school year. The Collaborative Life Skills (CLS) program includes multiple components initially delivered over 10 to 12 weeks to train teachers in use of classroom accommodations and strategies (e.g., daily report card), parents in use of behavioral strategies at home and ways to collaborate with teachers, and children in social skills and independent task completion.