Abstract
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed neurobehavioral disorder of childhood. The core symptoms of this disorder include inappropriate levels of inattention, impulsivity and/or hyperactivity, causing several impairments experienced from children across their family, school and social life. In school settings, students with ADHD may face several challenges associated with behavior control, academic underachievement and peer relationships. The aim of this quantitative study was to examine what type of strategies primary school teachers (1st till 6th grade) use to support students with ADHD in improving their academic and behavioral performance, how do they perceive the effectiveness of these strategies and whether their teaching experience or ADHD-related training are impacting the way they rate the effectiveness of the strategies. The questionnaire for this study was constructed based on a list of 42 strategies, developed and employed by McKinley and Stormont (2008). In total, 51 teachers from primary schools in the region of Athens participated in this study. Almost all the strategies, included in the questionnaire were reported to be used by the majority of teachers, indicating that they are aware and use a range of diverse strategies. The strategies which received the highest effectiveness ratings were the ones focusing on the manipulation of the events occurring after the target behavior or the accomplishment of a task, in other words the ones belonging to the broader category of “consequent-based strategies”. On the contrary, peer-mediated strategies were the ones receiving the lowest scores for their effectiveness. There was no significant correlation observed between the teachers’ years of experience and their ADHD-related training respectively, and the effectiveness ratings they provided. The vast majority of teachers showed a very high interest in receiving more training and information related to ADHD in the future.