To learn more about how this happens read: ADHD is a Conditioned Attentional Avoidance Loop based defense skill not a deficit.

In relationship to school, he is likely to have difficulty organizing assignments, tasks and activities. He is likely to arrive at school missing school assignments, books and other school materials, claiming to have forgotten or lost them.

Listening and remembering are problems. Learning new things is difficult and frustrating for him. When given several things to do, he often only remembers the first couple and forgets the rest. He does not listen well and appears Inattentive and distracted when parents or teachers are trying to get him to listen to them. Comments such as "he cannot listen” or “He is in his own little world” are likely common. In contrast, this inattentiveness is generally not present when he is listening to someone such as a playmate, or engaged in some activity, such as a TV show or computer game, that he is interested in. To learn more about how this happens read: The tyranny of he can not makes sure he will not.

In class, he may sit quietly and superficially appear to be working. Because he has difficulty processing oral or written instructions, he may miss enough that he does not understand what he is supposed to do. This leads to mistakes and poor grades because instructions were not followed. Academic subjects that require sustained attention, such as reading comprehension and math, are particularly vulnerable. The problem is that individual words do not have much meaning. To understand what he reads, he must be able to keep phrases, sentences and paragraphs in short term memory.

All of the attentional and behavioral problems above are often misunderstood as a skills deficit. While this is sometimes the case, it is more likely to be attributable to stress and anxiety. Whether it is remembering a teacher’s or parent’s directions, or remembering complete phrases while reading, his attentional resources, ie. working memory, is being drained by emotional arousal. In the example of reading, he may have little comprehension because no one can comprehend well when they read one word at a time. Likewise, learning math requires him to memorize mathematical operations such as multiplication tables or formulas. To do math requires him to hold a series of operations and facts in short-term memory. This is impossible for him when emotions are draining attentional resources. As a consequence, his struggles with these subjects are often misunderstood as a learning disability rather than a sustained attentional problem. Until attention is improved, strategies to improve skills alone are seldom helpful.

An example of how the above dynamics play out, is that struggling to stay on task is so much work for him that he tries to avoid anything in which he has to focus attention, such as school work, homework and chores, for as long as possible. It is easier to “space out” or make excuses for hours to avoid simple schoolwork and homework tasks that adults perceive as simple.

Homework can turn into “homework help Hell” for both you as parents and for him. Often children with this diagnosis forget to write down assignments or leave them at school. No book or the wrong book is brought home. Homework usually takes far longer than it should and the quality may be poor. Both you and he are likely to be frustrated by the end of homework time and dread the next bout of homework. For help dealing with homework help Hell read this: Homework problems and solutions

There are social as well as academic effects to attentional difficulties. He may appear withdrawn and dreamy, depressed, inert, or anxious. Although these behaviors may cause frustration and tension for a child, he usually does not disrupt class or prompt parent-teacher conferences. Girls are more likely to present as ADHD, Inattentive type than boys since they are less likely to want to inconvenience others. Thus, many ADHD, Inattentive type girls go unidentified.