Tomine Jenssen is 12 years old and is in the 7th grade at Leirfjord Primary and Secondary School in Helgeland. She loves to draw and is happy at school. But at school she has a number of challenges. Tomine has dyslexia and ADHD. It affects every aspect of her life. – ADHD is that you have a little difficulty with everything. It can be difficult to focus, your brain is like “poof!”. I also have a lot of energy, and it’s a bit difficult to sleep, says Tomine. The father has some of the same energy and restlessness, but was never provided with education. – It means everything, he says about the help his daughter now receives. Facts about ADHD ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It is common to divide ADHD into three subgroups: ADHD mainly hyperactive/impulsive type. ADHD mainly inattentive type. ADHD combined type – inattentive, impulsive and hyperactive. Most people who receive an ADHD diagnosis have a combined type. ADHD is a relatively common diagnosis among children and young people in Norway. It is common to have other psychiatric diagnoses or developmental disorders in addition. Anxiety and depression are the most common. Large regional differences indicate different practices in the assessment and diagnosis of ADHD. Better and more uniform routines for diagnosis and registration in the specialist health service will provide a more reliable basis for analyzes of the state of health in Norway when it comes to ADHD. Sources: Folkehelseinstituttet (Report 2016:4) ADHD Norway ADHD Norway is a nationwide voluntary organization for people with ADHD and their relatives. – I knew what things were, but I didn’t understand. Inside the classroom, the desks are arranged like in most classrooms: Two and two together, in a row. At the back, by the window, sits Tomine Jenssen. What she likes most about school are the people around her. Being with his friends. Tomine says she likes working with her classmates. Photo: Matilde Mørk / news Nevertheless, well-being at school is not a matter of course for her. – It is a bit difficult to concentrate, because of my diagnosis. This summer, the family moved to Leirfjord from a neighboring municipality to get a change of environment, and to avoid daily commuting by ferry. When Tomine started a new school, everyday life became much easier. Before, she was allowed to draw, or do easier math exercises in another room, while the other students learned something new in the classroom. Here Tomine sits together with contact teacher Johanne Olsen in the classroom. Photo: Matilde Mørk / news When she came to Leirfjord, Tomine was good at plus, but she couldn’t do the rest of the maths. – I knew what things were, but I didn’t understand it. – Why do you understand it now? – Because I get it explained, and I get to try. – How did it feel when you suddenly realized things you didn’t understand before? – Then I felt smart. news has been in contact with Tomine’s former school, which does not wish to comment on the matter. Great joy that the children are doing well at school. At home, the family sits in the kitchen. Turid and Raymond Jenssen are the parents of Tomine and his little sister Victoria. The family has been given special permission to live in the cottage until they have found a new house. Photo: Matilde Mørk / news – It is our job to ensure that our children have a good and safe upbringing, says the father. – So it is good for us that when we send them to school, we know that they will benefit from the time they have there, adds the mother. At Leirfjord primary and secondary school, the children have been provided with education served on a silver platter. The parents believe it is important that the children are set the right amount of demands. Photo: Matilde Mørk / news Among other things, the family was immediately introduced to a writing program that would help children with dyslexia. But for Turid and Raymond, the teachers’ demands on Tomine have been important. – It is important that they make the right amount of demands. In order for you to feel mastery, you also have to be bothered a little, but it’s about a balance between mastery and resistance. This is about one’s self-image. Tomine’s father has experienced that himself. Went into town and asked for help – You go around feeling stupid, until you find out you’re not. Tomine’s father, Raymond Jenssen, had great challenges when he went to school in the 80s. He was restless and did not master the academics. Raymond did not receive any organized teaching. When Raymond was about the same age as his daughter is now, he went to the city to ask for adapted education himself. He got no. Here is Raymond Jenssen when he was around 10 years old. Photo: Private Raymond, among other things, could not speak English until well into adulthood. – It’s awful that you have to live half your life thinking you’re stupid. Then it turns out I wasn’t. It’s pretty gruesome. Only in adulthood did Raymond experience mastery at school, and now he is a trained sea captain. Now he has a completely different self-image than he had then. – I know today that I was not stupid. I just needed a little extra help to understand. – Do you wish you had the same follow-up at school that Tomine gets? – Yes. I don’t know where I would be today if I had left secondary school with grades like the others. Homework free And the parents have been worried about Tomine’s further education. But now they see more possibilities for their daughter. Tomine has both ADHD and dyslexia, but likes to read to patient classmates. Photo: Matilde Mørk / news – Education today is so important. Everyone must have that if they are to survive in this society. If you are left standing on the platform when the train leaves, you can get into trouble. Tomine has ADHD, this does not mean that she is less smart than the other students, but that, among other things, she needs less work, the mother explains. Tomine doesn’t have homework. When she is at school she uses a lot of herself, so when she comes home she is very tired. Then she usually wants to be by herself and switch off completely. – And then we should start with homework, we have had bad experience with that. It was a big fight every time. Tomine uses the tablet to disconnect after school. Photo: Matilde Mørk / news Leirfjord primary and secondary school has met the parents well, but that does not mean that everything at the former school was wrong. – I don’t think everything that has been done before is wrong, but sometimes I think it is healthy to be seen with new eyes. The main character in Tomine’s mastery is contact teacher Johanne. Expect equal work effort – We have had very clear expectations of Tomine from day one. After we got to know her, we set expectations for what we showed she could do, says Olsen. Johanne Olsen says the most important thing is to build good relationships with the children. Photo: Matilde Mørk / news The academic promise the parents talk about is, among other things, a mixture of relationship building and clear expectations. What the contact teacher is absolutely clear about is that she expects the same effort from Tomine as she expects from the rest of the class. – When we are at school, we are here to learn. Drawing can be done at another time, or agreed upon when there is a time for it. On the tests, the teachers can remove some of the questions from Tomine’s tests. – The subject must not be too difficult so that it kills motivation. There must be a balance that means that she has something to strive for, but also not that it becomes too difficult so that she never meets something she can do. One of Olsen’s measures is to write up the daily schedule on the board so that all the students can see what is happening that day. The teacher puts up the lesson’s and today’s timetable on the board every morning and also tells the timetable orally. The tasks are crossed out along the way. Photo: Matilde Mørk / news This is so that the children who lose concentration can easily know what the rest of the class is doing. But demands and expectations can only work if the teacher has a good relationship with the pupils. – I think the relationship is incredibly important. The students must be motivated to learn from you, otherwise you will get nowhere. What the teacher does is completely in line with what ADHD Norway recommends. – If it is suitable for students with ADHD, it is suitable for all students. Nina Holmen, subject manager in ADHD Norway, says that children with ADHD do not have any automatic requirements for special education at school, but that all students have requirements for adapted education. Nina Holmen is subject manager in ADHD Norway. ADHD Norway has created a Teacher’s guide that gives advice on how they can facilitate these students. – There is a clear and distinct structure, help with reminders, good relationships, giving confidence and giving realistic expectations to the student. This is something the teachers can manage within the ordinary training, says Holmen. She learns that this is something that not all schools are able to achieve, but that general adaptations that are suitable for pupils with ADHD are suitable for all pupils. – It makes it better for the whole class, because there is structure, order and system and it is good for everyone. She nevertheless emphasizes that adapting to the needs of all students, especially students with complex combinations of learning differences, is resource-intensive. – I want to show that many teachers do a good job and want the best for their students, but it has become a lot for the teacher alone to handle. In complex cases, teachers need help, says Holm.
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Schoolgirl from Leirfjord with ADHD and dyslexia has gotten better with adapted teaching – news Nordland
