ADHD in Today’s Indian Schools: A Practitioner’s Perspective
In recent years, there has been a noticeable rise in the number of children being identified with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Indian schools. My understanding of this shift has been shaped by working across therapeutic and educational settings, first as an ABA therapist and later as a counsellor and life skills educator within school systems.
Working in structured therapeutic settings allowed me to closely observe how attention, impulsivity, and regulation challenges manifest at an individual level, and how much effort goes into behaviours that are often dismissed as defiance or a lack of motivation. When I moved into school environments, I began to see how the same children were interpreted very differently once these behaviours entered crowded classrooms designed around uniformity rather than difference.
For a long time, neurodivergent children were misunderstood as careless, disruptive, or unmotivated. What has slowly begun to change is not the children themselves, but the systems around them. With recent policy changes, schools and educational institutions are now mandated to include counselling psychologists as part of their teams. This has opened up space for earlier identification, increased dialogue around mental health, and growing awareness among teachers and administrators that children with ADHD are not ‘less than’ their peers but rather they simply function differently from neurotypical children.
Policy, Awareness, and the Changing School Ecosystem
The presence of counsellors within schools has made it easier to recognise divergent behaviour at a younger age and to intervene in more meaningful ways. In my personal experience, when identification is accompanied by appropriate support, therapy, classroom accommodations, and collaboration with families, children are better able to access both education and mental health care.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 further strengthens this shift by emphasising inclusive and equitable education. Schools are required to admit children with disabilities and enable their participation across all stages of schooling, from foundational years to higher education. On paper, this is a powerful move toward inclusion. In practice, however, implementation remains uneven, and schools often struggle to translate policy intent into everyday classroom realities.
Rising Diagnoses: Support, Stigma, and Misunderstanding
ADHD tends to be diagnosed more frequently than conditions such as anxiety, depression, or autism, largely because its behaviours are more visible in classroom settings (Barkley, 2015; Polanczyk et al., 2015; Hinshaw, 2018). While this visibility allows for earlier identification and access to support, it also places children at risk of constant reprimanding and negative labelling.
Having worked in both classrooms and structured therapeutic environments, I have often observed that a diagnosis can become a double-edged sword, serving either as a gateway to
understanding or as a justification for exclusion, depending entirely on how schools respond. When behaviour is addressed without context or compassion, children internalise the message that they are ‘problematic,’ rather than recognising that they need different tools to thrive.
Academic, Emotional, and Social Impact
Repeated correction and criticism can significantly erode a child’s self-esteem. Many children with ADHD struggle to meet conventional expectations of how learning should occur, including sitting still, sustaining attention, and completing tasks linearly (Hinshaw, 2018). Over time, this mismatch affects not only academic confidence but also a child’s relationship with learning itself, sometimes extending well into adulthood.
Challenges with executive functioning, task initiation and completion, inconsistent performance, and sustained attention can lead children to miss out on academic opportunities when adequate support is not provided. Beyond academics, ADHD also affects emotional regulation and social functioning (Brown, 2013; APA, 2022). Impulsivity and difficulty adhering to classroom norms often result in peer rejection, conflict with teachers, and strained relationships.
Chronic criticism and repeated experiences of failure increase vulnerability to anxiety, low mood, and emotional dysregulation. Many children develop a deep fear of failure or begin avoiding tasks that feel overwhelming. Without emotional support, these patterns can shape a child’s self-concept in lasting ways (Hinshaw, 2018).
Teachers, Families, and Structural Constraints
Teachers often work within rigid curricula, large classroom sizes, and systems that offer limited training in neurodiversity. While many educators are motivated to support neurodivergent students, they may lack the institutional backing or practical tools required to do so sustainably.
Drawing from both school-based work and my experience as an ABA therapist, I have seen that simple ADHD-friendly practices, movement breaks, flexible seating, varied instructional styles, predictable routines, and strengths-based feedback benefit all students, not only those with diagnoses. However, expecting individual teachers to implement these strategies without systemic support places an unfair burden on them.
Families, too, navigate complex emotional terrain. Parents of children with ADHD often experience denial, guilt, confusion, and significant social stigma. Accessing assessments, therapy, and school accommodations can be emotionally and financially taxing, especially outside urban centres(Hinshaw, 2018). Many parents find themselves balancing advocacy for their child with fear of labelling and discrimination within school environments.
Understanding the Rise in ADHD Diagnoses
The increase in ADHD diagnoses can be attributed to multiple factors. Greater awareness among parents, teachers, and professionals has led to improved identification and clearer diagnostic
frameworks. At the same time, expectations of children’s behaviour have changed (Polanczyk et al., 2015). Behaviours once considered within the range of neurotypical development may now be viewed through a diagnostic lens.
Environmental factors also play a role. Reduced outdoor play, increased academic pressure at younger ages, and higher screen exposure have all been associated with the exacerbation of pre-existing attention and regulation difficulties.
Moving Toward Inclusion and Strength-Based Education
True inclusion requires a shift from punishment to understanding, and from rigid standardisation to flexibility. ADHD should not be viewed solely as a deficit, but as a different neurological style, one that comes with challenges as well as strengths such as creativity, curiosity, energy, and innovative problem-solving.
For Indian schools to become genuinely inclusive, neurodiversity must be recognised as a natural part of human variation rather than an exception to be managed. Policy changes are an important start, but real change depends on attitudinal shifts, structural support, and a commitment to seeing children as individuals rather than disruptions.
As schools continue to evolve, supporting children with ADHD is not only a mental health imperative, but it is also an educational and ethical responsibility.