Effectively Teaching Learners with ADHD

Imagine you have a student who starts the semester strong but unexpectedly misses a deadline, and then you don’t see them in class for a few sessions. You reach out and are surprised to learn it isn’t because they lost interest in the course; it’s because they were so ashamed of missing that due date that it prevented them from coming back.

Maybe you don’t have to imagine. If you’ve been teaching awhile, chances are you’ve had this exact experience, one that might be related to a student having ADHD.

So what do learners with ADHD need from us as teachers? In her new book An Educator’s Guide to ADHD: Designing and Teaching for Student Success, Karen Costa shares strategies aimed at not only supporting these students but also taking advantage of the valuable strengths and perspectives they can bring to the classroom.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Thinking of the ADHD neurotype as a house with all its doors and windows thrown open
• What we need to unlearn about ADHD, starting with the implications of the name attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
• Tapping into the creativity and outspokenness often exhibited by students with ADHD to improve the overall classroom environment
• Strategies for helping students with ADHD that will benefit everyone in the class
• Karen’s own experiences as someone with ADHD—both as a student and a professional—and why that drives her to talk about them openly, even when it’s uncomfortable
• Navigating potential sticking points between students who might thrive with more flexibility and faculty who are responsible for structuring a course
• How helping learners with ADHD can start with something as simple as making a checklist

Guest Bio: Karen Costa is a faculty development facilitator, adjunct faculty member, and the author of 99 Tips for Creating Simple and Sustainable Educational Videos: A Guide for Online Teachers and Flipped Classes. Her latest book, An Educator’s Guide to ADHD: Designing and Teaching for Student Success, was published in January 2026 by Johns Hopkins University Press.

Resources Mentioned:

• Karen’s New Book: An Educator’s Guide to ADHD: Designing and Teaching for Student Success (Johns Hopkins University Press)
• Karen’s Website: 100faculty.com
• Episode Transcript

Designed for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.