ADHD, learning disability, autism. These are just a few of the diagnoses that I’ve given to students. As a psychologist, labeling others is an unavoidable occupational hazard.
Mental health labels, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, known as ADHD, present both an opportunity and a challenge to teachers in the classroom. Sometimes receiving a mental health diagnosis alleviates guilt and self-blame, explains patterns of behavior and suggests steps for treatment. Other times, the label is taken too seriously, stirring up prejudices both from the diagnosed person and others.
Research on labeling theory finds that labels (or any way of categorizing people in broad terms) shape the way we see others. A 2011 study published in Journal of School Psychology asked how the ADHD label affects teachers’ perceptions of students. The study asked teachers to rate vignettes featuring students exhibiting behaviors typical of children with ADHD, such as squirming in their seats, wandering in the classroom and talking instead of working. To assess the effects of labeling, two versions of every vignette were created: one that described the students’ behavior as previously noted and another exactly the same but with a note that the student had been diagnosed with ADHD. The researchers found that the teachers who read the ADHD vignettes rated students’ behavior as more disruptive, expressed less confidence in the students’ abilities and said they would feel more stressed having these children in class. In other words, the study illustrates that sometimes well-intentioned labels can harden our judgments of students.
These results might suggest that labeling is always bad; however, the problem is not the label but how much the label dominates our thinking. When we look at students as individuals rather than “ADHD students,” we can see the ways these children succeed in spite of their diagnoses. Children with ADHD are not hyperactive in all situations, nor are they hyperactive in the same situations all the time. When we rely on labels too much, they blind us to exceptions, individuality and uniqueness.
But there are things we can do to avoid the limitations of labels and help our colleagues do the same:
1. Remember that a label is just a label. Try to find ways that students don’t fit their labels. Look to their talents, interests and personalities. Make notes of these so you can offer comprehensive feedback about the student to parents and other school staff.
2. Don’t deny it. Labels do color our perceptions. The best remedy is to be aware, to question and to challenge our assumptions about students.
3. Don’t take limitations as givens. Take feedback about students’ challenges seriously but, when possible, assess students’ strengths and weaknesses in your classroom. For example, if others warn that an ADHD student won’t stay on task without constant reminders, test that out in small ways before assuming a student is incapable of performing.
4. Accommodate but don’t overprotect. It’s just as harmful to shelter ADHD students in order to avoid peer rejection as it is to throw them headlong into something with no support at all. Accommodating doesn’t mean avoiding challenges.
Identifying students’ learning disabilities and mental health needs is an important first step toward helping them succeed, but stopping there may do more harm than good. Supporting these students means educating our educators and building a culture that sees labels as one piece of a child’s identity, not their definition.
Drwal is a psychologist at the Iowa City VA Hospital. He works with and advocates for veterans and their families.
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