Natalia Jiménez, educational psychologist: “Forcing a child with ADHD to sit completely still while studying uses up all their cognitive energy”

“Sit properly,” “stop moving,” “stay still and concentrate.” Many families repeat these instructions during homework, assuming that a child who needs to focus must first stop moving. For children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, that approach may work against the goal.

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ADHD is not a problem of bad behavior or a lack of willpower; it is a neurobiological disorder that directly affects the brain’s executive functions, such as planning, working memory, processing speed, response inhibition and self-regulation.

Educational psychologist Natalia Jiménez de Aranoa says ADHD is not a problem of bad behavior or a lack of willpower. It is a neurobiological disorder that affects executive functions, including planning, working memory, processing speed, response inhibition and self-regulation.

That distinction becomes especially important at the start of a new school year. A child who repeatedly gets up, moves their legs, touches objects on the desk or struggles to remain seated may not be disobedient or uninterested. Jiménez says hyperactivity can function as “an unconscious mechanism of the body to keep the brain alert.”

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The symptom of hyperactivity is, in reality, an unconscious mechanism of the body to keep the brain alert.

She warns that constantly asking a child to stop moving may create an additional burden. “Forcing a child with ADHD to remain completely static while studying consumes all their cognitive energy, leaving them without the resources to absorb information,” she says. Her proposal is not to remove rules from homework, but to permit movement and channel it.

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Forcing a child with ADHD to remain completely static while studying consumes all their cognitive energy, leaving them without the resources to absorb information.

Jiménez refers to small, repetitive movements as passive motor release, or “silent movement.” These gestures can help children discharge their need for movement without turning their attention away from their work. She says children with hyperactivity need to release energy continuously, but in a way that does not disrupt their study. Low-profile fidgeting tools are one possible option.

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The intervention at home should be based on one key principle: movement permitted and channeled.