Jane Hurry

Purpose: Compared to neurotypical peers, neurodivergent students experience increased exposure and more intense responses to commonly upsetting events (emotional burden), contributing to poor mental health. Student and staff perspectives offer insights into sources of emotional burden in school and how they can be managed and reduced. However, student and staff perspectives are rarely explored together. Methods: Focus groups with students (11–16 years, n = 11) with autism or ADHD diagnoses, and school staff (n = 12) were used to explore the impact of the school environment on students’ emotions. Multimedia methodologies supported communication and participation. Results: Reflexive thematic analysis generated three themes: Theme 1 “Upsetting experiences in school that trigger negative emotions” with subthemes: (i) an overwhelming and uncertain physical environment; (ii) a lack of belonging and understanding; (iii) inflexible school policies; (iv) an overemphasis on academic achievement; Theme 2 “Staff-specific barriers to supporting neurodivergent students” with subthemes (i) staff wellbeing; (ii) inconsistent understandings of, and support for, neurodivergent students; and Theme 3 “Promoting emotionally healthy school environments” with subthemes: (i) whole school collaboration and action; (ii) positive approaches and agency; (iii) building trust, understanding and belonging; (iv) close staff relationships, training and supervision. Conclusion: Staff and students had shared understandings of stressors, staff through observing behaviour, students through internal experience. Both reported helpful practices, primarily environmental adaptations to accommodate students’ needs. Staff also reflected on their own wellbeing, training and supervision. These insights offer a nuanced understanding of student and staff knowledge to inform policy, practice, and research in school settings.

BackgroundADHD and autistic adolescents experience elevated rates of anxiety, depression, burnout and school distress. Emerging evidence suggests that mainstream school environments can create an “emotional burden” for neurodivergent students, through sensory overwhelm, social exclusion, and pressures to conform to neurotypical expectations, potentially contributing to poor mental health. However, little is known about how neurodivergent young people themselves who face low mood, understand these experiences.ObjectiveTo qualitatively explore the experiences of autistic and ADHD adolescents with low mood, depression and burnout and how school environments may contribute to them.MethodsOnline semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 ADHD and/or autistic adolescents aged 11-16 years (Mage= 13.82, SD=1.44) attending or previously attending mainstream secondary schools in the United Kingdom (UK). Interviews explored experiences of school, low mood, depression, anxiety, emotional burden and wellbeing, and were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Using a deep participatory model of qualitative research, interviews were co-designed, co-delivered and co-analysed with neurodivergent youth co-researchers.FindingsFive themes were generated: (1) School culture prioritises discipline over wellbeing; (2) Lack of neurodivergence-informed practice; (3) No choice but hiding self to survive; (4) Chronic exhaustion, hypervigilance, and burnout; and (5) Depression and low mood. Participants described school environments characterised by academic pressure, punitive systems, sensory and social overwhelm and limited psychological safety, contributing to mental health problems. Masking and self-suppression were commonly described as necessary for survival and linked to chronic exhaustion, burnout, cognitive shutdown, withdrawal, anxiety, and low mood. Participants’ accounts suggested that distress was closely associated with ongoing environmental mismatch and pressures to adapt to neurotypical expectations.ConclusionsSchool environments characterised by repeated demands for adaptation can create chronic emotional burden. Hypervigilance and masking become adaptive responses. These responses accumulate into exhaustion and burnout, alongside which low mood and depression develop.Clinical implicationsThese findings highlight the need for more neurodivergent-informed, context-adaptive and preventative approaches within educational and mental health settings to help reduce the risk of low mood and prevent the escalation of these experiences. Neurodivergent students’ perspectives should be at the forefront of these mental health approaches.

Motivated children are more likely to comprehend and enjoy their reading than their non-motivated peers. However, research has predominantly explored the role of reading motivation in neurotypical children and overlooked its potential benefits for children with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In this study, we aimed to a) explore the views of ADHD and non-ADHD children about their experiences of reading motivation and overall reading and b) test for any qualitative differences in the reading motivation profiles and reading experiences of the two groups. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 children: 12 with ADHD and 12 non-ADHD. We explored children's views about their reading experiences in relation to motivation, with a focus on choice and reward. We also tested for qualitative differences between groups. We identified three themes, including motivations to engage in reading, basic needs satisfaction and classroom context. We found that themes were mostly similar across children, with some between-group differences. Reading practices promoting and supporting reading motivation could benefit both ADHD and non-ADHD children. Future reading research should seek the perspectives of children, especially neurodivergent children, including those with ADHD, whose voices remain under-represented.

School-mandated exclusion, or school absence, is on the increase in England. Earlier analyses focused on the characteristics of children, rather than the relationship with school. Using the Millennium Cohort Study, we explore the relationship between school exclusion/school absence and school satisfaction. The Millennium Cohort Study is a UK birth cohort study of around 19,000 children born at the start of the twenty-first century and includes measures relating to school satisfaction, including liking school, being interested in school and being happy. We ask: What are the exclusion risk factors? What is the predictive relationship between school satisfaction and school exclusion and school absence? And what is the predictive relationship between school exclusion and school absence and subsequent school satisfaction over time? Our analysis applied fixed effect models based on within-child comparisons across time (age 11, 14 and 17). Results confirm that Millennium Cohort Study children miss school through exclusion (9 per cent) and absence (14 per cent), are disproportionately male and have special educational needs. School satisfaction was protective; a high level of satisfaction with school at age 7 and 11 reduced the likelihood of exclusion and truancy at age 14 in secondary school. Girls who experienced primary school exclusion reported significantly lower satisfaction with secondary school. We discuss the relationship between school satisfaction and school connectedness measures, with a view to a more nuanced understanding of the interaction between school attitudes to children and children’s attitudes to school. We conclude with tentative implications for policy and future research.

BackgroundMotivated children are more likely to comprehend and enjoy their reading than their non-motivated peers. However, research has predominantly explored the role of reading motivation in neurotypical children and overlooked its potential benefits for children with a diagnosis of ADHD. AimsIn this study, we aimed to a) explore the views of ADHD and non-ADHD children about their experiences of reading motivation and overall reading and b) test for any qualitative differences in the reading motivation profiles and reading experiences of the two groups. Methods and ProceduresWe conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 children; 12 non-ADHD and 12 with ADHD. We explored children’s views about their reading experiences in relation to motivation, with a focus on choice and reward. We also tested for any group qualitative differences. Outcomes and ResultsWe identified three themes including motivations to engage in reading, basic needs satisfaction, and classroom context. We found themes were mostly similar between the two groups, with some between-group differences. Conclusions and ImplicationsReading practices promoting and supporting reading motivation could benefit both ADHD and non-ADHD children. Future research should seek the perspectives of children, especially those with a diagnosis of ADHD whose voices are less heard.

There are growing concerns about the number of children and young people who are “Not in Education, Employment, or Training” (NEET). The literature suggests that further research is warranted to help understand what can be done to reduce the number of pupils at risk of NEET, to enable a successful transition into education, employment, or training. In this study, the views of schoolteachers (who provide careers support in schools and make NEET referrals) and career advice service providers (who receive NEET referrals from schoolteachers) are gauged to gain better insight regarding existing careers provision in schools and the efficacy of NEET referral processes. Using a qualitative interview approach, two schoolteachers from the West Midlands (UK) and three career advice service providers were recruited for the study. Thematic analysis of the interviews with schoolteachers identified four superordinate themes: Pupil Contact and Support; A Whole-School Approach to Careers Guidance; Broadening Horizons and Creating Opportunities; NEET Identification and Referral: When, How, and What Happens Next? The interviews with career advice service providers distinguished three superordinate themes: Navigating a Dynamic Landscape; Integration and Affiliation with Schools; Reaching Pupils at Risk of NEET. Taken together, the findings indicate that providing improved and continued communication, collaboration, and coordination of different services appear to be key leverages to address the multiple service needs of young people at risk.

BACKGROUND: This study examines school exclusion and truancy in relation to both conduct and emotional problems. It considers these mental health problems both as predictors and as outcomes of school exclusion and truancy.METHOD: The sample included 15,236 individuals from the Millennium Cohort Study, a UK longitudinal birth cohort study. Using subscales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, conduct and emotional problems were assessed through childhood to adolescence (age 3, 5, 7, 11, 14 and 17 years), and reports of school exclusion and truancy were collected at age 11 and 14. RESULTS: Conduct problems during childhood were associated with subsequent exclusion and truancy in early adolescence in both males and females, but childhood emotional symptoms showed no such association. Prior exclusion was associated with an increase in conduct problems at age 14 for both genders, and for males it was also associated with an increase in emotional symptoms both at age 14 and 17. Prior truancy was associated with an increase in conduct problems at age 14 for both genders, and for females also at age 17, and it was associated with increased emotional symptoms at age 14 and 17 for both genders.CONCLUSION: Overall results indicate a bidirectional association between conduct problems and school exclusion and truancy. For emotional symptoms, the association is unidirectional as these symptoms do not lead to exclusions or truancy. However, an increase in emotional symptoms may be a consequence of exclusion and truancy.

One argument for early intervention for reading difficulties is that it can sustainably improve children’s reading competence trajectory (the ‘inoculation model’), but there are virtually no studies on sustained effects at the end of compulsory schooling. This study reports on a 10‐year follow‐up of a widely used early literacy intervention, Reading Recovery. UK schools adopting Reading Recovery enrol selected teachers for a year’s training, after which they provide one‐to‐one tutoring and typically act as literacy advisors. In a quasi‐experimental, intention to treat, design, 293 6‐year‐olds with reading difficulties in 42 London schools were assigned to Reading Recovery (RR), standard provision in Reading Recovery schools (RRS) or standard provision in comparison schools (CS). Children were traced at ages 14 (204) and 16 (271) and data collected from the National Pupil Database. At age 14 and 16, significantly fewer RR than CS pupils were officially identified as having special educational needs, a potential consequence of reading difficulties. Using multi‐level modelling and controlling for baseline reading and Free School Meal status (an indicator of poverty), at age 16 the RR group significantly outperformed the CS group on academic qualifications (GCSEs) (d = 0.52). However, the RRS group also performed significantly better than the CS group (d = 0.37), consistent with the fact that standard provision for weaker readers in RR schools differed from that provided in CS. Thus, these results support the long‐term effects of early intervention but raise questions about the importance of whole‐school effects and systemic intervention.

It has been proposed that enhancing motivation supports the learning of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Less is known if inattentive children with no ADHD diagnosis may similarly benefit, when being motivated to engage in an academic task. Using a repeated-measures design, this study investigated the effects of text choice as an intrinsic motivator on the reading comprehension and enjoyment of Year 4 children attending mainstream primary schools (N = 92; aged 8–9 years; 48 boys); comparing those with no attentional difficulties and severe inattention. We hypothesized that 1) choice would increase reading comprehension and enjoyment 2) choice would increase the reading comprehension and enjoyment of children both with severe inattention and no attentional difficulties 3) choice effects would be significantly greater for children with severe inattention than those with no attentional difficulties. Children participated in a reading intervention that included a Choice (experimental) and a No Choice (control) condition. Child inattention was measured via a Virtual Reality Continuous Performance Task (Omission errors, Reaction Time Variability) and Teacher Ratings. Choice significantly increased reading comprehension, but not enjoyment compared with no choice. Choice improved the reading comprehension of children with both severe inattention and no attentional difficulties. Choice did not benefit the reading of severely inattentive children more than that of children with no attentional difficulties. These findings underline the educational benefits of choice for young readers both with severe inattention and no attentional difficulties, which are further discussed drawing on existing theory and research.