Sensory Based Learning and Self-Efficacy in Students with ADHD
Sensory Based Learning and Self-Efficacy in Students with ADHD
Allison Factor
Kent State University
EPSY 56629: Educational Motivation
Bradely Morris
October 6th, 2025
Introduction
Self-efficacy has been studied by many researchers in various formats dating back to Albert Bandura’s studies of social foundations. As explained by Bandura (1986), self-efficacy is the perceived capabilities to organise and execute particular courses of action to complete a particular task. A student’s self-efficacy is a vital component of their growth and achievement; however, some students may experience a lower sense of self-efficacy. Stemming from pre-determined diagnoses, students with ADHD may struggle with a sense of self-worth, which may dictate a generalized and perceived understanding of how they will automatically score in classes due to their disability. Results from a study of self-perception by Dumas and Pelletier (1999) indicated that students with hyperactive behaviors struggled with scholastic competence, social acceptance, and behavioral conduct. An alternative study on innovative methods of learning, such as sensory based learning, aiding students with special needs learn a foreign language, it notes that students with disabilities (ie. ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Learning Disabilities, etc.) may struggle with perceptual, communication, and adaptive barriers while learning, which can influence student self-worth, and therefore, student performance (Kachur, 2025). Throughout transitional periods of life, particularly adolescence, the appreciation of self-worth and self-confidence positively impacts academic achievements (Ashraf et. al, 2024), consequently encouraging or discouraging further motivation and achievement among students in schools.
One teaching method that has been looked to as an appropriate teaching style to engage students with ADHD is sensory-based learning, or learning that utilizes multiple senses: touch, taste, smell, sound, and/or sight. Recently, Azizah and Saragiah (2025) researched how structured sensory play-based learning may increase attention and focus, leading to greater achievement for students with ADHD. Through multi-sensory instruction, will students with ADHD participate in more self-regulated and self-motivated learning, reaching higher abilities and success? This paper will review research on ADHD and self-efficacy, as well as the effects of multi-sensory learning on ADHD student performance, discuss why this research is important, and apply this research in terms of assisting those who struggle with hyperactivity and self-regulated learning.
Literature Review
ADHD is a common neurodiverse disability which impacts the executive functioning skills of an individual, affecting around 5-8% of children in the United States (Salari et. al, 2023). According to the American Psychiatric Association (2022), the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders states that individuals with ADHD may struggle with inattention and/or impulsive behaviors and sensory processing difficulties, among other deficits. The power that ADHD holds over students, and their learning can control the belief of how students will achieve, which can lead to learned helplessness or low self-efficacy. In a study done by Tabassam and Grainger (2002), both the Learning Disability and LD/ADHD groups who participated in the study had significantly lower scores on their academic self-concept, academic self-efficacy beliefs, and academic attributional style. This study aligns with a variety of research which states that students with ADHD struggle with academic competence and self-regulated learning (Kent et. al, 2011; Sibley et. al, 2019; Major et. al, 2013). Teacher relationships can impact a student’s self-efficacy, with studies showing that the attitude the teacher has in the classroom can affect children’s school experience (Erickson, 2025). Students with ADHD may exhibit hyperactive behaviors, impulsive behaviors, and other executive functioning deficits, which can affect the relationship between the teacher and student. Both teachers and students alike do their best when regulated and able to access the executive states of their brains, leading to a sense of higher self-worth and academic self-efficacy. Sensory-based learning can help students with ADHD regulate their physical sensory needs and attend to tasks with greater success. As researched, the integration of structured sensory play-based learning through providing multi-sensory experiences provides external structure, delivers targeted sensory stimulation and gradually improves children’s self-regulation capabilities for better attention and focus outcomes (Azizah & Saragiah, 2025). Another study focused on individuals diagnosed with a form of learning difficulties were researched to determine whether multi-sensory instruction enhanced student learning and success, where both male and female participants increased their academic success (Khasawneh, 2024). An increase in academic success can be understood by an increase in understanding due to a multi-sensory approach of receiving new information, in addition to a more self-regulated learning environment. With this research in mind, it can be determined that for students with ADHD to succeed in a learning environment with a self-regulated body and mind, teachers must provide space and opportunity for students to regulate using their senses.
Application
There are a few limitations that stem from the research presented, which may pose difficulties for teachers aiming to utilize multi-sensory instruction in their classrooms. Curriculum policy, though at times not sufficiently informed, locks teachers into specific formats of teaching, limiting creativity, and the use of independently determined techniques (Wyse and Bradbury, 2022). Teachers are also sometimes left without much curriculum at all, relying on their own resources to teach students in appropriate ways. Teacher burnout rates are high, and professional self-efficacy can be lacking in those teachers (Madigan et. al, 2023), impacting teacher motivation to create and differentiate instruction in multi-sensory ways. Materials can be difficult for teachers to acquire depending on the setting in which they are teaching (Carrete-Marín et. al, 2024), which can influence the ability for the teacher to provide an exciting sensory-based instructional approach. Regardless of the limitations, there are always ways for teachers to embark on new and innovative ways to utilize student senses to enhance the learning experience.
The approach of sensory-based instruction strengthens neural connections, improves retention, and makes learning more accessible for all students, especially those with ADHD (Busari et. al, 2025). There are many ways to include multi-sensory instruction within the classroom. In a study of the effects of multi-sensory instruction and peer tutoring for students with ADHD, students who received multi-sensory instruction and peer tutoring performed better than the students who received the conventional method (Babalola, 2021). Utilizing older methods in collaboration with multi-sensory strategies can improve student achievement and self-efficacy.
Multisensory instruction is beneficial for all types of learners, those with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Learning Disabilities, and Dyslexia (Rudnick, 2021), in addition to it continuing to increase intrinsic motivation and enjoyment for typical learners, even babies learning their ABC’s (Park, 2022). Young students, grades K-2, can greatly benefit from the use of multisensory techniques when learning their phonics (Kalogris, 2024). Teachers, parents, and leaders around the world can utilize multi-sensory instruction as a teaching method which increases the learner’s understanding and helps with the storage of knowledge.
Discussion and Conclusions
According to this compilation of findings, it can be determined that students diagnosed with ADHD struggle with self-regulated learning and academic success typically in the format of executive functioning deficits and therefore have a lower sense of academic self-efficacy. These findings exemplify the importance of helping students with ADHD to get their individualized needs met in order to be academically successful. According to research, some children with ADHD have a problem with a reticular formation disorder which helps the brain process new sensory based stimuli and has a role in consciousness, motivation, learning, self-control or impulsivity (Mesulam, 1981). Mesulam (1981) also states that when the brain cannot process these stimuli from the environment in the typical format, any stimulus will draw the attention of the individual with ADHD and take them off their previous course of action. When teachers are able to control the type of sensory stimuli within the environment of the learner, distractions can be limited, and sensory needs can be met.
Though all of this can be deduced from a large amount of research in the area of multi-sensory instruction, more research is needed to determine the direct effects of multi-sensory instruction on a student with ADHD’s self-efficacy. As reviewed prior, individuals with ADHD struggle with a lower sense of self-efficacy, especially in an academic setting. However, within a multi-sensory framework of learning, students with ADHD improve in areas of deficit (i.e. focus, impulsive behaviors, self-regulation, student-teacher relationships), which impact the self-reflective judgements made on themselves that make up their self-efficacy, or the beliefs of their educational experience. Therefore, it can be concluded that a student’s academic self-efficacy will increase when students are provided with sensory-based instruction.
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