Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - Research Proposal Example

 ADHD and its effects on education Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that still baffles many. The most common symptoms relate to the two parts of the definition. Attention deficit relates to the inability to hold one’s attention for long periods of time or therefore to attend to a task for long. Hyperactivity accompanies the attention deficit and the person can’t sit still for long. ADHD becomes apparent as early as preschool in some cases. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that between 3 and 5 percent of children have ADHD disorder (n.d). This represents approximately two million children in the United States. According to this estimate at least one child in every classroom of twenty five or thirty children will have ADHD. There is some belief that ADHD affects boys more than it affects girls. Zambo (2008) explains that boys get more attention and are more readily diagnosed because they are more fidgity, impulsive and have a harder time sitting still. Girls tend to have more internalizing behavior and more mood disorders and tend to have the inattentive type of ADHD. ADHD does not only exist in children; some adults are also known to be living with it. However diagnosis is difficult in children since the three common symptoms, impulsivity, hyperactivity and inattention are in some circumstances considered common characteristics of children in general. Another reason for the difficulty in diagnoses is that these symptoms can co-occur with many conditions in children. However when these symptoms begin to affect the child’s performance in school and social behavior ADHD is suspected. School is undoubtedly a challenging experience for children with ADHD. The US Department of Education reports that “ Studies found that students with ADHD, compared to students without ADHD, had persistent academic difficulties that resulted in the following: lower average marks, more failed grades, more expulsions, increased dropout rates, and a lower rate of college undergraduate completion” (2003). The inattention and hyperactivity lead to frequent classroom disruptions. The students are very easily bored and need to move about. They move around the classroom at inappropriate times and they talk constantly. Their disruptive behavior puts them at risk for expulsion more easily. Another difficulty faced is the inability to understand or follow directions or to complete their tasks. Because of the inattentiveness the student may miss many details of class-work and homework assignments. Students tend to day dream during class time. They also have difficulty organizing their work and so their work ends up appearing to be scrappy or messy. The tendency to be impulsive affects their performance in class as they may make careless errors or respond spontaneously to questions in class without giving full thought to what the answer should be. These difficulties that school presents for children with ADHD often leads them to be classified as learning disabled since they are often not able to keep up with the structure and organization of a class and school work. They tend to fall behind in the work and this only leads to greater frustration which can in turn cause further difficult behavior. According to Cantwell and Baker (quoted in Leslie et al 2008) “research has documented that 50% to 80% of students with ADHD may exhibit academic performance problems resulting in failure to acquire sufficient skills in reading, math, writing and spelling”. Not only are there academic problems, but there are consequent emotional and social problems also. Low self-esteem can result from the learning problems and so building social relationships is affected. The cause of ADHD is also still unclear. Some suggested factors contributing include environmental agents such as alcohol, tobacco and toxic chemicals such as lead, food additives and sugar and genetics. Since it is difficult to establish cause treatment must be considered carefully. Treatment so far has included medication, behavioral therapy, counseling or combinations of these. The National Institute of Mental Health funded one of the largest studies, The Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, in order to gather information on the best treatments for children with ADHD. Five hundred and seventy nine elementary school boys and girls with ADHD, were randomly assigned to one of four treatment programs: (1) medication management alone; (2) behavioral treatment alone; (3) a combination of both; or (4) routine community care. The long-term combination treatments and medication-management alone gave better results than behavioral treatment alone or routine community care. In order for children with ADHD to do well in schools there must be collaboration between home and school. Teachers must understand the difficulties that the child is having and especially understand how learning difficulties can go hand in hand with the ADHD. General coping strategies for teachers involve simplifying tasks, varying pace and type of activity and reducing the amount of stimulation the child is exposed to, for example not seating the child by the window. But there are many specific strategies that teachers can use to cope with the child with ADHD in the class. Sherman et al (2006) present several of these. Teachers can make use of the extra energy by giving the child tasks that involve moving around, for example taking information to the principal’s office, helping to clean up and re-arrange the classroom at the end of the day, and helping to put things away. Students can also be called upon frequently in order to keep their attention in the class. Frequent feedback is also suggested. Lessons must be interactive and make use of multiple media such as videos, charts, etc. The students must have many opportunities to be creative and explore. Students with ADHD need structure to keep them organized so that the teacher can give them instructions in written form- charts on the wall are very helpful. For older children having a day planner to write tasks in helps them to stay focused and organized. Teachers of children with ADHD in the classroom have to become quite creative in their lesson planning and execution; they need to have lots of variety in the lessons. But although it takes a little more effort and time, adopting some of these strategies can benefit everyone in the class. References Leslie, L.K., Lambros, K.M., Aarons, G.A., Haine, R.A. and Hough, R.L. (2008). School-base service use by youth with ADHD in public sector settings. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. 16 (3): 163-177 National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: An Update from the National Institute of Mental Health. Bethesda (MD): National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services; Available from: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/adhd/nimhadhdpub.pdf U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Office of Special Education Programs, (2003). Identifying and Treating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Resource for School and Home, Washington, D.C., 20202. Available from http://www.ed.gov/teachers/needs/speced/adhd/adhd-resource-pt1.pdf Sherman, J., Rasmussen, C. and Baydala, L. (2006). Thinking positively: How some characteristics of ADHD can be adaptive and accepted in the classroom. Childhood Education. 82, (4): 196-200 Zambo, D. (2008). Looking at ADHD thorough multiple lens. Identifying girls with the inattentive type. Intervention in School and Clinic. 44 (1): 34-40 Read More