Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: overview and implications

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has been traditionally (that is, in the last twenty to thirty years of educational, psychological, developmental, and cognitive research) defined as "a developmental and behavioral disorder that affects 3% to 5% of all school-age children." ("What is ADHD?" The Cleveland Clinic, 2004) The common initials of ADD are used to signify that an individual has attention deficit disorder, or a deficit of the normal ability to 'concentrate' in the colloquial sense. The common initials of ADHD refer to the attention deficit disorder with its accompanying symptoms of hyperactivity along with distractibility.

Students chronically distracted by overwhelming classroom stimuli can be identified as having ADHD. These stimuli may include bright sights and loud sounds in the student's environment, the fact such students unable to concentrate for long periods of time on classroom assignments with or without supervision, are restless and impulsive, or (more common in girls or those children diagnosed with ADD alone) have a tendency to daydream and are slow or unable to complete tasks. ADHD students are more apt to frequently interrupt other students and the teacher.

To receive a diagnosis of ADHD, some of the symptoms that cause the impairment in the child must be present before the child is seven years old. Some of the impairment from the symptoms must be present in more than one setting, including both the child's home and school or both home and work, to ensure that the distracted and hyperactive behavior is not location-specific for the child and rooted solely in the environment or with a relationship with a particular teacher or parent.

This is especially important when considering prescribing medication for the child's cognitive functioning. ("The Medical Treatment of ADHD," The Cleveland Clinic, 2004)

Also, there must be clear evidence of interference of [normal, childhood] functioning due to the symptoms at home, in social or work environments." ("ADHD Symptoms," The Cleveland Clinic, 2004) A teacher is likely to notice the signs and symptoms of ADHD in a child when the student has difficulty paying attention to the details of an classroom assignment and is prone to making careless mistakes in schoolwork or other school related activities. Despite flashes of intelligence, the child's work may be often messy and careless. Homework and assignments may simply be legitimately forgotten -- along with the child's lunch!

A teacher should note, when structuring his or her day, and the child's day, including visits to the nurse, that stimulants have been used to treat ADHD for years. Stimulant medications such as Ritalin have been used for years to help users to focus their thoughts and ignore distractions and have been reported as effective in "70% to 80% " of student ADHD patients according to some estimates, although the use of such drugs remain controversial. In 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first non-stimulant medication to control ADHD symptoms called Strattera. ("The Medical Treatment of ADHD," The Cleveland Clinic, 2004)

Discussion of how the topic is related to learning: how does the topic explain learning and acquisition of skills? How does learning occur? With an understanding of the topic, how do children learn and develop?

Once upon a time, before it became such a popular, official diagnosis in schools across the nation, children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder were often simply considered 'hyper' kids by temperament or character. Perhaps these children who couldn't sit still came from 'bad' homes, where they feasted on Sugar Smacks for dinner, and watched cartoons rather than engaged in discourse over the dining table. Perhaps they simply needed more discipline. Regardless, in the ordered world of the classroom, of the etiquette of raising one's hands, of learned numbers and letters, ADHD kids were a nuisance, and a distraction -- at best, class clowns, at worst annoying or even destructive.

Even today, some developmental psychologists are dismal and gloomy in their prognostications for the future of children with this disorder. They note that hyperactive behavior is often associated with the development of other disruptive disorders, particularly conduct and oppositional-defiant disorder. These children are statistically more likely to drop out of school and fare more poorly in their later careers than children without the diagnosis of ADHD. ("ADHD Symptoms," The Cleveland Clinic, 2004) But of course failure can become a self-fulfilling prophesy for a child's future. Moreover, it is not the teacher's place to blame the student, rather the teacher must work with the student to help him or her realize his or her maximum potential in the school setting, and wherever possible, use potential classroom flexibility of scheduling, dialogue, and multimedia supplements to work with as well as against some of the disorder's natural tendencies to need frequent stimulation in order to learn. The teacher must also be willing to use more conventional cognitive and behavior reinforcement tactics to encourage that the student will be able to function effectively in the modern workforce.

A discussion of how the topic is related to teaching-that is, what instructional strategies does the topic promote that support student learning and how are instructional decisions made based on the topic?

It may sound both crazy and controversial, but it may be most educationally empowering to the child and the teacher alike, rather than regarding individuals who learn or comport themselves 'differently' in the classroom as burdensome, to see ADHD as a potential if difficult gift for the classroom. The ADHD way of viewing learning can provide teachers with a new way of approaching the world and the rules of the teacher-student dialogue.

Yes, of course, distracted and hyperactive behavior must conform to respectable standards within the classroom. A teacher cannot tolerate an ADHD student violating the personal space of another student, for example, or of interrupting the classroom lesson time. But the ADHD student challenges the teacher to find more hands-on kinesthetic ways of approaching material in rapid succession. This rapid succession might even be the key to the future, as students learn more about the world from the Internet, computers, television, and other hands on or audio-visual medium. All children today must be able to assimilate more information more quickly, in short bursts, and the ADHD consciousness may allow students to do so, from all levels of ability and with many different learning styles, not necessarily the learning disabled.

An explanation of what instructional opportunities would be provided in following with the chosen topic-how is a students' intellectual, social, and personal development supported? Describe a classroom, its students and teachers who embrace the topic. How would lessons be presented and how would one know learning is occurring?

ADHD students can be positively reinforced for showing respect, while still being given the opportunity to shine as a student in what is uniquely 'their' gift -- that is, their own powerful and charismatic creative strengths. A student with ADHD can be assigned a partner, to ensure that he or she turns in the assignment on time -- and has the assignment when he or she is on the bus! This also reinforces a larger goal about group and partnered learning and working with the ideas and needs that is helpful for all students, not just the student with ADHD. Also, giving an ADHD student the responsibilities of teamwork encourages a sense of responsibility.