Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a growing problem in classrooms. ADHD is a disorder that inhibits the executive functioning in individuals; in other words, it affects how people are able to self regulate their emotions and behaviors. Little is known about the causes of ADHD but studies have lead to several possible explanations. In one study that researches the relationship between ADHD and family environment and parenting practices discovered a higher amount of ADHD cases in students who come from families with lower levels of organization and higher levels of conflict (Schroeder & Kelley, 2008). Children learn the ability to control themselves, first, in their most familiar environment. Schroeder and Kelley firmly present findings that environment and genetics is a huge factor in students with ADHD.
The affects of ADHD in children are many. One of the biggest affects on students is academic performance and social relationships. Students with attention problems are limited in their opportunities to acquire social skills through observational learning. Students with ADHD also miss out on learning opportunities in the classroom whether is be because they are disruption and are removed or because of inattention and missing the experience (Kawabata, Tseng, & Shur-Fen Gau, 2011). Teachers, myself included, can be guilty of removing a distracting child from the classroom if it becomes so big that it is taking from more than just the child's educational experiences. As an educator, it is hard to find the correct response to a child who can not control his/her ability to pay attention.
One possible solution to this issue in education is the multiple intelligence approach. Students with ADHD are often underserved in an education system (Schiduan, Case, & Faryniarz, 2002). Each and every student is smart in some way, even those with ADHD. It is hard for those students with ADHD to shine because they are typically smart in ways that aren't noticed in a traditional classroom (Schiduan, Case, & Faryniarz, 2002).
The multiple intelligence approach to ADHD would be easy to do using technology. However, because of the diverse nature of the approach and of each student with ADHD, there is not one program that would suffice for everyone. Luanne Eris Fose, Ph.D has outlined several technology resources that can aide in students with various intelligences. In my classroom, I have a student who is not diagnosed but exhibits many of the symptoms that I have read about. This student makes very obnoxious noises a great deal of the school day and has a very hard time controlling his body, he's always wiggling. He also has a hard time making and maintaining relationships with other students and he has frequent angry outbursts about very minor incidents. I have noticed that he works his hardest with complex math and focuses the most with this subject. He also pays a great deal of attention to detail and likes games like Pokemon and Ninjago which deal with logic and skill. I'm going to label him as a Logical-Mathematical Learner. These learners are very good with numbers, math, and logic to understand patterns (Fose, 3). Something like PuzzleMaker might be helpful with a student like mine. It gives him the time and to dissect and create a problem to solve using the logical skills he possesses but does not often get to use in class every day. Something else that may help this student, although it is more related to the Verbal/Linguistic form of intelligence is Shadow Poetry. There are several forms of technology that can be used to support each intelligence, which can in turn help students with ADHD, if teachers are willing to find out more about their students in order to help them.
Citations:
Kawabata,
Y., Tseng, W. L., & Shur-Fen Gau, S. (2011). Symptoms of attention
deficit/hyperactivity disorder and social and school adjustment: The
moderating rules of age and parenting. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40(2), 177-188.
Schirduan, V., Case, K., & Faryniarz, J. (2002). How adhd students are smart. The Educational Forum, 66(4), 324-328.
Schroeder,
V. M., & Kelley, M. L. (2008). Associations between family
environment, parenting practices, and executive functioning of children
with and without adhd. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 18(2), 227-235.
You are tackling a very important topic. We have so many students who are ADHD diagnosed and undiagnosed. With so many students in our classrooms who are ADHD we have to employ different teaching strategies in the classroom. I like your idea of Puzzlemaker and I am sure there many other similar programs. I think even a simple thing like more opportunities for the students to get up etc. is helpful. I know my granddaughter who is 9 complains that she never can get up. She can't sit still or be still. She has a really tough time in school and she is very smart. We have to come up with techniques to help these students so that they can succeed in school and want to stay in school.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely something to keep working on.
Nice job!
Melissa
Hey nice work! I like that you mentioned teaching to students with multiple intelligences. I liked in CEP811 when we learned about the UDL framework and how to remove barriers and promote learning in multiple intelligences. I have some students in my classes who are ADHD. They really are a flavorful addition to the classroom. I find many of them engage well in hands on science labs. We just built water rockets and many of them did very well! Thanks for sharing this.
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