Introduction
Over the course of the last 15 years, marked advancements have been made in the social and medical understanding of the development of children. While increased knowledge has lead to the creation of improved services to help children with learning and behavioral disorders it has also bread a host of negative stereotypes and some confusion with respect to the specific characteristics that encompass many disorders. Such is the case with ADHD, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Even though the symptoms of ADHD have been recorded in the medical literature for more than 100 years, it has not been until recently that this condition has been fully defined by the medical community (Hardman, Drew, & Egan, 2005). Despite increased knowledge about ADHD and improved services to help children with this condition, problems defining symptoms, etiology and assessments for the condition remain a pervasive issue for medical professionals, psychologists and educators. For this reason, there is a clear impetus for all health professionals to acquire a concise understanding of ADHD, its etiology and the specific assessments that can be used for diagnosis. Using this as a basis for research, this investigation considers a broad overview of the condition, and a review of the formal and informal assessments, teaching strategies, interventions, and supports used for students with ADHD.
[...] Conclusion The elusive nature of ADHD can make it difficult for professionals to diagnose this condition. However, once a diagnosis of ADHD has been made, it is evident that there are a wide range of strategies and interventions that can be used to facilitate the social and academic development of the child. Although there is no cure for ADHD, children with this condition can have a relatively normal social and academic life. By working with parents and healthcare professionals, educators can find positive methods for helping children with ADHD make the most out of their classroom experience. [...]
[...] Unfortunately, even after careful examination of children with this condition, the specific information on the etiology of ADHD remains speculative at best. Providing a broad overview for the etiology of this condition, Root and Resnick (2003) have noted that there are a host of potential sources for the development of this condition including genetics and exposure to environmental toxins. Considering first the role that genetics plays in the development of ADHD, Root and Resnick report that current research on ADHD demonstrates that 25 percent of all parents that have a child with ADHD have the condition themselves. [...]
[...] When this occurs, diagnosis is confounded by the challenge of determining which symptoms are intrinsic of ADHD and which symptoms are intrinsic of other comorbid conditions. Decker, McIntosh, Kelly, Nichols and Dean (2001) in their examination of the comorbidity of ADHD report that, researchers have “estimated that between 19% and or individuals with ADHS also meet criteria for at least on time of learning disability (p. 44). In addition these authors note, “Overall, up to 44% of people classified with ADHD have at least one other psychiatric disorder have two others and 11% have at least three others” (p. [...]
[...] What this effectively suggests is that understanding of the etiology and symptoms of ADHD have changed markedly in the last several decades. Further examining the historical understanding of ADHD among professionals, Carlson, Shin and Booth (1999) report that when the American Psychological Association (APA) published its third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual in 1980 (DSM-III) a new conceptualization of hyperactivity disorder was provided. As noted by these researchers: “Although previous diagnostic symptoms emphasized motor excess as the core symptom cluster, as illustrated by the historical terms of ‘hyperactivity' and ‘hyperkinesis,' the DSM-III introduced the term ‘attention deficit disorder' (ADD) suggesting that attention problems played a key role in the maladaptive performance of diagnosed children” (p. [...]
[...] Teaching Strategies, Intervention and Support A review of what has been written about effective control and intervention strategies for children with ADHD demonstrates that self-management strategies are an important tool that can be used in the classroom or the home to improve the behavioral disturbances that occur. According to Barry and Messer (2003) “Self management is a behavioral intervention that teaches individuals to recognize their own behaviors and set behavioral goals, including identifying which behaviors to increase and decreases and recoding and reinforcing their own behaviors” (p. [...]
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