Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder &ump; Autism in the Classroom
When teaching it must be expected that there will be students that have behavioral disorders. These disorders must be taken into consideration when giving these students the best education possible. Teachers must accommodate to these children and incorporate them into the daily classroom. Every teacher has their own methods of doing this and can use their creativity to come up with these strategies for teaching. Some strategies may not work, so instructors must put much thought into how they are going to accommodate to these particular students.
A very common disorder in children is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. These students have a difficult time holding attention due to the lack of the ability to concentrate. These students tend to act impulsively, have attention deficits, and sometimes exude hyperactive behaviors. Children that have ADHD do not qualify for special education unless they also have another disability. Approximately 7.8 percent of children from the ages of 4 to 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD, research also shows that males are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD over women. These ratios vary from 4:1 to 9:1. These students with ADHD can be impulsive, which means they act before they think or before considering the situation that they are currently in. They also have a hard time concentrating and find it difficult to sit still. There are medications for ADHD, and they are prescribed often, there are also a variety of drugs that have been proven to make a child with ADHD more attentive and improve their academic performance. Unfortunately, these drugs have side effects such as weight loss, blood pressure changes, and insomnia. The Educational Psychology textbook advises that when working with these students in the classroom to make sure they understand all the rules and procedures of the classroom. They also advise the teacher to carefully choose the student’s seat, limiting distractions and keeping the student close to the teacher. An important part is to allow the hyperactive child time to be active. The book also encourages the teacher to keep consistent contact with the child’s home (Slavin, 2009).
Research has found that in the past decade there has been an increasing number of students that have been diagnosed with ADHD (Brand et al., 2002). Due to the increase of children being diagnosed with this disorder, it is important for teachers to further their knowledge of ADHD and apply better teaching methods to incorporate these students into the classroom. Students with ADHD make up approximately 5-10% of all school-age children (White et al., 2010). Recently, teachers have been advised to provide frequent monitoring of these students. Along with frequent monitoring a quiet, structured, and predictable classroom can be helpful when teaching students with ADHD (Brand et al., 2002). Brand also states that in contrast to the quiet, structured classroom it is necessary to give students with ADHD choices, increased variety , active learning, as well as frequent breaks.
Teaching students with ADHD in elementary school differs from teaching students with this disorder who are in high school. A case study shows that in elementary students that were in grades 3-6 required low light in the classroom, lacked persistent attention, were not able to function well academically in the morning, and were more encourage by parents than peer encouragement. The high school students also preferred afternoon learning. In addition to this they preferred a structured environment, patterns, and kinesthetic learning (Brand et al., 2002). It was once believed that as time went on children lost the symptoms of ADHD, this has been proven to be false in recent studies. Researchers have found that 30-70% of children with ADHD continued to have symptoms in adolescence and adulthood (Litner, 2003). Litner also found that adolescents with ADHD were more likely to have anxiety related disorders than those without ADHD. To most effectively teach high school students with ADHD there needs to be effective management consisting of communication between the various teachers and staff who have regular contact with the student. Also the main challenge in high school is to move the child with ADHD to have greater self-knowledge and responsible autonomy. The strategies teachers use in the classroom should be based on reasons that the student understands and agrees to (Litner, 2003). By using goals that the student understands and agrees to, it is easier to keep them involved and encouraged to reach these goals. When entering high school the student needs to learn to have self-responsibility, therefore teaching strategies need to incorporate this into daily lessons.
In my classroom I would teach the bulk of important information towards the afternoon, due to Brand’s study finding that students with ADHD learn better in the afternoon. I would not lecture/ assign much reading in my class, instead taking a more active hands on approach to keep the children moving and attentive. When teaching all ages I would find it important to keep the child’s family involved wether it be by sending home reports or calling them frequently. I think that teaching an elementary student with ADHD would bed differ from teaching a high school student. I believe this because when in elementary it is easier to incorporate active lessons for the entire class to participate in, allowing the student with ADHD to remain attentive. In high school it is much harder to teach lessons that require activity, it tends to lean more towards lectures and reading assignments. If I was allowed to prescribe students medication, I would prescribe them with ADHD medication, or at least recommend it to the parents of the child. When teaching in high school, I would highly recommend the parent of the child to prescribe medication to their student due to the increased amount of individual work.
Autism became a formal category of disability in 1990. Autism is described as a developmental disability that significantly affects the individual’s social interaction, verbal communication, and nonverbal communication. This disorder is usually recognized before age 3 and has an unfavorable affect on their educational performance. These students with autism are usually very withdrawn and have noticeable difficulties with language. These individuals with autism usually involve themselves in self-stimulation such as rocking twirling objects or moving their hands. There is a large spectrum of severity in this disorder therefore the term autism spectrum disorder is now used to describe the disorder. Autism is found more in boys than girls, but the reason is still unknown. The disorder is believed to be caused by brain damage or a different brain dysfunction. Studies have shown that autistic children benefit from education focusing on increasing social skills, communication skills, and cognitive skills in a progression that is systematic (Slavin, 2009).
Autism is a disability that many teachers do not have experience with. A poll found that 83% of teachers had never had experience with an autistic child in their years of teaching (Robertson et al., 2003). Due to the high number of teachers that are inexperienced with autism there needs to be more information provided to them about this disability. The use of a paraprofessional can be very beneficial to teachers who have autistic children in their classroom. Studies found that having a paraprofessional helped the teacher learn and connect better with an autistic child in their classroom (Robertson et al., 2003). One-on-one work with autistic children is also very helpful in the classroom (Lovannone et al., 2003). Studies have shown that association between the quality of included students and the autistic child’s relationship with the teacher impacted the quality of current inclusion to the class (Robertson et al., 2003). What this study shows is that the more involved the autistic child is with the teacher impacts the involvement between the student with autism and the students without. Robertson’s study resulted in positive relationships between teachers and the autistic individual. There have been multiple studies to find the best way to approach teaching students with autism. One technique that is effective is social skill training. Social skill training for students was a viable procedure for increasing the frequency of time engaged in social interactions in the classroom (Kamps et al., 1992). The use of these social skill training activities are beneficial as a class-wide curriculum. Another approach that is useful in the classroom is focusing on social behavior in groups, this has been found to be more successful than focusing on structured learning when teaching students with autism (Kamps et al., 1192). Also, Kamps supports the use of social skills instruction in small-group formats including both autistic individuals and non-autistic individuals. By using groups of both children with the disorder and students without the disorder the autistic children are more involved in normal social interactions. This can help them become less withdrawn from the group setting. Lovannone discusses the six essential components when teaching autistic children. These six components are; individualized supports and services for students and families, systematic instruction, comprehensible and/or structured environments, specialized curriculum content, functional approach to problem behavior, and family involvement. It was found that by incorporating these six elements into the classroom autistic children learn better and are included better with the entire classroom. Instructors must focus on the individual child’s strengths and weaknesses to find the best intensity and level of instruction for the autistic student (Lovannone et al., 2003). Without studying the child’s individual needs it will be difficult to come up with an effective teaching method that will most benefit the student. It has also been found that it is useful to provide autistic children with a schedule of activities (Lovannone et al., 2003).
I do not think that a difference in age would change my teaching to an individual with autism. I believe this because no matter what age they are, this student will still struggle with social interactions as well as verbal communication. I believe that autistic children need constant assistance in the classroom and can function in a classroom with children without the disorder when given the correct assistance. When teaching an autistic student I would provide as much structure as possible to lessen the anxiety to the student. I would provide schedules as well as study the individual needs of the student to give the appropriate amount of intensity in their learning. There are many forms of therapy for autistic children that I would suggest to parents to involve them in. Most of these therapy approaches are behavioral therapy sessions. The applied behavior analysis can be used in school, therapy sessions, and at home (Stahl, 2010). Discrete trial training can be used in school, and requires the instructor to break the lesson down into steps, then having consequences after such as rewards for correct completion (Stahl, 2010). This would be most effective in the elementary years of schooling. Once in high-school the appeal of rewards becomes less influential to the student. Pivotal response training focuses on what motivates the child to learn then uses that to encourage learning (Stahl, 2010). A third approach is the applied verbal behavioral approach, this breaks down the lesson to small trials and then gives the student feedback. The goal of this approach is to have the individual use their verbal skills (Stahl, 2010). In the classroom, Stahl recommends the use of the relationship-based developmental program. This program looks at what level the student is at developmentally, how they are progressing emotionally, how they respond to their environment, and their social relationships. Stahl also recommends that when there are communication difficulties to use sign language or signals, pictures to describe feelings, or facilitated communication such as a keyboard or other speech devices. I personally have worked with an autistic child when teaching preschool, we often had to remind him to use his words. Along with these reminders we encouraged him to use hand motions to show what he needed or wanted. I would also encourage parents to enroll their child in to sensory therapy such as occupational therapy, sensory integration, and developmental optometry therapy to help with possible vision issues. Medication wise I would encourage parents to prescribe their child to Prozac to assist in lowering anxiety, I would encourage this in older aged students.
Both ADHD and autism are disorders that all teachers must be educated in before going into this profession. It is important to know the different strategies that can be used to be the most helpful instructor to these students. It is also very important to incorporate these students into the classroom and encourage good social skills with peers. By paying close attention to these students instructors are able to come up with the best strategy to provide the best education to these individuals.