Essay Adhd: Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Long Assignments

Submitted By yoda111489
Words: 849
Pages: 4

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a behavioral disorder associated with the student having difficulties in the classroom because they tend to have a short attention span, are easily distracted and are often physically active by squirming and fidgeting which leads to the student continually interrupting other students as well as generating more difficulties for themselves. The causes of ADHD are currently unknown (Crowther, 2009) and it continues to be a major concern in public education.

Mike has ADHD and is currently enrolled in regular classrooms at the grade ten level. He is having trouble with reading and listening and often does not hand in his homework on time which is not helping the cause and putting him further behind the rest of his peers in the classroom. It is evident that Mike needs support with anxiety and classroom organization. Mike does however show some strengths in math and drawing and is very athletic and loves to play soccer.

In order to help Mike with his struggles I have decided to implement some strategies. I would start by making an Individualized Education Plan for Mike that would consist of all his strengths and weaknesses as well as individualized goals that suit his needs and accommodate his weaknesses. When it comes to his anxiety with the classroom organization I would make sure that my classroom is structured with accessible seating and as less clutter in the room as possible to avoid unnecessary distractions that may occur. I would do this by putting Mike’s seat in the front of the class and away from places in the classroom that tend to be a distraction to students that have issues with attentiveness. These areas would include being near the door; people entering and exiting the classroom can promote distractions. Winzer (2008) also mentions that students with ADHD could benefit from not sitting near other high-stimuli areas such as a window, pencil sharpener or bulletin board. Another measure of support that I would take in order to try and help Mike academically would be to provide a checklist of tasks that have to completed for long assignments that are given for homework, this option has the opportunity to help many students in the class and not just Mike. In terms of assigning projects and longer assignments I would explore the option of allowing the students some more choice in the topics they are assigned to work on, perhaps Mike would be able to do a project on the history of soccer and add some drawings on the Bristol board he would present it on, surely it would perk his interest in the assignment. It is important that I support Mike’s emotional well being by constantly using positive reinforcement when I notice that he is putting in a lot of effort as Winzer (2008) states you can do this by saying things like “ you’re good at this” or “you’re working very hard” by providing positive feedback it can allow Mike to be more persistent in his efforts while increasing confidence. After a while of implementing strategies that I put in Mike’s IEP I hope to notice an increase in positive behavior and confidence so I can begin to assign more group work where Mike can