Attention Deficit Disorderand Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ED 534

Becky Boyer, Marisa Mayer, and

Sean Roquette

Diagnosis Definition

ADD/ADHD is a medical disorder diagnosed by a doctor. 3% to 5% of children are effected by ADD/ADHD.

The three common symptoms are

Inattentiveness/Distractibility

Impulsivity

Hyperactivity

Signs and Symptoms

Inattention/Distractibility

Does not pay attention to details

Does not appear to listen

Difficulty following instruction

Avoids tasks that require sustained mental effort

Difficulty organizing tasks and activities

Loses things

Easily distracted

Forgetful

Signs and Symptoms

Impulsivity

Blurts out answers

Difficulty waiting their turn

Interrupts or intrudes upon others

Can be physically in others children’s space

Signs and Symptoms

Hyperactivity

Fidgets

Moves around the room

Runs and climbs excessively in situation where it is inappropriate

Has difficulty playing quietly

Is often on the go

Talks excessively

Signs and Symptoms

General Signs

Has difficulty with peer interactions and may have social skill deficits

Academic underachievement

Low frustration tolerance

Mood instability

Poor self-esteem

Temper outbursts

Antagonism and aggression

Has difficulty sleeping

Can have fine motor difficulties specifically with writing. You can’t always read their writing.

As a side note children with ADD will not be hyperactive

Has sensory needs- Can be very active or very lethargic

Common Functions

Sensory: The student will get out of their seat, wander around the classroom. They may also fidget with objects.

Communicate: The student will often blurt out or act out with their body. This can be a sign that they aren’t understanding the lesson.

Attention: The student may engage in inappropriate behaviors to get attention from there peers because they are unsure how to appropriately interact with peers.

Common needs and skill deficits

Organization: Students with ADD/ADHD have difficulty organizing themselves. They need organization skills directly taught to them. They may need more support to complete longer project that have several steps.

Sensory needs: Students with ADD/ADHD may need to be taught appropriate ways to manage the need for movement. For example, they may need a fidget object, may need to chew gum, or take a short bathroom break regularly to be able to move.

Social Skills: Students with ADD/ADHD may need social skills taught to them. Areas to focus on are being a group member and making friends.

Implications for learning

May need activities broken down or organized for them.

May need movement built into the school day. A sensory schedule may need to be developed.

Classroom needs to be set up so that they understand the organization of the room.

Classroom routines are helpful.

Clear, consistent rules are essential. They need to know that if they do this, what will happen. Positive reinforcement needs to be built into the day.

Teachers needs to be flexible with expectations. For example, it is okay to let kids have gum or give them notes ahead of time that are partially filled in. Not everything has to be the same for everyone.

Teachers need to be aware of distractions within the classroom to make sure that they can limit these for students.

Implication for families

It will important to provide structure at home and set aside time to work on homework

Provide structure and set up routines

Prep your child when you are going somewhere new explain the expected behavior

Allow time and space for your child to calm down and destress. Prepare a quiet area for the child to go to

Have consistent rules and set boundaries

Provide positive reinforcement and encourage appropriate behavior

Provide outlets for active behavior

Teach your child how to interact with others. Don’t expect that this will come naturally for them

Common Interventions

Behavior modification- example: Token system, point sheets

Medication

Movement built into the child’s day

Structured classroom environment. The classroom is structured both physically and has set routines

Positive reinforcements are used throughout the day

Social skills are directly taught

School and Community Resources

Mental health facilitator

EBD teacher

Doctor

Behavior Wizards, Behavior Dimensions, Behavior Solutions

SCSU Applied Behavior Anyalsis students

Social Worker

School Psychologist

Understanding ADD/ADHD : Lower ElementaryOrganize/Introduce Lesson (3 minutes):

Before the lesson turn on a fan, a radio, a TV and any other device that could be considered distracting. Consider asking 2 teachers or students to talk loudly outside of the door, or having the custodian vacuum outside the door.

Have children join you for a read aloud.

Read the story, Taking ADD to School: A Story About Attention Deficit Disorder by Ellen Weiner, or My Mouth is a Volcano written by Julia Cook with the distractions. If the book isn’t heard by the students, that is ok (that is the point!

Understanding ADD/ADHD : Lower ElementaryDescribe/Engage (3 minutes):

Ask the children what they thought of the story. Draw out their thoughts on their ability to listen to the story. Ask children what it means to concentrate. Ask them if they were able to concentrate and what was hindering their concentration while the story was being read. 

Discuss that some children have something called Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It can also be called ADD or ADHD. Explain that these children are like you and me, except that their brain can works super fast and sometimes they have a hard time concentrating, just like you did earlier when the story was being read. Children with ADD/ADHD didn’t do anything wrong to get ADD/ADHD, but is something that children are born with, just like freckles or brown eyes. ADD/ADHD is not something that you can catch like a cold. We are going to spend the next few minutes learning what it might feel like to have ADD/ADHD.

Understanding ADD/ADHD : Lower ElementaryModel/Explore (4-6 minutes):

Invite children to sit very still and listen to what they hear right now. Ask children to share answers (air ventilation system, people in the hall, doors closing....). Explain that most of us don’t even hear these sounds unless we sit very still and quiet. Explain that you and I can still concentrate even though these sounds are happening. We can put them out of our mind and don’t even really hear them until we sit real still and quiet. Children with ADD or ADHD are not able to put these sounds out of their mind and have a hard time concentrating.

Now have children sit still and think about the clothes that they are wearing. Have them feel how their shirt feels on their shoulders, or how their jeans might be rubbing their legs. Explain that children without ADD/ADHD can go through the day without really worrying about how our clothes feel on our bodies. Explain that children with ADD/ADHD might not be able to concentrate on things like what someone is saying or the work they need to finish because their clothes may be bothering them and causing them to lose their concentration.

Understanding ADD/ADHD : Lower ElementaryModel/Explore (4-6 minutes) continued:

Direct children to sit quietly and imagine they have been sitting still for a very long time. There legs need to stretch and their bodies need to move, but they know they shouldn’t. Explain that this may be how a child with ADHD feels. Their bodies can seem more restless than ours and may need to move. A person with ADHD may move their fingers, tap their toes or jiggle their legs. They may even need to hold a special tool called a “fidget” to help them.

Explain that to help our friends with ADD/ADHD, the best thing to do is to do our job as a student. It is best to help our friends focus on their job by showing them we can focus on ours.

Understanding ADD/ADHD : Lower Elementary

Conclusion (5 minutes):

Remind children that we are all different and learn in different ways. ADD/ADHD is something that some children have. We can’t catch ADD/ADHD but we can help our friends who may have it by doing our jobs.

Read the story again, and discuss what they learned the second time it was read.

Understanding ADD/ADHD : Lower Elementary

This lesson may need to be taught over a 2 day period. The time frames are to be considered a guide and should be adjusted as needed.

Understanding ADD/ADHD : Upper Elementary

Organize/Introduce Lesson:

To start the lesson have student get ready to take a spelling test or a writing activity. While you are giving the spelling test, turn on and off the lights, move chairs, set of alarms, start taking to someone. The goal is to distract the students.

Start a conversation with the class about how they felt while they were taking the test. Could they concentrate? What were they thinking about while they were taking the test? Were they thinking about spelling or everything else going on around them?

Understanding ADD/ADHD : Upper ElementaryDescribe Engage:

After the discussion explain to the students that what they just experienced was what a student with ADD/ADHD experiences all day. Share the three key components of ADD/ADHD with examples:

Inattention/Distractibility: Kids with ADD/ADHD will have hard time paying attention they may look around the room or focus on things they shouldn’t be

Hyperactivity: They maybe always moving can never sit still

Impulsive: They don’t think before they make a choice. When they get mad at someone they may yell at them or get physical with them because they don’t think about the consequence.

Understanding ADD/ADHD : Upper ElementaryDescribe Engage:

Talk to students about how ADD/ADHD is something that you are born with. It doesn’t mean that you are smarter or not as smart if you have ADD/ADHD it just means that your brain works differently.

Talk to the class about how organizing thoughts can difficult for these students

Talk about how things may need to be modified to help kids with ADD/ADHD learn. For example: They may need to have motor breaks or have a friend take notes for them.

Talk about medication and how some students take medication to help them concentrate.

Understanding ADD/ADHD : Upper Elementary

Model Explore: Read From Attention Deficit Disorder: What’s ADD all about:

Watch youtube video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf-Njv3Hw74&feature=related

Talk about how kids with ADD must feel. What did you learn about kids with ADD/ADHD after watching the video? What does it make you wonder?

Discuss ways that they can help friends and classmates who have ADD/ADHD- Write them down so you can revisit later.

Understanding ADD/ADHD : Upper Elementary

Conclusion: To end the lesson have the students take the same spelling test you started with without distractions.

Talk about the difference.

Remind them that when kids with ADD/ADHD are always learning things while be distracted. Do you think this is difficult and would you be able to learn?

Revisit ways that they can help.

Share Joey Pigza books.

Understanding Disabilities: Middle Grades

Overview: 

Activities will help students:

Increase knowledge about people with disabilities

Explore ways to communicate sensitively with people with disabilities

Objectives

Activities will help students:

Increase knowledge about people with disabilities  

Explore ways to communicate sensitively with people with disabilities

Understanding Disabilities: Middle Grades

Essential Questions

What are some disabilities?

What are appropriate ways to communicate sensitively with people with disabilities?

What are some ways to support and encourage others to sensitively communicate?

Glossary

disability  [dis-uh-bil-i-tee] (noun) a condition of having a physical or mental impairment

sensitivity  [sen-si-tiv-i-tee] (noun) an understanding of others’ feelings and emotions

Understanding Disabilities: Middle Grades

Materials

Handout: Researching Disabilities [1]

Handout: Understanding Disabilities Web Quest [2]

Activities

1. With a partner, discuss:

What is the definition of the word disability?

What are some examples of physical disabilities?

What questions do you have about certain disabilities

Understanding Disabilities: Middle Grades

2. Work with a partner to record your own short definition and description of the term disability. List some examples of disabilities that can be seen.

3. Break into “letter” groups: Group A, Group B, Group C and so forth. Assign your letter group a topic to research. (Note: Assign each group one of the following disabilities to research: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, intellectual disability, blindness, deafness, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, dyslexia, muscular dystrophy.) Use the handout Researching Disabilities [1] to help structure your work. As a group, discuss:

Did you have any stereotypes about people with this disability before learning more about it?

How has learning more about this disability changed your views?

Understanding Disabilities: Middle Grades4. Now have each person in your “letter” group join classmates from each of the other letter groups to form “number” groups: Group 1, Group 2, Group 3 and so forth. Each number group should include one person from each letter group. Each person should present his or her topic to their new group. (Note: Help students with this jigsaw activity by making sure each number group has one member from each letter group represented.) When presenting your topic to your number group, discuss:

What are the basic facts about this disability?

What are the main challenges someone with this disability overcomes daily?

How can you support someone with this disability?

5. Communicating positively and with sensitivity is a key way to help support and include people with disabilities. Use the handout Understanding Hidden Disabilities [2] to complete a Web Quest with a partner. This handout will help you learn tips for communicating with sensitivity.

Understanding Disabilities: Middle Grades

6. After completing the handout, share your ideas with the rest of the class. Discuss:

What new information did you learn from the website’s tips?

What are some ways in which you might have been unintentionally insensitive to people with disabilities?

What are some ways to be more sensitive to others in the future?

Extension Activities

Choose one disability that may not be visibly obvious that you’d like to learn more about. Research the condition and write a short summarizing report.

Begin a campaign in your school to promote sensitivity towards people with disabilities. Here are some ideas to consider: create posters and hang them around your school or invite speakers to come speak to your student body.

Research the history of the rights of people with disabilities. Share your findings with your class.