Managing Students with ADHD in Home and School Setting
Introduction
Students with learning disabilities and Attention Deficit disorders pose a major challenge to teachers. This paper will examines some recommendations given by various scholars and researchers in this field which can be used both in and out of the classroom settings and in schools offering special education. Teachers will have a wide range of strategies which they can choose from to intervene in ADHD students problems suitable to the needs of a child.
Ideas for handling students with attention deficit
Teachers in elementary school classroom face the main challenges of dealing with the challenging behavioral conduct seen among children with ADHD. Teachers have to know the causes of these behaviors then from there they can identify the effective strategies and a specific intervention plan in dealing with the students. It is common for students to engage in challenging conducts and behaviors such as aggression, tantrums, non compliances, screaming, disruption and screaming. The special needs students suffering from mental retardation, learning disability, ADHD, and autism spectrum disorder require extra support from the caregivers and the teachers.
Intervention is important especially when a students exhibits behaviors which are a danger to himself and to others. A student may get involved in aggressive and dangerous behaviors which include self injury, biting and hitting. It is also to intervene when the behaviors of a child inhibits others from learning. An appropriate plan will provide the other students with better opportunities to learn.
Teachers can use the following strategies in the class: first the teacher in the process of teaching has to pause and ask questions randomly by looking around at any students who seems to be out of touch with what is being taught. The teacher can randomly pick reciters to repeat what has just been said. The teacher also has ton give a signal that what is being taught will require answering various questions. The teacher has to master the student’s names and call, them when teaching the subjects and when thye are required to answer a given question. The question to be asked should be simple especially to a student who seems to have little attention. Also when the teacher notices that a child is beginning to loose attention the teacher can move close to the students and touch his or her shoulder.
The teacher has to walk around the classroom and tapping on the material the student is using to bring their attention back to class. The length of, lecturing should be minimal depending on the students age. They will need to be provided with breaks and time to interact with other classmates where they can discuss what they have read or learned. The assignments should also not be too much. While teaching the teacher can use alternative mental and physical activities to break bored and to reduce the rate of being absent minded among students. The teacher also has to incorporate the interests of the children in classroom setting. While giving instructions, the teacher has to make them simple and concentrate and should be made only once. These instructions should be given in a soft voice and not shouting or showing anger. The teacher should involve parents and older peers who are always in contact with the ADHD children.
Application of Barkley’s techniques
Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition which is considered as a common disorder in the population and affects approximately 3-7% of school-aged children (Barkley et. al 2001). Children seen to have various behavioral problems are mainly diagnosed with ADHD. Such students are normally seen to achieve low grades in class work (Guevara and Stein 2001). Children suffering from ADHD are commonly at risk of facing various educational and social difficulties such problems include, delinquency, and suspensions from school. Drug and substance abuse and peer rejection. The environmental, school and family problems they face shows the in-depth, intensity, frequency and severity of the ADHD symptoms (Magyary and Brandt, 2002).
ADHD symptoms normally include hyperactivity and impulsity (APA, 2000) which are the main symptoms which make it difficult for teachers to manage. The children diagnosed from this condition sometime shows aggression, and up to 45-55 of children with this condition show Oppositional Deficient Disorder( ODD)( Barkley et al. 2001). Such symptoms leads children with this problems to be non compliant with the school rules an may cause havoc when things are way beyond their expectations. Teachers teaching children with ADHD face high level of stress and conflict. studies have shown that ADHD and ODD conditions are more common in male children and clearly shows when they are at the age of eight years old (APA, 2000).
Over the past decades educational professionals and clinicians have been in the search for the most effective methods of handling children suffering from the behavioral disorders. Generally, ADHD is associated with diverse symptoms and treatment for this condition covers a whole range of modals which are carried out by school, medical and mental health professionals. Efficacy has been seen in some of the methods of treatment which include the implementation of techniques for behavioral management used in the classroom setting, psychopharmacological intervention, techniques used by parents dealing wit behavior management training and training on cognitive-behavioral aspects.
The most commonly used therapies among these are behavioral management and stimulant medications techniques. The combination of these two models has proved to be effective in managing the symptoms associated with ADHD. Research by Guevara and Stein, (2001) indicates that combined intervention methods showed a reduced rate of symptoms associated with ODD and ADHD. Also by the combined treatments improved the academic achievements of students as well AS their social skills. Such studies give hope to parents and teachers of the possibility of managing and controlling the behaviors of students. .
Professionals have recommended the use of multiple interventions based in controlling behaviors and ADHD symptoms. Also the most important approaches can be those which can be applied in the school setting because children spend mot of their times in school. Such intervention strategies especially those which are applied in the classroom have been studied to be the most effective in managing and reducing the problems associated with QADHD symptoms among children (Anhalt, Mc Neil and Bahl, 1998).
Some of the strategies used in the classroom setting include the provision of token economies for students who have exhibited the desired behaviors, time –out, contingencies which are open- mediated , home to school contingences , connective behavioral strategies, reinforcements based reductive techniques, task and environmental modification, both the negative and positive contingent attention by the teachers and self management strategies.
Barkley, (1997, 1998) provides clear outlines which can be used together with various programs dealing with behavioral managing having various behavioral components. . These guidelines also go hand in hand with the use of reinforcements such as response, costs, token economies, time and related techniques on contingency management. The guidelines by Barkley’s are of greater benefit to both the parents and teachers. These programs are set in a way which parents and teachers learn each at a time and adopt various techniques which have proved to improve manageability if a child suffering from ADHD. The initial step which parents learn are the main consequences of the behavior of a child and the ways to identify various contributing factors to the behavioral problems. Such aspects include lack of consistency, clarity and low structure.
The next step is on the issue of [positive attending skills and the skills which can be used for ignoring the negative skills. The attending skills should be used to help parents increase their parental commands. They are asks trained of various token systems as both four punishments and for rewards. The final step is on how parents can get involved in using skills for solving problems outside the home setting such as schools. Such techniques are used as mode of generalizations where the child can in school-home interface and to solve future problems. In the application of the techniques learned from the program teachers and parents have to keep track of the outcome shown by children which will help in assessing the effectiveness of a particular intervention method.
Barkley’s guidelines are considered as the standard or golden rules which are effective for training parents with ADHD children. Such guidelines have also been proven to be effective to teachers. Barkley’s techniques for examine emphasize on the importance of eye contact and also the effectiveness of applying one command at a given time. Such strategies are mainly important as teachers interact with students with ADHD. Research has shown that there are effective ways which teachers can use to communicate with students with ADHD (Kapalka, 2001). One of these strategies is the use of eye contact but was not among the recommendations given by Barkley (1998).
Barkley informs that the use of negative consequences and warnings is not an effective way in handling non compliance cases among children with ADHD. This usually happens when the parent or teacher has become angered by the child’s behaviors and the child fails to comply with the commands he gives. Kapalka (2003) indicates that a command should only be given to a child once. Thus is then followed by a warning and lastly the child can face the consequences. This same technique is useful for teachers especially when teachers reduce the number of times in giving commands to children with behavioral disorder because it will lead to a decrease of non compliance.
Barkley(1998) recommends that students with ADHD should be given warnings on how they are required to behave in places outside the home and school setting because places like restaurants and stores such child get to be stimulated by these new surroundings which make them to misbehave. Dealing with such misconduct can be a big challenge to parents and teachers. Students need to be reminded of the appropriate behaviors and the negative consequences when they fail to adhere to the given guidelines. Teachers should also know that students suffering from ADHD are highly vulnerable to management problems in settings outside the classrooms.
Such places in clued the dining halls, playgrounds and in special assemblies. Such situations make it difficult for students with ADHD to control their behaviors. This is because the situations they are in as well as the nature of their activity make acts as stimulating aspects. Also such settings outside the classroom usually do not have the same structure as those in the class. The school professionals are called upon to utilize various techniques of management to address the various difficulties they face in handling students with ADHD. One of the most appropriate means in coming up with the best solutions is the adaptation of the home setting recommendations seen in Barkley’s techniques. These techniques will surely help teachers in addressing both the in class and out of class settings. Berkeley’s techniques have been proved to reduce cases of ADHD problems in and out of class setting.
The uses of Berkley techniques are important in order for school professionals and teachers to effectively mange the behaviors of students with ADHD both in the classroom and in low structural settings outside the class. Understanding the needs and conditions of students suffering from this condition is an important aspect for school administrators and teachers. They should not resolve to punitive measures like contacting parents, suspensions and detention as ways to address the problems. Instead they do not end up solving the actual problem. Such harsh and punitive treatments are not effective and they do not assist the ADHD students in developing their own –self control An integration of various integration techniques are very useful in developing alternative and effective measures other than using punitive measures which are commonly used in many schools.
Psychologists have worked hard in identify the best and effective techniques for intervening to the problems associated with ADHD children. Students with ADHD and their Teachers need help and assistance in developing the best intervention techniques. Psychologists play a role in advising teachers about strategies which are effective in behavior management among ADHD students.
Understanding behavior principles
The determination of human behavior is those which occur after and before a given behavior. The antecedent aspects are those which give a cue at a given period of time is the right time to undertake a specific behavior. The antecedents are those behaviors we do in respond to the signals given by those around us. These aspects of identifying behaviors can well suit in the examination of children behaviors. The teacher can use them to study the behaviors and how students respond to various conducts and also the implications of reinforcements. The teacher critical examination of how a child responds in both the antecedent and consequences behaviors make him or give an explanation of the occurrences. They can identify the factors which trigger certain characteristics and those which maintain positive behaviors.
Conclusion
Teachers must know that behavior done by a student happens because of various reasons. This calls that an intervention plan which is child specific to be developed. This can be achieved when teachers conduct thorough assessments which will determine both the consequences and the antecedents of a given behavior. carrying out interviews with a person close and knows a child well, observing the characteristics of a students in and out of class and taking note of the retain times of a given behavior. Behavioral specialists, psychologists, school counselors and teachers should work together in establishing the most suitable strategies
Reference
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