Free ADHD And Success In Classroom Case Study Example

Abstract

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a disorder of the central nervous system. It induces severe psychosocial disturbances in the children and adolescents. One of the important concerns is the effect of ADHD on the school age children. Especially, elementary or middle school students with ADHD frequently encounter school failures every school year. So, the main objective of the study was to highlight a case study of a thirteen year old boy named Steven who had ADHD related symptoms. Steven experienced certain abnormal and strange classroom behavior as per the reports of English and Math teachers. As such, a four week program was instituted for Steven with the goal of improving his class room behavior and educational grades.
After the program, Seven was able to perform well on the class room tasks and needed a minimal supervisions or assistance from the teachers in adhering to the home works. Mainly, his grades in Englih and Math classes were improved.

Therefore, ADHD in school children although is a problematic issue, it could be overcome with a tailored intervention.

Health ailments of central nervous systems (CNS) have a unique pathophysiology. They appear to induce severe psychosocial issues and totally impair the quality of life. They finally pose a management burden for the patient and the health care system. There is a need to understand such CNS associated disorders such that a suitable therapy could be instituted at the earliest. In such context, the present description deals with highlighting a topic entitled “ADHD in classroom with a special emphasis on a case study. Briefly, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is a neuro-developmental disease that encompasses altered levels of overactivity inattention, and poor control of impulse control. ADHD was generally characterized as the disorder of childhood.
But, later it earned it’s reputation in affecting adolescents and adults. Nearly, 10% of adolescents were reported to be affected with ADHD (Sibley et al., 2014). Presented here is a case study of a 13 year old boy named Steven. He was reported to be an 8th grade school student with ADHD and Auditory processing deficit. As such, he was able to get eligibility for special education sessions. However, Steven appears to present behavior related health complaints based on his teachers report. These include Disruptiveness, calling out, going off the task, staying unfocused and failing to complete assignments. So, based on the teachers’ information, Steven appears to possess ADHD.
In fact, Stevens’ problematic behavior was revelaed based on the interviews were conducted by two teachers Mr Cruz (English) and Mrs Allen (Math) and his parents.

Methodology:

The research team decided to improve Steven’s behavior such that he turns in all completed assignments and also improves his behavior in‘on-task’ situations. The team measured the baseline performances. In the subjects English and Maths, the homework score was 0/4 and 0/4, respectively’ whereas the class work score was 2/5 and 1/5, respectively. The team offered Steven with pencils, binder and a new backpack, assisted Steven’s mother to establish a Synergy ParentVue and advised class teachers to put Steven’s seat at a better front. They also changed and reduced the assignment work, offered rewards for on-task behavior. They finally reviewed the Steven’s performance by monitoring the progress, giving additional time to finish the assignments and providing the help desk. The total review period involved 4 weeks and focus was performance in both English and Math classes.
In the first week, Steven brought materials for three out of five days of the week , moved to front in both English and Maths classes. The teachers provided a positive praise and prompts on task –behavior. In the week 2, Steven brought the study materials in four out of five days of the week and went back of the room. There was no behavior change in the Math class. In the English class, the teacher continued to offer praises on the task behavior every 15 minute and minimized the homework load.
In the week 3, Steven was able to bring the material for in all the scheduled five days of the week, for the English class. Here, the monitoring of the RPS teacher went well such that Steven was on the task, become aware of the class work. The teacher also praised Steven for every 20 minutes as before and shortened his homework. Similarly, for the Math class, Steven was able to bring the materials for all the scheduled 5 days, sat closer to the front and had the homework changed as per his choice. In the week 4 and for both English and Math classes, Steven’ continued to bring the materials for all the five days of the week, received discontinuous positive praise and got his homework modified as per the teacher’s choice.

Results:

So, as a result of the changes that occurred during the 4 week period , Steven had certain improvements in the grades. For the English class, these are grade –C in the first and second quarter , grade F with 32% in the progress report 3 and grade D with 68% in the quarter 3.
For the Math class, grade – F in the first and second quarter, grade F with 27% in the progress report 3 and grade B with 84 % in the quarter 3

Discussion and summary:

The case study is a clear indication of Steven abnormal behavior related to ADHD which interfered with his routine class room activities. The four week study period served as a mini intervention that contributed to significant changes., the study team noted an increase in the on task behavior and fall in disruptive behavior. Likewise, other improvements were , increase in the grades and no need of class work modification. Steven appears to need only slight modifications in the homework as per the assignment’s length and difficulty level. The team noticed Steven bring the backpack and assignments to class regularly. Overall, he could involve actively in the class discussions. This indicated a shift from the negative impulsive behavior to the positive behavior. These findings indicate that teachers invovlement is a must for ensuring classroom improvement in ADHD affected children.
This finding had supported the earlier work of Fabiano et al (2013) on the teachers’ perceptions with regard to ADHD in children. This team observed in a survey that the perceptions of teachers reflected a poor recognition of ADHD children in classrooms of elementary and middle schools.
The study sheds light that a poor teachers perception of the ADHD condition could enable the children to become much prone to adverse class room behavior and poor academic success.
Further, the case study appears to agree a recent study that stressed on the requirement of suitable indicators in predicting the ADHD in school children (Langberg et al., 2013). Here, these researchers have assessed the performance of predictors of response and mechanisms of change in middle school students with ADHD. These predictors are intended for the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) intervention. The predictors of response involved characteristics related to demography, gender, intelligence, severity of ADHD and ODD symptom severity, and use of drugs related to ADHD. Likewise, the predictors of mechanisms of change were adoption of the skills related to the organization and planning, and therapeutic support. This evaluation helped the researchers to show that ADHD students must be taught about a well planned binder organization process for carrying class work and homework materials to and from educational institution without fail (Langberg et al., 2013).
Finally, the case study also highlights the importance of employing a strategy or program to minimize the educational dropout or failures and increase the school success. This had strengthened a study of Schultz, Evans and Serpens (2009) who have successfully employed a Challenging Horizons program – Consultation model and observed a delay or reduced failures of students with ADHD in sixth and seventh grades.
Thus, the problem of ADHD in school children could be minimized through well organized and tailored interventions.

References

Fabiano,G.A., Pelham Jr, W.E., Majumdar,A., Carter, R.L. (2013).
Elementary and Middle School Teacher Perceptions of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder Prevalence. Child & Youth Care Forum,42 (2), 87-99.
Langberg, J,M., Becker, S.P., Epstein, J.N., Vaughn, A.J. & Girio-Herrera, E. (2013). Predictors
of Response and Mechanisms of Change in an Organizational Skills Intervention for Students
with ADHD. J Child Fam Stud,22(6), 1000-1012.
Schultz, B.K., Evans, S & Serpell, Z.N. (2009).Preventing Failure Among Middle School
Psychology Review, 38(1), 14 –27.
Sibley, M.H., Altszuler, A.R., Morrow, A.S. & Merrill, B.M. (2014). Mapping the academic
problem behaviors of adolescents with ADHD. Sch Psychol Q, 29(4),422-37.
(Sibley et al., 2014)
(Centers for Disease
Control, 2013). Although historically characterized
as a childhood disorder, it is now well
adults.
For adolescents with ADHD, academic functioning
is regarded as the most critically impaired
domain (Robin, 1998; Wolraich et al., 2005).
Compared with non-ADHD peers, adolescents
with ADHD perform more poorly on standardized
achievement tests (Barkley et al., 1991), complete
fewer assignments (Barkley, Anastopoulos,
Guevremont, & Fletcher, 1991; Kent et al., 2011;
Weiss & Hechtman, 1993), and receive poorer
Fletcher, 2006; Kent et al., 2011). These adolescents
also are more likely to be absent from school
(Barbaresi, Katusic, Colligan, Weaver, & Jacobsen,
2007) arrive late to classes (Kent et al., 2011),
and be suspended for disciplinary incidents (Barkley,
Fischer, Smallish, & Fletcher, 2002). Due to
the multiple academic risks, course failure is common
for adolescents with ADHD (Barkley et al.,
1991, 2002, 2006; Kent et al., 2011), eventually
leading to elevated rates of high school dropout
(Barbaresi et al., 2007; Barkley et al., 2006; Kent
et al., 2011). By some estimates, up to 38% of
This study possessed 2 aims: (a) to develop and validate a clinician-friendly measure of
academic problem behavior that is relevant to the assessment of adolescents with attention
deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and (b) to better understand the cross-situational
expression of academic problem behaviors displayed by these youth. Within a sample of
324 adolescents with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th
Edition, Text Revision diagnosed ADHD (age M 13.07, SD 1.47), parent, teacher, and
adolescent self-report versions of the Adolescent Academic Problems Checklist (AAPC)
were administered and compared. Item prevalence rates, factorial validity, interrater agreement,
internal consistency, and concurrent validity were evaluated. Findings indicated the
value of the parent and teacher AAPC as a psychometrically valid measure of academic
problems in adolescents with ADHD. Parents and teachers offered unique perspectives on
the academic functioning of adolescents with ADHD, indicating the complementary roles
of these informants in the assessment process. According to parent and teacher reports,
adolescents with ADHD displayed problematic academic behaviors in multiple daily tasks,
with time management and planning deficits appearing most pervasive. Adolescents with
ADHD display heterogeneous academic problems that warrant detailed assessment prior to
treatment. As a result, the AAPC may be a useful tool for clinicians and school staff
conducting targeted assessments with these youth.