Students with ADHD

At some point in each teacher's career a student with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is likely to arrive in one's private voice studio. All over the world educators and families are learning more about how to help these students since this disorder is one that is often seen in students. But what is ADHD and what should the teacher do about it? This article will endeavor to serve as a primer for those who have had little experience with this disorder. WHAT IS ADHD? Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, sometimes called ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder when not accompanied by hyperactivity), is not easily diagnosed. It is not a disease that can be definitively diagnosed with something as simple as a blood test. As a disorder, a series of symptoms and behaviors must be evaluated. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) is used by health professionals to help diagnose this disorder. DSM-IV-TR tells us that "the essential feature of ADHD is a persistent pattern of inattention or hyperactivity-impulsivity that is more frequently displayed and more severe than is typically observed in individuals at a comparable level of development. "1 Other criteria exist; for example, some symptoms must have been present prior to age seven and the symptoms must be present in more than one setting, such as home, school, or work.2 Additionally, "symptoms must have persisted for at least six months to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with the developmental level, and there must be clear evidence of interference with developmentally appropriate social, academic, or occupational functioning. "3 ADHD cannot be described as the temporary moments of distractibility, inattentiveness, and forgetfulness that we all have from time to time. Rather, this is a condition that significantly interferes with the student's life functions and has been demonstrable since childhood. ADHD is not a learned behavior; rather, it is a behavior determined by biology and genetics.4 To further complicate our understanding, students with ADHD are divided into two subtypes: those with symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity and those with symptoms of inattention. Indeed, it is possible for a student to belong to both subtypes. According to the DSM-IV-TR Checklist for Hyperactivity-Impulsivity (see Table 1) a student with ADHD with hyperactivity-impulsivity must display six or more of the symptoms for hyperactivity and impulsivity and also must exhibit fewer than six of the symptoms for inattention (see Table 2). Students in the inattention subtype, however, display six or more of the symptoms in the DSM-IV-TR Checklist for Inattention (Table 2), while exhibiting fewer than six of the symptoms for hyperactivity-impulsivity (Table 1). Finally, a student exhibiting six or more symptoms from each of the two tables would fall into the combined category: ADHD, Combined Type. It is estimated that up to ten percent of all students have some form of ADHD. Studies indicate that, "in the general population, 5.8%-13.6% of males and 1.9%-4.5% of females are found to exhibit behaviors consistent with ADHD, with a ratio of about four boys to one girl. "5 TEACHING THE ADHD STUDENT Fortunately, it is never the job of the teacher to diagnose conditions such as ADHD. ADHD can be diagnosed only by a health professional. The information presented above, however, can be useful to help the teacher understand the condition and work more effectively with a student who has ADHD. Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, was made law in 1975. In 1990, it was reworked into the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA); then, in 2004, it was updated once more. These laws protect students all the way to age twenty-one. A related law, Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, is the section most often used in schools to ensure a fair education for all students. …