introduction: BECAUSE I THOUGHT WE WOULD BE PRESENTING IN CLASS...

I started out researching this question with the bias that the typical public school classroom, without a dedicated and educated teacher, was not the place for kids with ADHD. I held the opinion that kids with ADHD were receiving too much medication without enough alternative approaches, and the idea that homeschooling (or other highly individualized schooling) might be the best thing for these kids.

What I discovered was that, given the right teaching methods, which are in fact not that difficult to do, kids with ADHD were able to function very well. However, without these methods the PS classroom is not a very supportive place. Many sources pointed to the effectiveness of medication, but only when paired with a good behavioral intervention plan. Most parents who chose to medicate did so as a last resort, and after much research and testing to rule out things like food allergies.

Alternative approaches came across, at best, as very similar to mainstream tactics, and at worst, unverifiable and misinformed. In the end, homeschooling proved to be effective for the same reasons that specific classroom techniques worked: individual attention, clear expectations and boundaries, and cooperative work with the child.

Note: Slides with grey background are questions and musings that came up while I was doing my research. They are intended to pique further thought, hopefully tangential and inspired!

Is keeping a kid with attention issues in a traditional public school setting the best thing for the child? What are the alternatives to ‘helping’ the child to fit into a structure that might simply not be a good fit for him or her?

What do I mean by structure ?

The nature of our educational system is defined by what our society deems normal, and by the expectations it has of its children to be successful in certain ways, and to evidence the harbingers of that success early on.

‘Standardized tests are tests on which all students answer the same questions, usually in multiple-choice format, and each question has only one correct answer. They reward the ability to quickly answer superficial questions that do not require real thought. They do not measure the ability to think or create in any field.’- www.fairtest.com

structure: TESTING

Typical public school class size and content mandates necessitate that the members of the group be treated as just that – members of a group. As long as a child does not vary too much from the typical intellectual and social traits of his or her age band, s/he is served. But kids more ‘individual’ than that end up needing ‘special attention’ or strategies.

structure: LONG FOCUS PERIODS/LARGE CLASSES

‘Nearly one-third of elementary schools do not schedule recess on a regular basis. Some schools lack the space to play while others feel that recess is a waste of time.’

www.healthiergeneration.org

structure: DISAPPEARING RECESS

What does it mean to help the attentionally challenged child ?

What does it mean to be developmentally different?

help: DIAGNOSIS

• Some of those who choose alternative methods of working with attentional disorders do not believe that making a diagnosis is helpful.

• Regardless, diagnosis allows school professionals to create a tailored intervention program.

• Diagnosis also allows medical treatment, if a family so wishes.

• Studies show that medication is most helpful when paired with behavioral intervention techniques.

• Some families opt not to use medication and rely entirely on behavior modification techniques. This seems to be most successful in the homeschool environment, which can be entirely tailored to the individual student’s needs.

help: MEDICATION

help: BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION

• Includes a variety of cooperative and interactive social techniques used with the ADHD child.

• Proven to be highly successful in both home and educational environments; in social situations and internal self-regulation.

• Can be used in any environment.

• Rewards and fines for behavior, where rewards always outweigh the fines.

• Best if this is created and established in collaboration with the student.

• Can segue into self-management.

help: CLASSROOM: TOKEN ECONOMIES

• Monitoring - Kids are responsible for monitoring and rewarding one another’s behavior.

• Tutoring - Help from a peer reenforces the need to stay on task.

help: CLASSROOM: PEER INTERVENTION

• Keep teaching units clear and concise.

• Use Differentiated Instruction techniques (variety of visual and cognitive aids and approaches)

• Highlight key concepts with visual differences.

• Hand out lesson outlines beforehand.

• Give frequent and intermittent feedback while kids are working.

help: CLASSROOM: CURRICULUM

• Keep an orderly classroom, with neat visual displays.

• Have a ‘Free Desk’, partially enclosed, with highly limited stimulus.

• Seat attentionally challenged child away from stimulus and close to the teacher

help: CLASSROOM: ENVIRONMENT

YES!NO!

ADHD kids often exhibit marked changes in academic and behavioral success when given certain educational behavioral supports. All kids would benefit from these teaching strategies (small class size, individualized instruction, etc.), why does it take a kid with ADHD to bring them into the classroom?

What what are alternatives to traditional avenues within the public school structure?

Do they work ?

Can we approach developmental differences with the idea that rather than needing to make accommodations for variation within the ‘norm’, all kids (and society) would be better served if the ‘norm’ was naturally made up of spaces and support for all differences?

• In some cases, allergies to certain foods can cause ADHD-like symptoms. Diet advocates urge testing for these before embarking on a course of ADHD medication.

• Feingold Program - eliminates artificial food additives and salicylates (asprin).

• Cutting out sugar and processed foods.

• Supplements (based on research that indicates people with ADHD do not synthesize certain food nutrients)

alternatives: DIET MODIFICATION

• Nature Deficit Disorder (R. Louv) - ADHD symptoms linked to separation from nature.

• Hunter vs. Farmer Paradigm - (T. Hartmann). - ‘A set of behaviors, tendencies, and skills, with benefits and disadvantages, rather than as a defect or disorder.’- www.wikipedia.com

• Beats to His Own Drum - ADHD behaviors are not a condition, but just evidence of a creative kid with ‘exuberant creativity.’ - www.homeschoolzone.com

alternatives: RE-DEFINITION

• Homeschooling has proven to be very effective for children with ADHD - both educationally and behaviorally.

• Homeschoolers run the gamut in the spectrum of ‘believers’, but all of those that I encountered in my research used some form of behavioral modification, even those who believe that ADHD is a myth.

alternatives: HOMESCHOOLING

What are the implications of alternative methods?

Is the kid who gets a’s in school and graduates successfully but whose individuality and creativity remains unmet, untapped, and in many cases pushed deep down inside well served by the academic system? Why does it take a diagnosis to get a child what he or she needs to expand into his or her own way of being?

Obviously, not all alternative approaches are for

everyone, and some probably do not work at all.

What is clear is that:

• differentiated instruction

• teacher attentiveness to individual students

• clear rule and schedule setting

• a clean and ordered workspace

• peer interventions

• less sugar and preservatives

• emphasis on the positive aspects of any

student’s performance and personality . . .

. . . are all good things for everyone.

Whether they are done at home or in school, or in both places.

resources: WEBSITES (bold are fave or cited links)

http://www.ldonline.org/questions/homeschooling

http://www.nhen.org/specneed/default.asp?id=283

http://www.homeschoolzone.com/hsz/articles/vancamp.htm

http://forums.familyeducation.com/discuss/homeschooling/homeschooling

http://school.familyeducation.com/home-schooling/add-and-adhd/41114.html

http://www.adders.org/info16.htm

http://www.conductdisorders.com/ourarticles/adhd.shtml

http://adhd.kids.tripod.com/

http://www.ncld.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=452

http://borntoexplore.org/adhd.htm

http://www.thomhartmann.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=165&Itemid=62

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/health/17well.html?_r=2&em&ex=1213934400&en=1cc72d7a54c5b656&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

http://family-parenting.savvy-cafe.com/home-school-statistics-prove-its-success-2008-02-22/

http://www.fairtest.org/facts/howharm.htm

http://www.internationaljournalofspecialeducation.com/articles.cfm?y=2004&v=19&n=1

http://www.healthiergeneration.org/about.aspx?id=316

http://www.bonkersinstitute.org/medshow/kidstuff.html

resources: ARTICLES AND BOOKS

Gardiner, H. (2006). Multiple Intelligences. Perseus Books Group, New York

Hallowell, E.M. and Ratey, J. (1994). Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood through Adulthood. Simon and Schuster, New York.

Hartmann, T. (1997). Attention Deficit Disorder. A Different Perception. Underwood Books, California.

Levine, M. (1994). Educational Care: A System for Understanding and Helping Children With Learning Problems at Home and in School. Educator’s Publishing Service, Inc., Cambridge.

Louv, R. (2008). Last Child in the Woods. Algonquin Book, Chapel Hill.

McLaughlin, T. F. and Reiber, C. (2004). Classroom Interventions: Methods to Improve Academic Performance and Classroom Behavior for Students With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. International Journal of Special Education, 19 (1)