According to CDC (2011), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder commonly known as ADHD is a mental disorder that develops in childhood and can continue into adulthood. Children with ADHD experience trouble paying attention to one task or sitting in one place for a long time. About 3 to 7 percent of school-aged children experience this disorder. The prevalence rates of this disorder differ by community with some studies indicating that larger cities may have an increased rate of 10 to 15 percent. ADHD may be caused by several things. One of the causes of ADHD is brain anatomy and functions. In this case, a low level of activity in different parts of the brain that control activity and attention level is associated with ADHD.
Another cause of ADHD is genes and heredity. This, therefore, means that a child with ADHD is likely to have a parent with ADHD. Apart from genes and heredity, significant head injuries, prenatal exposures such as nicotine and smoking and prematurity may cause ADHD. The signs and symptoms of ADHD are grouped into two types of behavioral problems. The two types of behavioral problems include hyperactivity and impulsiveness and inattentiveness. The key signs and symptoms of inattentiveness include short attention span and easily distracted. The child can also make careless mistakes, appear forgetful, unable to stick to tedious and time-consuming tasks, unable to listen or carry out instructions and have difficulty organizing his or her work.
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Also, the hyperactivity and impulsiveness signs and symptoms include; excessive talking, unable to pay attention to tasks, interrupting conversations, unable to wait for their turn, excessive physical movement as well as acting without thinking. These symptoms can cause tremendous issues in the life of a child such as poor social attention, underachievement at school and problems with discipline. ADHD affects the learning of children in numerous ways. Children with ADHD do not pay attention to what they are taught in class. This is caused by their inability to regulate the movement of their bodies and often create excuses to leave the classroom. As a result, they miss out on significant lessons and instructions that may help them in completing their assignments. To improve their concentrations, parents and teachers ought to assist their children to identify when they have that urge to move or provide them with a way to direct that movement. The best way to improve these children’s concentration is by providing a sensory activity such as fidget spinners, wiggle seats, and standing desks.
Additionally, children with ADHD experience problems interacting or communicating with people. As a result of their impulsive nature and hyperactive mannerisms, they find it hard to deal with others. They get irritated and can show defiant as well as violent risk-taking behaviors which other children in school which make other children to isolate them. The best way to handle communication in children at school is by creating a plan that rewards good behavior or talk them through their behavior to understand what acceptable (Barkley, 2018) is. ADHD further causes reasoning and comprehension problems and children with this condition may have problems in reading, logical analysis, verbally explaining their emotions, writing as well as organizing their possessions. To support and challenge children with ADHD, it is important to engage these children in individual sporting activities such as tennis, wrestling, martial arts, and swimming.
It is also important to avoid chaotic settings to help them concentrate on what they are doing. These children should be encouraged to stick to small groups in reasonably controlled settings to help them develop skills that they are working on. Lastly, these children should be encouraged to observe a healthy lifestyle. It is important to understand disability and its implication on child development because it helps them to understand their relationships and their experiences to make their family more accessible and accepting.
References
Barkley, R. A. (2018). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Scientific American, 279(3), 66-71.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2011). ADHD: clinical practice guideline for the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents. Pediatrics, 128(5), 1007.