Screening For Attention Problems. Since Disruptive Behaviors

     Students who have exhibited the characteristics of Attention Deficit Disorder for longer than six months may be at risk for having an attention deficit disorder. However, a diagnosis of attention deficit should only be made after ruling out other factors related to medical, emotional or environmental variables which could cause serious symptoms. Therefore, physicians, psychologists, and educators often conduct a multi-disciplinary evaluation of the child including medical studies, psychological and educational testing, speech and language assessment, neurological evaluation, and behavioral rating scales completed by the child's parents and teachers.

Some of the most common words moving around in the psychiatric circle are attention Deficit; hyperactivity; Ritalin; ADD, ADHD. These words are being most commonly discussed by most educators, physicians, psychologists and young parents in the society today. In spite of extensive advancements in technology which has brought new insights into the brain and learning, there is still a lacuna in the field of problems faced by children who are unable to remain focused on the task given to them in the classroom owing to their inability to pay attention.

In today’s society children can be super ramped up especially with all the sugar and junk food lying around. Most parents may start to wonder if sugar or a short temper is all that is affecting their child. A child can exhibit multiple signs of anything when observed closely enough. Many parents do not want to acknowledge that their child may have an issue far beyond their control. According to the article, "Children Who Have Attentional Disorders: Diagnosis and Evaluation.” which can be found in Pediatrics in Review, children who have Attention Deficit demonstrate basic signs of inattention, impulsivity, and over activity. The majorities of these behaviors are not appropriate for the child’s age and does not let them reach their

Snowling, M. J., & Hulme, C. (2012). Children’s reading impairments: From theory to practice. Japanese, Psychological Research, 55(2), 186-202. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-5884.2012.5541.x.

According to Janet Belsky (2016), Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in the United States is the most common learning disorder (p.154). ADHD affects boys at a more drastic rate than girls. The most common signs are not being able to pay attention, the inability to stay focused, and being hyperactive. These traits occur at home and in a class room setting. Boys are more prone to being assigned the label, especially during the elementary school years. The children’s inability to sit still and pay attention is highly noticeable during the

“Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a biologically based but heterogeneous disorder connected to a variety of negative outcomes” (Sasser et al., 2016). ADHD can be found in both adults and children, but is more prevalent in children than in adults. According to Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in the United States alone eleven percent of children from age four to seventeen have been diagnosed with ADHD as of 2011 (Key, 2014). Boys of this age

“ Disorder that involves symptoms of extreme inattentiveness, problems with impulse control, and high levels of activity; although some children present only symptoms of attention deficit and others experience only hyperactivity, usually both are evidence.” ( Dunn, 2013, pg. 244)

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood disorders that develops in children and becomes apparent in the preschool, early school years and continue through adolescence and adulthood. It is one of the rising public health concerns which is characterized by inappropriate levels of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. The world wide prevalence rate was estimated as 5.29 %. (Polanczyk 2007). Prevalent rates are higher at 12 years. It also affects school performance and interpersonal relationship. (Hokenberry 2006).

In recent years, the issue of inattentive students has been sweeping the nation, especially with the youngest children, Kindergarteners. According to Curwood (n. d.), Kindergarten has changed into First grade and First Grade to Second (p. 1). With more strenuous standards to meet, 5-year-olds have been subjected to longer school days, with most communities “[mandating] full-day attendance” (Curwood, n.d., p. 1). Children at this age are not cognitively developed enough to remain focused during their 6-hour long days. Furthermore, The United States has also seen a growing case of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnoses. Having been diagnosed with the disorder myself, I can attest to the difficulty of lasting through an entire school day with the disorder. Along with longer days, standards focused schools are cutting

Every single one of us has had some difficulty sitting still, paying attention and even controlling impulsive behavior once or twice in our life. For some people, however, the problems that occur slim to none in our life occurs in the lives of theirs every day and interfere with every aspect of their life inclusive of home, academic, social and work. . The interaction of core ADHD symptoms with co-morbid problems and neuropsychological deficits suggests that individuals with ADHD are likely to experience problems in academic settings. This study was conducted to show the disadvantages and impairments in the education of children with ADHD.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is commonly diagnosed in childhood and affects approximately 5% of children worldwide (5th ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). Once thought to be a disruptive behavior problem, it is now believed to be a neuropsychological disorder that results from abnormalities within the brain and manifests as functional deficits (Barkley, 1997). These deficits result in symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity. Current diagnostic criteria for ADHD include 18 symptoms that are defined by these three core clusters (APA, 2013). ADHD usually manifests during childhood, however it persists into adolescence and adulthood in an estimated 35%-70% of cases (Adler & Cohen, 2004; Barkley, Fischer, Smallish, & Fletcher, 2002; Kessler et al., 2005) and affects approximately 2.5% of adults worldwide (APA, 2013). The prevalence of adult ADHD is estimated to be between 4% and 5% in the United States, amounting to approximately 9.4 million adults (Faraone, Spencer, Montano, & Biederman, 2004).

The prevalence of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is rather interesting and is very spread out amongst genders and ethnic groups. It is estimated that between 3 to 5% of children that attend school suffer from AD/HD (APA, 2000), and 1.35 to 2.25 million children are suspected of struggling with AD/HD (Turnbell et al., 1995). This ultimately categorizes as one of the most occurring forms of exceptionality. When it

Donna Ford includes three claims that were used to build her argument that there should not be a rush to saddle children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder due to high activity or energy level. Claim number one is using “a checklist of behaviors should not be the only or primary source of an evaluation… Observation over a period of time and in multiple settings are needed” (Ford). She includes this claim to expresses that running down a checklist of behaviors to determine if a child has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a “subjective and limited nature of the evaluations used to diagnose the disorder.” For one, most of these diagnoses of the disorder occur in the classroom, where there should be evaluations for students

“This group of disorders is characterized by: early onset; a combination of overactive, poorly modulated behaviour with marked inattention and lack of persistent task involvement; and pervasiveness over situations and persistence over time of these behavioural characteristics.” (Mulhauser, 2015, p.1) The hyperactivity aspect of this disorder is most prominent in younger children, and may decrease in intensity as a child ages, highlighting the inattentiveness and impulsive behavior in adolescence. Today, those that do not display this hyperactive trait but still experience the same problems with inattention are typically diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. However, this term as a diagnosis has only been used in recent

In the early 70s, the main focus started to shift towards attention deficit rather than the concept of hyperactivity (Lange et al., 2010). In fact, 4 years after the implementation of the DSM-II, Douglas (1972) argued that deficits such as sustained attention and impulse control deserved more notability. Also, these symptoms responded better to stimulants treatment than hyperactivity (Douglas, 1972). For this reason coupled with the influence of the scientific community, a complete reconceptualization of “Hyperkinetic Reaction of Childhood” was considered. In 1980, the DSM-III was published and renamed the disorder “Attention Deficit Disorder” (ADD) (Barkley, 2006). The disorder could now be diagnosed with or without hyperactivity. Attention deficits and impulse control were considered more important than hyperactivity as determinants for diagnosis (Lange et al., 2010). Moreover, the DSM-III contained “an explicit numerical cutoff score for symptoms, specific guidelines for age of onset and duration of symptoms, and the requirement of exclusion of other childhood psychiatric conditions” (Barkley, 2006, p.19). A lot of controversy emerged from these changes, as little empirical evidence existed to support the concept of “Attention Deficit disorder” (Barkley, 2006). Confusion arose concerning the similarities of both types of ADD and it was not clear if they should be considered as the same disorder or two different psychiatric entities. Seven years later, a revision of the DSM-III (DSM-III-R) was published based on empirical validation. The subtype component was removed and the disorder was renamed “Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (APA, 1987).