The two have some similar characteristics. Both children with AD/HD and dyslexia may have attention span issues, reading difficulties, writing difficulties, and handwriting difficulties …show more content…
When an educator is aware of the three subtypes of AD/HD, they can find ways to engage the child in the classroom appropriately based on their particular type of AD/HD. For example, for a child with predominately hyperactive-impulsive AD/HD, a classroom activity or lesson that requires movement will benefit this child. However, without recognizing the various subtypes, educators cannot add a variety of activities in the classroom that will benefit learners of all types.
The Thomas Brown article that discusses the six aspects of AD/HD and ADD reinforced a great deal of information that I was already aware of. My younger brother was diagnosed with
ADD when he was fifteen years old. Even though this article is about AD/HD and ADD together, many of the characteristics are also ones that my brother possesses and exhibits. I have watched him cope with this disability since his childhood when it was undiagnosed, all the way
through his high school career. As I was reading this, I was able to make so many connections to my brother and how he has dealt with his ADD during his time in the classroom.
The article begins by explaining that when an individual takes their medication, they …show more content…
However, once he began taking medication during his sophomore year of high school, my family saw significant improvement in many of the categories. Even today, we can tell when he is not on his medication because he tends to fall short in one or more of the six aspects.
My brother struggles the most with clusters one and two, especially when he is not on his medication. When referencing cluster one, he struggles with organization and the importance of due dates and deadlines. To help him with this, my mom began creating calendars and to-do lists with him, scaffolding it so he would eventually be able to do this on his own. This helped him immensely and he still continues to do this in college, with the assistance of an organizational coach. As a teacher, I believe that we need to focus on little things such as calendars and to-do lists with students who have ADD because they do not know how to organize themselves and when to start tasks for a particular due date.
When taking a closer look at cluster two, my brother displays these “hyperfocused” behaviors when he is playing video games or doing something that he enjoys. When he is
“locked in” on something that he wants to do, he tends to tune everything else out (Brown