“Sit still”, “listen quietly”, “hands and feet to ourselves”: these are common classroom rules that many students with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorders (ADHD) struggle with. As someone with an ADHD dad and brother, and as a student with a tendency to be easily distracted and fidgety, the topic of accommodation for ADHD in the classroom is interesting to me. According to research by Bender and Mathes (1995), approximately, “3.5 million children, and 2 million to 5 million adults have some type of attention deficit disorder.” Seeing the estimated numbers of children who are affected by ADD/ADHD raises the question, what are teachers and schools doing to successfully accommodate them? Answers to this question vary widely, the gap between
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In this article the author talks about various methods incorporated into a few classrooms and their positive impacts on ADHD students. The author states, “The research showed that children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder perform better on cognitive tasks when allowed to fidget or move more freely than is typically allowed in many classrooms” (Reddy, 2015) This broad statement, though sounding research based, does not cite research, list a control group, and does not define the conditions of a typical classroom. Another generalization the author makes is that, “Schools across the country are experimenting with incorporating more movement in the classroom, be it through standing desks, sitting on exercise stability balls, or reading while riding a stationary bike” (Reddy, 2015). Again, she makes expansive statements without citing research or stating what impact such experiments were having on students’ academic success. The two research studies cited, tested on approximately 50 students each; the first on all boys between the age of 8-12 and the second on 10-17 year olds, which in the case of both studies may not be a large enough or varied enough control group to make generalizations about the positive impacts of moving on ADHD students. Overall the article was easily read and understood, and talked about current strategies that …show more content…
Reddy on the other hand, addressed her article at a different audience, likely parents of children with ADHD and the general public; this is noticed in the definition of terms and the simple language. Another important difference between the articles was the amount and quality of research in them, Reddy’s article is based off of two studies which were not cited correctly and may not yet have statistically or scientifically significant results. She also builds off of quotes from doctors whose area of expertise is not known, to support her points, which raises concerns about the relevance of their statements. Bender and Mathes on the other hand, correctly cite multiple different research studies that support their research, also providing tables to assist with understanding the data presented. The last key difference was in the content itself of the articles, Bender and Mathes, presented a model for educators to use in their classrooms in response to students with ADHD. This research based three tiered hierarchy presented examples of successful intervention strategies for students. The interventions suggested were tools to help the
In this article the author talks about various methods incorporated into a few classrooms and their positive impacts on ADHD students. The author states, “The research showed that children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder perform better on cognitive tasks when allowed to fidget or move more freely than is typically allowed in many classrooms” (Reddy, 2015) This broad statement, though sounding research based, does not cite research, list a control group, and does not define the conditions of a typical classroom. Another generalization the author makes is that, “Schools across the country are experimenting with incorporating more movement in the classroom, be it through standing desks, sitting on exercise stability balls, or reading while riding a stationary bike” (Reddy, 2015). Again, she makes expansive statements without citing research or stating what impact such experiments were having on students’ academic success. The two research studies cited, tested on approximately 50 students each; the first on all boys between the age of 8-12 and the second on 10-17 year olds, which in the case of both studies may not be a large enough or varied enough control group to make generalizations about the positive impacts of moving on ADHD students. Overall the article was easily read and understood, and talked about current strategies that …show more content…
Reddy on the other hand, addressed her article at a different audience, likely parents of children with ADHD and the general public; this is noticed in the definition of terms and the simple language. Another important difference between the articles was the amount and quality of research in them, Reddy’s article is based off of two studies which were not cited correctly and may not yet have statistically or scientifically significant results. She also builds off of quotes from doctors whose area of expertise is not known, to support her points, which raises concerns about the relevance of their statements. Bender and Mathes on the other hand, correctly cite multiple different research studies that support their research, also providing tables to assist with understanding the data presented. The last key difference was in the content itself of the articles, Bender and Mathes, presented a model for educators to use in their classrooms in response to students with ADHD. This research based three tiered hierarchy presented examples of successful intervention strategies for students. The interventions suggested were tools to help the