Hyperactivity
Excessive activity is the most visible sign of AD/HD. As children reach adolescence, over activity may appear as restless, fidgety behavior (DSM-IV, 1994). Teachers often see behavior that we endearingly refer to as jumping off the classroom walls. For in-depth symptoms, please refer to the DSM-IV
Impulsivity
Children with AD/HD impulsively act before thinking, as they can seldom wait or delay gratification. They often speak out of turn, interrupt others, and engage in what looks like risk-taking behavior.
Further indications
A child with AD/HD may also indicate low frustration tolerance, temper outbursts, bossiness, difficulty in following rules, disorganization, social rejection, poor self-esteem, academic underachievement and inadequate self-application (DSM-IV, 1994).
V. Environmental Exacerbation
�AD/HD has been called an environmentally dependent disability.�(Fowler, 1998). The environment can work for or against a child�s effort to sustain attention. Classroom demands can be make all the difference in a child working with her/his own learning style. The more a teacher knows about her pupil�s attention span and what works to extend it, the more the environment will be positive support towards a pattern of success.
For example, it has been seen in our schools that problems often arise in environments where children are expected to be seen and not heard, to pay careful attention, and to use great self-control.
Often when pupils fail to suit themselves to such a classroom, teachers and parents are fast to condemn the child, resorting to negative reinforcement via discipline or punishment. If the failure repeats, we turn to other methods (such as referral to guidance counselors, who then proceed to suggest medical or behavioral intervention). We, as teachers, seldom look to make the environment more conducive to the child�s learning needs. As teachers, we need �to create classroom environments, which enable the child to behave appropriately and achieve success.� (Fowler,1998)
VI. Role of teacher:
Through interviews of pupils, teachers and �ADDults�, it is quite evident that teachers educated as to the nature of ADD are most able to successfully relate to their pupils in a positive manner. Those teachers who happen to be parents to children with AD/HD, who, themselves, are AD/HD, or who have undergone thorough fact finding education and training, are able to provide the circumstances necessary to help their students achieve success.
Thom Hartmann, founder of the Hunter School for ADD states: �I've met many teachers, by the way, who don't view ADD children as disordered, and some who are very, very successful with them. Oddly, it has always seemed to me that most of these �successful with ADD children� teachers are ADD themselves
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