ADHD AND EARLY CHILDHOOD

Incidence and Interventions

Interventions that Work for

ADHD

ADHD Statistics • 4.5 million children have been identified as ADHD (2006 data from CDC) • 3%-7% of the school population • boys (9.5%) are more likely than girls (5.9%) to have been diagnosed with ADHD.

Birthday There is a huge difference between a 5 year old and a 6 year old in ability to attend to task. At the beginning of a first grade year- there are children who are almost 7 and children who are almost 6 depending on the cut-off for Kindergarten in your state.

Research indicates grouping children by birthdays in classes would be best.

August-October November-January February-April May-July

Consider This • Kindergarten cut-off date in Pittsburgh is September 1. • Johnny’s birthday is September 24 • Kindergarten cut-off date in St. Louis is July 1.

• Kallie’s birthday is June 30 • They both start first grade at the same school in Bethel, PA after being in their previous cities.

3 weeks from being 7 Just turned six years old 3 weeks before school started.

State Prevalence Center for Disease Control-2003

I don’t have time to do all this…

What would you do with this kid?

What would you do with this kid?

…or these kids?

The Gift of ADHD by Lara Honos-Webb, Ph.D.

Functional Differences • Power performance on timed tasks • Slower reaction time • Slower processing time • Lower problem solving abilities • Less fine motor control • Less gross motor control • Problems with inhibitions

Brain Structural Differences • Smaller frontal lobe and right hemisphere is about 5% smaller than students who do not demonstrate ADHD symptoms.

Living with ADHD: A Demonstration • Follow along as a volunteer reads from the • following screens and reports any challenges.

• The text is from a 6th grade-level source, with • no foreign words.

•

Credit: Emily Chase, Do you use hand sanitizer?, Academic

•

Advocate, Sun Journal, Lewiston, Maine, January 9, 2008

Part 1: Read the text • Use of hand sanitizers has become • increasingly popular in hospitals, • schools, day care centers, and even on • the gangways of ships. They work well • when soap and water are not available, • and are a quick way to disinfect one’s • hands.

Let’s use a Likert Scale to rate of the difficulty reading the previous passage.

Now….Part 2: Read the text and

do NOT include

italicized words

Part 2: Read the text and do NOT include italicized words Hand sanitizers often

stop it you are bugging me

include among their ingredients 60% or more

what he she doing there

of ethyl alcohol, isopropanol,

look at that,

or ethanol, or other similar compound If a hand

where’s my pencil

sanitizer contains less

shoot – I dropped it -

than 60% of one of these ingredients, it

this is stupid, I quit

will not be effective in killing germs.

Let’s use a Likert Scale to rate of the difficulty reading the previous passage.

Now….Part 3: Read the text and

do NOT include

italicized words

Part 3: Read the text and do NOT include italicized words A study conducted

conducted

recently demonstrated the effect

of

of using hand sanitizers with less than 60% alcohol content. Students had one hand

hand

covered in sanitizer with 60+% alcohol

50%?

and the other hand with less than 60% alcohol. Then each

each

hand was placed in a culture plate with germs.

Let’s use a Likert Scale to rate of the difficulty reading the previous passage.

Thanks go to our demonstrator!

Living with ADHD: Discussion of the Demonstration.

http://www.freegames.ws/games/kidsgame s/simon/simon.htm

101 Strategies for Classroom Management of ADHD (or maybe 30ish) • Display classroom rules

Concise instructions for Academic assignments

Break up activities • Complex assignments into smaller parts.

 3 Stars and Wish

Post a Daily Schedule and Stick to It • Tape it on the child's desk.

• Have them mark of activities as they complete them.

Kinesthetic Activities Connect visual and auditory • Take an ordinary rubber ball and a permanent marking pen.

• Divide the ball into sections.

• Write questions all over the ball.

• • The students toss the ball and where their right thumb lands that is the question they must answer.

The child can “phone” a friend if needed.

• The student then chooses to toss the ball to someone else.

Plan Academic Subjects for the Morning

Watch for fatigue • Send on an errand if they look like they are straining.

• It is very hard work to read something three times and still not know what you read.

• Be there figit monitor

Preferred Seating

• Sit N Fit Disc or Disc’o sit

http://www.benchmonster.com/yoga.htm

• Stadium Seat Cushions

Small Group Setting

Two Desks Permission to move with parameters

The Hula Hoop Strategy for Circle Time

Standing work Station

Quiet Work Area

Sending on an Errand

Begin Work Cues

Secret Off Task Signal

Student Reward System

Teacher chair earned with tokens

Teacher chair and desk earned with tokens

Earn reading table as a work space with tokens

Provide an appropriate foot rest

Provide an appropriate foot rest Make sure the custodian clamps the ends so they can not come loose.

Rocker Breaks

ADHD •

Encourage Acceptable channels for Motor Behavior (U.S. Department of Education, 2004).

• •

Koosh ball on a keychain Velcro on bottom side of desk to rub

•

Bungee cord on desk legs to bounce with foot

Transitions

Assign tutors • Pair students who have patience and social skills to be their academic partner.

Negative Consequences • Use negative consequences only after a positive reinforcement program has enough time to become effective.

• Deliver negative consequences in a firm, business-like way without emotion, lectures, or long-winded explanations.

Questions