I Think I Can

I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN, I THINK.....WHAT WAS I THINKING ABOUT?

By Crystal Collingwood

Many "problem" children today have been reported to have some sort of hyperactivity or attention problems. Most times it comes down to medicating a child with ADD or ADHD medications. The problem here is that not all of these children need medication. In fact most of them just need a little more attention and one on one instruction (Ramirez et al. 1999). For those who actually do need medication to be successful students and productive members of society this is where parent involvements and strong communication really comes into play.

Children most likely to represent a continuum of attention and activity/impulsivity problems and may describe the population of children with significant attention problems (Montague 1997). These children are parts of families, in which the family may opt for medications to control their behaviors. Collaboration and communication between home and school creates an environment for students to become successful as their peers.. Collaboration and consistency on goals and rewards across settings and monitoring of inventions are just a few ways to provide them for a successful beginning (Farrell, 2003).

Parental involvement in their child's education is easily one of the main issues in which can cause a child to either succeed or fail at any moment in their schooling. When you couple the increasing involvement with other students and hyperactivity issues, communication is key to keeping problems at bay. Hyperactivity issues involve ADD and ADHD, and while they are not the only ones they are the main focus of this paper.

ADD or ADHD are attention deficiency disorders. They are not the end of or cause of all problems, but they don't help matters with raging hormones and peer pressure(Schrof, 2000). Over the last few years it has been learned that there are very specific needs of children with these disorders. Children with ADHD struggle with their ability to remain attentive to a task at hand especially if it requires work. Also, they tend to act impulsively or be over active. This can be quite draining on any family or classroom (Montague et al, 1997). That is why it is imperative that every measure possible be looked at and tried.

According to Clinton, a student categorized as hyperactive will exhibit the following activity and attention level characteristics:

Appears to be in constant motion

Often fidgets with hands or feet

Finds nearby objects to play with or put in mouth

Difficulty remaining in seat/roams around room

Impulsivity and lack of self-control

Blurts out verbally

Can't wait for his or her turn

Often interrupts or intrudes on others

Often talks excessively

Gets in trouble because he/she doesn't stop and think

Often engages in physically dangerous activity without considering the consequences

Difficulty with transitions/changing activities

Aggressive behavior, easily over-stimulated

Socially immature

Low self esteem and high frustration

Attention Deficit

Easily distracted by extraneous stimuli

Difficulty listening and following directions

Difficulty focusing and sustaining attention

Difficulty concentrating and attending to task

Inconsistent performance in school work- one day the student is able to do the task and the next day he is not; the student is "consistently inconsistent"

Tunes out -may appear "spacey"

Disorganized-loses and can't find belongings(papers, pencils, books); desks and rooms may be a total disaster area

Poor study skills

Difficulty working independently

The symptoms of attention deficit and hyperactivity often go into remission after adolescence. Hyperactivity itself seems to subside. From the preceding list of behavioral