A school environment provided an ideal environment to use my knowledge on health impairments caused by chronic health problems such as asthma, diabetes, rheumatic fever, and epilepsy that limits student’s abilities to perform different learning activities leading to a loss of alertness and vitality to identify students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). While it is difficult to distinguish by mere observation the different categories of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), ADHD consist of hyperactivity disorder, attention-deficit disorder, and a combination of both which have a detrimental effect on the academic performance of the student.
A comparative evaluation of my prior knowledge on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the causes, and the practical approach of identifying a student with the health impairment required a blend of theoretical and practical elements and application of the knowledge acquired on the ground to be complete.
The criteria for identifying students with the problem required identifying the essential patterns of attention exhibited by the patient and critically differentiating attention in students with other external stimulants to lack of attention. Here, different factors contribute to different behavioral patterns and varying intensity exhibited by the student. The age of the child, environmental factors, and the behavioral patterns contribute significantly to the identification of students with Ad/HD. The critical element here included in the identification process should be based on a standardized diagnostic method to avoid a situation of including students with similar symptoms but suffering from different mental problems such as stress.
The severity level of the AD/HD symptoms on the child must be relatively more frequent on the child than other students, the onset period of the impairment, the persistence of the problem, the impact on the academic performance of the child, and the settings of the symptoms provided the basis for my understanding of the impairment.
An analysis of my knowledge based on a study on the behavioral characteristics of an AD/HD child based on the theoretical foundations of the study of the predominant type includes lack of attention to detail, While the above factors were general to identify the students with AD/HD based on my experience, I realized that a detailed understanding of the AD/HD subtypes includes a hyperactivity disorder, attention-deficit disorder, and a combination of both. The characteristics of the predominant type include lack of attention to detail, inability to sustain attention to tasks, poor listening capabilities, lack of willingness to listen to instructions, little attention to mental tasks, forgetfulness, and easily distracted by external stimulus. Students with different types of AD/HD showed different levels of concentration, activity, attention to detail, motivation, boredom, distractions, and capabilities of absorbing information.
By identifying the different types of AD/HD and the characteristics of each group, the solution included creating solutions based on theory and practice of the different types of AD/HD. The solutions included providing enough time to students with inattentive type Ad/HD, techniques for organizing their thoughts, flexible time to complete assignments, and providing simplified tasks. Students with Predominately Hyperactive-Impulsive Type need constant follow-ups because they are easily distracted by intruders, squirm, are excessively impulsive, and often in constant motion. Students with both features have a key characteristic disability because of the aggregate effect of the impairments.
In conclusion, theory and practice were motivating factors underlying the capability to identify students with AD/HD.