Behavior modification for children with ADHD - Essay Example

This is a significant number that makes ADHD one of the most common learning and behavioral disorders to date. The number of American children and adults diagnosed with ADHD has significantly increased from over the years (Frame, 2003). ADHD is a medical term and as it is a problem related to children, that educators and researchers in education should learn its explanation and the symptoms that help identify the problem. It is necessary to clarify the term ADHD because it is not a single behavior but a mix of complex patterns that it is sometimes called an “assemblage” (Marcus &Saka, 2006 cited in Goodwin, 2010, p.2). It is a condition that the National Institute of Mental Health (2012) explains as “one of the most common childhood brain disorders and can continue through adolescence and adulthood” (p.1). The most obvious symptoms are “difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behavior, and hyperactivity (over-activity).

These symptoms can make it difficult for a child with ADHD to succeed in school, get along with other children or adults, or finish tasks at home” (ibid, p.1). In order to be diagnosed, symptoms include inattentiveness, disruptiveness, as well as social and academic discrepancies in the child’s school or home settings. For example, this includes poor interactions with their parents, teachers, and classmates and a decrease in academic achievement. Children with ADHD endure these difficulties chronically and persist into adolescence and adulthood, negatively impacting their lives and the people surrounding them (Jones & Chronis-Tuscano, 2008).

Many children are losing their battle with ADHD without the much needed help from their surroundings. ADHD cannot be categorized as a medical problem, but it is a behavioral and learning difficulty that needs to be effectively managed in the classroom by teachers and at home by the parents, because “there is currently no cure