ADHD Among Elementary Children - Research Paper Example

ADHD Among Elementary Children Abstract This study will be conducted to determine the capability of private elementary teachers in detecting children with ADHD. Specifically, this seeks to investigate on the profile of the respondents especially on the age, length of service and SPED training seminars attended. Second, this seeks to determine the level of knowledge of the respondents on the causes, characteristics and effects of ADHD. And lastly, this is to test whether knowledge on ADHD is dependent on the respondents’ profile. This study will be beneficial to the teachers, educators, administrators, parents and especially the pupils. This study is founded on the assumption that if ADHD is early detected, it will help in the better development of the pupils. This study will use the descriptive survey method, using questionnaire as the main data-gathering tool. The researcher will adopt the questionnaire from the work of Carandang (2007) and will modify it to fit the present study. The researcher will administer the questionnaires personally and treat them confidentially. The tools for data analysis are frequency counts, percentage, weighted mean and chi-square test. Chapter I INTRODUCTION Rationale and Background of the study Nothing is more precious than a young child. Only few events in the life of an adult are more emotionally draining than to see a child who is hurt, physically or psychologically. One of the reasons for this is that children have few emotional resources with which to cope with problems. The above-mentioned statements were further explained by theories, which state that childhood experiences and development are critically important to their future life. In addition, most theories regard children as more malleable and thus, more amenable to treatment (Goldman, 1996). One of the most common psychological disorders of children is ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This is characterized by a behavioral pattern of restlessness and inattentiveness that begins in early childhood. Such children are not merely inactive than their peers, rather, they show difficulty in controlling their activity in situations that call for sitting still such as inside the classroom. When required to be quiet, they appear completely unable to stop moving and talking (Goldman, 1996). Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition that seems to be common to some children in the preschool and early school grades. This condition makes these children encounter difficulty in controlling their behavior or in paying attention attention. Dr. Heinrich Hoffman first described attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in 1845. He is physician who wrote books on medicine and psychiatry and a poet. The story behind why he became interested with poems for children is that once he tries to find books for his 3-year old son. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) seems to be genetically inherited because some researches show that this disorder run through families. Individuals diagnosed with ADHD may have close blood relatives with the disorder. Scientists believe that ADHD is a complex disorder that probably involves at least two genes. Non-genetic causes such as abnormal brain development, brain injury or environmental factors were also believed to play a role in the disorder (Scully, 1995) The following are problems met by the children with ADHD as found out by Carandang (2007): 1. Most ADHD children show short attention span. 2. Most ADHD children are learning best when they touch, feel and move. This means, ADHD children are mostly kinesthetic learners. 3. ADHD children not only have difficulty comprehending information but they have difficulty in following the calls of their teachers. 4. Homework or assignments for an ADHD child can be an unpleasant experience. This is so because again of their short attention span. 5. Since ADHD children found difficulty in comprehending information, they are frequently getting low scores because they hardly understand directions and test items. Other studies showed that misdiagnosis of this disorder can lead to mistreatment, which will, later on result to adult depression. “Professionals must be diligent in their diagnosis of attention deficit disorders because misdiagnosis can risk children with ADHD with depression in adulthood” Jules Crittenden quoted last December 11, 2004 while reporting a medical news summary in Boston, Massachusetts (http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=58318). Aside from information regarding ADHD, the researchers also include the following studies related to the importance of teachers’ knowledge in solving problems regarding the said disorder. Jerome et al made a research to test the hypothesis that the knowledge base of graduating pre-service teachers has improved in comparison to the records of practicing teachers to assess the improvements in the curriculum regarding ADHD. The respondents were 42 teachers. The researchers found that there is similarity in the scores of both practicing and pre-service teachers.  This imply that there is no significant difference between the knowledge of those who graduated the pre-service programs from those of the practicing teachers in terms of improvements of the curriculum related to ADHD (http://priory.com/psych/adhdteach.htm) Kaplan and Sadock (1999) conducted a study on how ADHD children perform in the society when they become adults. They have found out those Adults who have suffered untreated ADHD in their childhood years encountered social difficulties. These include: 1. committing more car accidents since they remained impulsive; 2. becoming antisocial or deviating from norms; and 3. becoming behind with regards to job and educational attainment. These all persisted because of untreated ADHD problems, which were overseen by parents as well as teachers. The reason why is that parents together with the teachers lack knowledge in diagnosing this kind of disorder. The above-mentioned information and previously conducted studies served as springboard of the present study in the sense that the researchers want to seek more information about ADHD and on the capabilities of elementary teachers in detecting such disorder in children. Statement of the Problem This research will be conducted to find the capability of private elementary teachers in Dagupan City in detecting children with ADHD. Specifically, the study seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What is the profile of the teachers in terms of: 1.1. Age? 1.2. Length of service; 1.3. SPED Trainings attended 2. What is level of knowledge of the teachers on ADHD in terms of: 2.1. Causes? 2.2. Characteristics? 2.3. Effects? 3. Is the level of teachers’ knowledge on ADHD dependent on their profile? Hypothesis of the Study The level of teachers’ knowledge on ADHD is not dependent on their profile. Significance of the Study This study will serve as a channel through which the importance of the knowledge on ADHD will be introduced. This will be for the: Teachers and school administrators The researcher believes that awareness on this matter can help teachers as well as school administrators to frame strategies, curriculum or even training programs that can meet the needs of children with ADHD. Parents This study can help them become an instrument to their child’s development because this study can give them knowledge on how to adjust easily and to do necessary actions to help them develop properly. Children This can help them prevent the development of associated conditions and disorders such as Conduct-Disorder, learning disabilities and other related problems. Society This can help the community because the crime rates produced by the people with behavioral disorders will decrease if these disorders will be detected earlier. Scope and Delimitations This study is delimited to the capability of private elementary teachers in Dagupan City in detecting children with ADHD. This centers on the level of their knowledge on the said disorder and on the relationship of their age, length of service and SPED trainings attended on their knowledge about ADHD disorder. Definition of Terms For a better understanding and an immediate reference to the important terms used in this study, they are hereby defined operationally: ADHD. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder includes conditions marked by inappropriate lack of attention, by impulsiveness, and by hyperactivity, in which the child has difficulty organizing and completing work, is unable to stick to activities or follow instructions, and is excessively restless. Capability. This refers to the ability to detect and handle children with behavioral problems. Causes. These refer to the conditions that are accounted to an event or condition. Characteristics. The consistent traits for the ADHD to be detected. Detection. This is the process of determining the existence of ADHD to children. Effect. Possible results or conditions associated to ADHD. Knowledge. The understood or learned information about ADHD. SPED. Special Education. It is a private or classroom education for students who needs special techniques or instructions. Chapter II RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter presents the procedure utilized in the collection of data, the method employed in the presentation and interpretation to answer the problems presented in Chapter I. Conceptual framework This study was framed in the concept that enough knowledge on diagnosing children with ADHD can help in the treatment of this disorder because early detection can facilitate early intervention. INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT Figure 1. Research Paradigm The figure presents the paradigm of the research, which includes the profile of the respondents in terms of length of service and SPED trainings attended as the input. Through the descriptive research design with questionnaire as the main data gathering tool, the capability of the private elementary teachers in detecting children with ADHD will be determined which will be considered the output of this study? Research Design This study will utilize the descriptive survey as methodology using questionnaire as main data gathering tool. Descriptive- survey research method can be useful when a researcher wants to collect data on phenomena that couldn’t be directly observed. Descriptive because it seeks to investigate prevailing conditions about the capability of private elementary teachers in Dagupan City in detecting children with ADHD (Adanza, 2002). This study also wants to unfold whether or not age, length of service in the field of education and attendance in SPED—related seminars are influential factors in contributing knowledge regarding ADHD to teachers. Sources of Data All teachers from all private elementary schools of Dagupan City Division will be used as respondents of this study. Instrumentation and Data Collection The main tool for data collection was the questionnaire. The researcher will adopt and modify the questionnaire of the published research of Carandang (2007) which was also the modified questionnaire of Dr. Laurence Jerome, consulting Psychiatrist of Amethyst (ADHD) Provincial Demonstration School in his study entitled Teacher-Trainee Knowledge on ADHD. The questionnaire was divided into two parts, first is the respondent’s profile and the second is the respondent’ knowledge on ADHD. The questionnaire was composed of 20 True—False items which embodies the causes, characteristics and effects of ADHD. Tools for Data Analysis The researcher will utilize the following tools for analysis of the data to be gathered: For objective numbers one and two, computation of the average weighted mean will be made to analyze the profiles of the respondents and their level of knowledge on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The formula is: Σ fx AWM = ----------------- n where: AWM – Average Weighted Mean fx - is the sum of the products of the frequency and weight of the response. n - is the total number of members in a group (Padua, 1998). To answer objective number three, the researcher will use the Chi- Square Test of Independence. This test seeks to answer whether or not the profiles of the respondents served as influential factor in determining their knowledge on ADHD. The formula used was: Where: Oi = an observed frequency; Ei = an expected (theoretical) frequency; n = the number of possible outcomes of each event. References Books Adanza, L. (2002). Statistics in Education Rex Bookstore Manila, Philippines Goldman, H. (1996) Review of General Psychiatry. London: Prentice-Hall International Inc. Kaplan H., Sadock B. (1999) Modern Synopsis of Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. Baltimore, Maryland USA Padua, R., Santos R. (1998) Fundamentals of Educational Research and Data Analysis. Manila, Philippines Scully J. (1995). Psychiatry Harwal Publishing Company, Pennsylvania Videbeck, S. (2004). Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Baltimore: Wiliams and Wilkins Company Unpublished Thesis Carandang, J (2007) ADHD among Elementary Children Lyceum-Northwestern University, Dagupan City, Philippines Comparative study on the knowledge of practicing and teachers in in-service trainings in ADHD PSU, Urdaneta City, Philippines Internet Jules Crittenden (2004) retrieved from http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=58318 Boston, Massachusetts Jerome, Washington, Laine and Segal. Teachers Knowledge about ADHD Child and Adolescent Psychiatry On-Line  retrieved from: http://priory.com/psych/adhdteach.htm Read More