Yoga As an Intervention for Children with Attention Problems - Case Study Example

Behavioral Problems of Children with ADHD Order No. 459706 Introduction Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD) are not uncommon among children and children with this disability face more or less the same problems as children with other learning disabilities. (Doorlag, D. H., & Lewis, R. B., 2006, p. 228) In Doorlag and Lewis’ opinion, the key area for children with learning disabilities is adaptation through academic instruction within a classroom setting. (Doorlag, D. H., & Lewis, R. B., 2006, p. 213. According to them, the interventions are most often multimodal, in addition to instructional adaptations and behavior management. Sometimes, the process could even include medical treatment. (Doorlag, D. H., & Lewis, R. B., 2006, p. 229. For the classroom setting, there are many invaluable interventions that are available to manage behaviour of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. (ADHD) However, there are a number of interventions that need not be restricted to a small group of children, but teachers could make use of them for the entire class as they are not only beneficial but also allows the child with ADHD to remain anonymous. (Harlacher, J. E., Merrell, K. W., & Roberts, N. E., 2006, p. 6). It is often not practically possible for the teacher to give special attention to a child with ADHD, so it is a much better idea to use such interventions that would benefit the whole class. Classwide interventions are of two kinds: one that targets the academic aspect and the other that targets the behaviour aspect of the children with ADHD. (Harlacher, J. E., Merrell, K. W., & Roberts, N. E., 2006, p. 7). Hence the teacher uses discretion when choosing the right intervention to be used. Different interventions for students with ADHD Good interventions are indispensable for children with learning disabilities such as ADHD. These interventions help the child to have an effective learning experience by minimizing the problems facing them. In this respect, group and individual counseling is a good intervention for children with ADHD as it gives them a platform not only for counseling but also to interact with the other children having the same complaint. Counseling sessions not only help the child to understand external cues (Myrick, R. D., & Webb, L. D., 2003, p. 110), but also helps the counselor understand the skills that are needed to enhance the learning experience of the student. Group counseling is a better choice than individual counseling as children can interact more closely as it resembles real life situations which they would come across in the day- to- day lives. Activities associated with group counseling would give ADHD children the chance to understand the feelings and emotions of the academic and social problems they are experiencing. (Myrick, R. D., & Webb, L. D., 2003, p. 108) Another important and popular intervention used for children with ADHD is Yoga because Yoga helps a child to gain control over his actions and behaviour. Yoga also helps the child to improve the span of attention and thereby make better advancement both academically as well as in behavior. Yoga can be used as a promising alternative to medical and other behavioral interventions. Practicing Yoga does not need to be restricted to small groups of ADHD children, but can be utilized for larger groups or even a whole class of children. Doing Yoga exercises before an activity or a test would help them to settle down and focus their attention in a better manner. (Bray, M. A., Kehle, T. J., Peck, H. L., & Theodore, L. A., 2005, p. 422) Using Yoga as an intervention showed that there was a positive increase in academic performance and physical fitness and a decrease in anxiety, tension, heart rate and headaches in ADHD children. (Bray, M. A., Kehle, T. J., Peck, H. L., & Theodore, L. A., 2005, p. 422) One of the very frequently used behavioral interventions is Contingency Management where consequences contingents are utilized for specific behavior. In this approach, the teacher uses positive reinforcement when appropriate behavior is displayed. The results have proved positive because the time span of learning or being on the task increases and the academic responses of the child is more accurate. (Harlacher, J. E., Merrell, K. W., & Roberts, N. E., 2006, p. 8). A good example for positive reinforcement is the use of tokens or chips. Every time a child displays the desired behavior, a token or chip is handed out to them. These tokens or chips are collected by the child and exchange later for prizes. Results showed that the child’s hyperactive behavior decreased considerably while there was an increase in the following of class rules (Harlacher, J. E., Merrell, K. W., & Roberts, N. E., 2006, p. 8). Another important intervention that could be used in the class without singling out the child with ADHD is peer teaching. Children could either be put in groups to work or they could work in pairs. Points could be awarded during weekly tests which act as an additional reinforcement. This type of management is very effective in a classroom setting. In a Summer Treatment Program, a controlled evaluation of children with ADHD was conducted with regard to behavioral treatment. Through behavior modification the treatment responses of children was investigated. Four children between the ages 11 yrs. and 12 yrs. who were identified and diagnosed with ADHD were examined using the BABAB design. Cole, E. K., Pelham, W. E., Gnagy, E. M. et al. (2005). A comprehensive behavioral program was drawn up for an eight week duration and was withdrawn thereafter to gauge how they responded and adapted to behavior modification. Some of the measures utilized for gauging their behavior patterns were frequency in exercising negative behavior, violation of classroom and school rules both in classroom and recreational settings, accuracy and completion of academic output. The effectiveness of the interventions used was gauged for all the four children and their differential responses were documented. While some of the children showed consistent behavioral responses irrespective of classroom or recreational settings, others showed differential responses in the two different settings. Cole, E. K., Pelham, W. E., Gnagy, E. M. et al. (2005). From a general standpoint, Behaviour was seen to worsen progressively during the period following the withdrawal of interventions. Even when behaviour modification was resumed, the behavior pattern persisted. Fabiano A. and William E. Pelham (2003) in an empirical study state as to how certain interventions support the treatment of attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to correct behavior in the classroom. The key factor reported in the case study was how existing behavior management plans were modified and used for an ADHD positive third grade boy as the behavioral intervention. The modifications done to an existing plan showed positive results as it improved the behavioral pattern of the child through this intervention. In order to demonstrate and gauge the effectiveness of this modified intervention, a multiple baseline design was utilized across the different settings. Results from the observation showed that there was good improvement involving on task behavior while disruptive behavior was fairly reduced. Fabiano A. and William E. Pelham. (2003) Positive feedback from the teachers and caregivers proved that this modified intervention was effective as well as socially valid. Teachers made use of this intervention for rectifying the behaviour of an ADHD participants and gradually brought the behavior under control and within classroom limits. Another important factor from this case study demonstrates the importance of the time to time evaluation and modification of existing behavioral treatments for children with ADHD so that this intervention can be more effective to correct behaviour in the classroom. Hyman SL and Levy SE introduced novel therapies while working with children with ADHD disabilities. In this study, they utilized Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) together with the conventional therapies. CAM addressed children with symptoms of developmental disabilities. Some of the issues surrounding this intervention were the necessity of having families take part in the decision-making process as well as there were concerns of side effects involving conventional treatment of childcare. Primary health care providers had the strong opinion that there should be regular dialogue and feedback from the families in order to make an evaluation of the effectiveness that supports these novel therapies. It is very important that these therapies should be assessed on the lines of evidence based medicine in order to gauge its effectiveness as an important intervention. It is very essential that research reviews should be carried out before making use of CAM to modify developmental disabilities. Reid, R.., Trout, A. L., & Schwartz, E. (2005) in their study state that both academic as well as self determination skills were very important for students who had disabilities of any kind and it was quite necessary to instruct children in these important areas. Students with Learning Disabilities (LD) and those with Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) were examined using self determination interventions of various academic skills. Findings revealed that interventions combined with self management or other self determination components with quite effective in some ways and not so effective in others. The effects measured between weak to very strong. When using interventions that involved self management and correlating it to goal setting, the effects were the strongest as it greatly improved the productivity of the students. The effects were also strong when goal – setting interventions were made use of for improving the Math skills of students with disabilities. Conclusion The academic performances, behavior patterns and general physical fitness of ADHD children can be greatly enhanced by making good use of the above interventions. Such interventions are also very useful for helping children to increase their attention span by focusing and concentrating on what they are doing and facilitate them to become more adept at handling experiences in their community and the society at large. Many interventions used by the teacher in a classroom setting greatly benefits not only children with ADHD but also children in the regular stream. Teachers and caregivers should use their discretion when making use of certain interventions within the classroom setting. Only certain interventions are suitable when working with a whole class of children, but other interventions are specifically used only for children with ADHD. While some children respond better to physical activity, there are other children who prefer working quietly in groups with other children. The teacher should make the effort to choose the right activity for the right group of children so that it proves more beneficial than detrimental. Teachers handling children with ADHD should be patient and understanding towards them as this process can be long and tedious. However, there is no doubt that any intervention used for the good of the child would produce positive results if carried out in the right manner. References Bray, M. A., Kehle, T. J., Peck, H. L., & Theodore, L. A. (2005). Yoga as an intervention for children with attention problems. School Psychology Review, 34 (3), 415-424. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.proxy.lib.utc.edu/ Cole, E. K., Pelham, W. E., Gnagy, E. M. et al. (2005), A controlled evaluation of behavioral treatment with children with ADHD attending a summer treatment program, Journal of Emotional & Behavioral Disorders, 13, 99-112. Doorlag, D. H., & Lewis, R. B. (2006) Teaching special students in general education classrooms, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Fabiano, G. A., Pelham, W. E. (2003). Improving the effectiveness of behavioral classroom interventions for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Journal of Emotional & Behavioral Disorders, 11, 122-128 Harlacher, J. E., Merrell, K. W., & Roberts, N. E. (2006) Classwide interventions for students with adhd: A summary of teacher options beneficial for the whole class. TEACHING Exceptional Students, 39, 6-12, Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://vnweb.hwwilson Hyman, S. L., & Levy, S. E. (2005) Introduction: Novel therapies in developmental disabilities – Hope, reason, and evidence. Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 11, 107-109. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15977317 Myrick, R. D., & Webb, L. D. (December 2003) A group counseling intervention for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Professional School Counseling, 2, 108-115. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.proxy.lib.utc.edu/hww/re Read More