ADHD to 89985 Special Needs Term Paper

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The high energy level and subsequent behavior are often misperceived as purposeful noncompliance when, in fact, they may be a manifestation of the disorder and require specific interventions." (U.S. Department of Education, 2003)

Children with ADHD generally display behavior that is categorized as follows: (1) poor sustained attention; and (2) hyperactivity-impulsiveness. (Ibid) Because of this "three subtypes of the disorder have been proposed by the American Psychiatric Association in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV):

1) Predominantly inattentive;

2) Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive; and 3) Combined types. (Barkley, 1997; as cited by the U.S. Department of Education)

Common characteristics of the child with hyperactivity include the child being "fidgety, have difficulty staying seated or playing quietly, acting as if drive by a motor..." (U.S. Department of Education, 2003) Characteristics of children with impulsivity include "difficulty participating in tasks that require taking turns, blurting out answers to questions instead of waiting to be called and flitting from one task to another without finishing." (U.S. Department of Education, 2003) Characteristics of the child with inattention is something that impacts the education of other children because of the child's challenges in "attending to detail in directions, sustaining attention for the duration of the task and misplacing needed items." (U.S. Department of Education, 2003) the U.S. Department of Education report states: "...one-third of all children with ADHD have learning disabilities...[and] may experience difficulty in reading, math and written communication." (U.S. Department of Education, 2003) ADHD generally is accompanied by other conditions and current literature "indicates that that approximately 40-60% of children with ADHD have at least one coexisting disability." (U.S. Department of Education, 2003)

II. CAUSES

The causes of ADHD are brain-circuitry related and it has been shown in recent research that the problem is not one related to attention due to the brain's inability to "filter competing sensory inputs such as sight and sound.

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..instead researchers now believe that children with ADHD are unable to inhibit their impulsive motor responses to such input." (U.S. Department of Education, 2003) Studies conducted by imaging the brain of the child with ADHD have indicated "which brain regions may malfunction in patients with ADHD, and thus account for the symptoms of the condition." (U.S. Department of Education, 2003) the 'Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorder (DSM-IV) are utilized as the standard clinical definition for making determination of the presence of ADHD. Several characteristics must be present for the child to be clinically diagnosed as having ADHD including the following: (1) severity; (2) early onset; (3) duration; (4) impact; and (5) settings. Each of these are defined as follows:

Severity - the behavior in question must occur more frequently in the child than in other children at the same developmental stage.

Early onset - at least some of the symptoms must have been present prior to age 7.

Duration - the symptoms must also have been present for at least 6 months prior to the evaluation.

Impact - the symptoms must have a negative impact on the child's academic or social life.

Settings - the symptoms must be present in multiple settings.

Specific criteria set out in the DSM-IV are as follows:

DSM-IV Criteria for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

According to the DSM-IV, a person with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder must have either (1) or (2):

1) Six (or more) of the following symptoms of inattention have persisted for at least 6 months to a degree that is maladaptive.....

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