Introduction
The legitimacy of ADHD as a learning disorder is often debated, yet the conclusive evidence must prompt a change in the perception of the issue. Children who suffer from ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) have enormous educational challenges for the kids and teachers. The condition can weaken an understudy’s ability for fixation, concentration, consideration, and exertion while finishing coursework. Additionally, an ADHD student may become agitated, restless, excessively talk, or disrupt the class (Miller, 2022). For this reason, ADHD needs. to be treated as a health concern for learners. The goal of this paper is to prove that, for learners at school, ADHD represents a major mental health issue, which is why it must be recognized as such, with the respective changes in the school policy toward addressing the needs of children with ADHD. Since ADHD not only shapes a learner’s behavior negatively but also impedes a student’s ability to study, therefore, creating additional difficulties in the process of cognitive development, it must be classified as a disorder in schools.
Classification of ADHD as a Disorder
There are strong reasons to recognize ADHD as a disorder in schools. For this to be done, a lot of information must be present, which has been made possible through research. This brings about the three categories of ADHD: hyperactivity, inattention, impulsivity, and at times a combination of the three. When the category of ADHD is identified, it becomes quite easy to find the best way forward. It is because the condition is not preventable. However, it can be treated using medications, therapy, and other strategies formulated in schools, hospitals, and teachers to help the kids (Roth & Weiss, 2021). With this, it is best if the youngster receives parent tutoring when he or she returns to the home environment. Students learn at their own pace without outside assistance by carrying out one-on-one education at home. This can be achieved by ensuring that the people around children accept the condition’s existence and take up the mantle to try and help learners. This hence becomes the first reason why it is important to have ADHD outlined as a disorder in any given school no matter at what stage of academic progress the student currently is.
ADHD should be classified as a disorder because it affects the student and their overall classroom behavior. It is hence essential to be able to point out when there are signs that indicate the existence of the condition. One of the initial diagnoses made when a child’s classroom behavior or academic performance is troubling is ADHD (CDC, 2022). A young person who has trouble staying focused answers questions in class without raising his hand does not complete his or her homework, and appears to daydream when the teacher gives instructions. As a result, children with ADHD have trouble paying attention in class or during other activities that require concentration. These kids typically have trouble controlling their impulses and controlling their excessive activity. It has been determined that the most common causes of this neurobehavioral problem are found in a child’s genetic makeup. Brain damage, preterm birth, and low birth weight are thought to be the primary causes of ADHD in children, in addition to heredity (Murtani et al., 2020). Medication and behavioral therapy are typically used to treat this disorder. The symptoms and effects of the condition, such as unsocial attitude, poor memory, excessive talking, daydreaming and even wriggling, eventually go away.
The schools and teachers have strategies that help address any issues related to ADHD, including how to point them out in the classroom. By making use of the available signs of ADHD in children that are often present, the children/kids with the condition can be helped. Through medical examinations, the prevalent causes of this neurobehavioral issue are identified in a child’s genetic makeup. Brain damage, preterm birth, and low birth weight are thought to be the primary causes of ADHD in children, in addition to heredity. With this, the child does away with the notion that kids get ADHD diagnoses too often, as it is an actual condition (Raniyah & Syamsudin, 2019). For instance, teachers, in particular, are observing these signs in kids because this is when they act out the most rather than when they should be sitting still and paying attention. Teachers cannot identify a student in their class as having this exact problem, but they can take notes and have a conversation about what the student is doing in particular. Teachers and parents can begin observing their children’s actions when it comes to particular items as early as preschool.
Admittedly, some of the arguments against considering ADHD a learning disorder that affects students’ learning are also worth considering. For instance, the actual alignment of core characteristics of ADHD with the established standards for a learning disorder is not quite congruent. Specifically, ADHD does not prevent a learner from developing a specific skill that is central to gaining literacy (Raniyah & Syamsudin, 2019). Instead, it affects a student’s concentration, which, in turn, leads to reduced academic performance (Raniyah & Syamsudin, 2019). Therefore, in some sense, ADHD does not represent the entire range of characteristics that a learning disorder must have. Consequently, the idea of introducing it into the range of learning disorders that affect students’ ability to develop specific skills might seem questionable.
Nevertheless, there is an obvious issue with developing critical cognitive abilities that ADHD entails. Specifically, while the disorder does not affect a specific cognitive competency, it creates tremendous obstacles to concentration in class, which, in turn, may lead to a student failing to build any specific skill or a combination thereof (Raniyah & Syamsudin, 2019). Therefore, ADHD represents a major threat not only to learners’ academic performance but also to their cognitive development, in general (Raniyah & Syamsudin, 2019). For this reason, ADHD must be regarded as a learning disorder. Consequently, there are times when the teachers and parents have been seen to have less knowledge on how to handle kids with ADHD. Despite ADHD’s significant incidence in children and its long-term repercussions on pupils, such as academic underachievement, decreased self-esteem, and social and behavioral challenges, there are signs that teachers lack information about the condition (Murtani et al., 2020). This has been seen, and it seems unwise to unduly categorically sort or put the respondents in some orderly classification given their varied and frequently conflicted or ambiguous case-based understandings. However, by categorizing instructors’ comments, it has been feasible to spot trends in their thought processes. A small group of educators propose a basic critique of the diagnosis idea itself. The most common defense is that a diagnosis of ADHD has no bearing on classroom instruction (Raniyah & Syamsudin, 2019). This criticism is crucial because it focuses critique on a biological perspective of ADHD rather than the perceived benefits or drawbacks of labeling for the student or the teacher. Instead, it centers on the concept of classification itself. For those particular teachers, a diagnosis of ADHD neither clarifies nor explains anything important about the student.
Conclusion
Since ADHD affects children’s academic performance to a significant extent by changing how they perceive information, thus, impeding the further development of the relevant skills and competencies, it must be classified as a learning disorder. The process of challenging the current idea of ADHD begins by first understanding the different types of ADHD, categorization of the disorder, and effectively understanding the various symptoms that the student might be exhibiting. This is because children with ADHD must be included in normal education, but little is known about the attitudes that support this. Currently, there are enough evidence-based studies in place to support the need to help kids with ADHD, including helping the children fit within the classroom environment. By looking at how professionals’ awareness of ADHD and the stigma it brings affected their opinions about mainstream inclusion. Hence, through the various intervention strategies (training, therapy, and medication), the training session considerably enhanced parents’ and instructors’ understanding of and attitudes concerning ADHD. It is crucial to consider how to include ADHD training programs in teacher-training curricula at schools. Thus, there is an obvious necessity and urgency to categorize/classify ADHD as a disorder in school.
References
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Miller, C. (2022). What’s ADHD (and what’s not) in the classroom? Child Mind Institute. Web.
Murtani, B. J., Wibowo, J. A., Liu, C. A., Goey, M. R., Harsono, K., Mardani, A. A. P., & Wiguna, T. (2020). Knowledge/understanding, perception, and attitude towards attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among community members and healthcare professionals in Indonesia. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 48.
Raniyah, Q., & Syamsudin, A. (2019). Centred concentration for ADHD children via educational games. Proceedings of the International Conference on Special and Inclusive Education (ICSIE 2018).
Roth, E., & Weiss, K. (2021). Types of ADHD: Inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive, and more. Healthline. Web.