Respond to one peer who chose a different disorder than you did, and discuss some of the similarities and differences between the two disorders. Are there similar genetic, biological, or environmental factors involved? Many people have misconceptions about children with these disorders; explain how understanding this information will enhance your work with all children and decrease these misconceptions. I chose autism.ADHD is a developmental disorder that generally affects people in their ability to focus or sit still. According to out text approximately 5% of school-aged children are diagnosed with ADHD (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Children or individuals who struggle with this disorder generally have an array of symptoms that can often be difficult to assess. Symptoms can include some of the following: self focused behavior, emotional highs and lows, difficulty staying focused, and often the inability to stay still. While each case differs from the next, nature and nurture too, play a role in how a child reacts to his or her prognoses. ADHD is a brain-based biological disorder. Furthermore, it has been shown through study that children and adults with ADHD have a lower amount of stimulation in the areas of the brain that control attention, social judgment, and movement. I believe that through nurture families can either play a role in the encouragement or degradation of the the traits that coincide with ADHD. For example, if a child who has ADHD is encouraged to stay calm and is encouraged to exercise his or her excess energy then they will suffer tremendously in a multitude of ways. On the other hand if a caregiver or educator is encouraging a child (suffering with ADHD) to expel his or her energy in a positive way then he or she has the potential to thrive, even in the midst of adversity. In a classroom setting children often have an extreme difficulty remaining engaged and most often times staying still. This can be difficult not only for the child with ADHD, but also for his or her teacher and classmates. In acclimating students to a setting where they can stay focused, I rely a great deal on schedules and a frequent amount of bodily movement and/or body movement breaks. While practicing inclusion it is vital to remember the following: “Viewing ADHD as a strongly genetically determined disorder may have falsely generated the belief that the disorder must be context independent and rater differences are best viewed as measurement error,” (Rommelse, Bunte, Matthys, Anderson, Buitelaar, & Wakschlag, 2015). Above all it is my goal to pursue an understanding and acceptance for inclusion toward children with differences. To do this I will aim to focus on bringing other students into activities that will be highly effective for students with ADHD.
Farrar, M. J. & Montgomery, D. (2015). Cognitive development of children: Research and application [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.eduRommelse, N., Bunte, T., Matthys, W., Anderson, E., Buitelaar, J., & Wakschlag, L. (2015). Contextual variability of ADHD symptoms: embracement not erasement of a key moderating factor. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 24(1), 1-4. doi:10.1007/s00787-014-0665-1