Catering for Diverse Learning Needs Issue paper

The paper is divided into two parts:1)Characteristics of Attention Deficit

Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Educational Implications. 2)Teacher
Accommodation and Intervention Strategies. The paper aims to provide information
on students with ADHD and investigate on the relationship between students with
ADHD and corresponding accommodation and intervention strategies.

1. Characteristics of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and

Educational Implications
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has become one of the most
prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders among children, in reference to a worldwide
meta-analysis estimation, around 5.3% of children and adolescents have diagnosed
with ADHD (Polanczyk, de Lima, Horta, Biederman, and Rohde, 2007). The term
“attention deficit hyperactivity disorder” was initially introduced in 1902 by George
Still, a British pediatrician (Barkley, 1990). Over the past years, ADHD has been put
on labels ranging from postencephalitic behavior disorder to even a severer title such
as minimal brain damage. With more advanced and in-depth research emerging in
present days, the name of the disorder was modified with results in new insights. In
order to characterize, such disorder could be differentiated by sustained inattention,
hyperactivity and impulsivity (Barkley, 2000). For over four decades, studies on the
development and evaluation of psychosocial for children diagnosed with ADHD has
been carried out on improving these outcomes (Antshel & Barkley, 2011). Thus, when
we narrow down the scope to educations and teachings in Hong Kong, support for
children diagnosed with ADHD is insufficient in local primary schools (Law, 2019).
Children with ADHD are enrolled to regular schools under an integrated education
policy. It is also estimated that for every classroom, at least one child diagnosed with
ADHD is present (Barkley, 1990). The likelihood of a newly graduated teacher
teaching a student diagnosed with ADHD in their early careers in Hong Kong is likely
to be high in rate.

Even though there is limited studies or literature providing a theoretical understanding

of teachers’ knowledge and attitude of ADHD in the current education system. When
we view most of the theoretical papers and review papers of empirical research, they
have a major argument that teachers’ attitudes and knowledge regarding ADHD have
high possibility of influencing their subsequent roles and learning outcomes for their
students. Within a classroom, student with symptoms of ADHD may perform acts like
impulsivity, inattention and hyperactivity (Salmelainen, 2002). These acts are
noticeable and may easily be recognized since they are frequently at odds with school
regulations in local schools which normally required students to obey rules and
disciplined. Hence, the roles of teachers are often identified as the most common
initial referral source by recommending to parents for bringing their child to receive
ADHD assessment (Snider, Busch, & Arrowood, 2003). It evidences the importance
for teachers and education professionals to engage and learn the knowledge relevant
to ADHD, so as to better cope with the situation.

Moreover, education professionals’ observations on the students’ ability in academic

or task-oriented, and even social circumstances are important source used in
classification stages and treatment plans. Teachers have the responsibility for issuing
and examining interventions for ADHD students in classroom (Vereb & DiPerna,
2004). All in all, teachers and education professionals play part of the vital roles in
recognizing, providing information, or offering assistance when confronting students
who may have the symptoms of diagnosing ADHD.

2. Teacher Accommodation and Intervention Strategies

2.1. Identifying characteristics of students diagnosed with ADHD in classroom
If people do not have enough understanding towards ADHD, they would wonder why
some people are often impulsive or hard to put their attention in certain matters are
only regarded as expressions. However, some people have acts alike are diagnosed
with ADHD. To make it clear, children with ADHD have such symptoms or behave
in such ways far more occasionally. It could be said to be a matter of degree
(Pierangelo & Giuliani, 2007). Not all students have the same degree or even same
type of ADHD. There are three subtypes of ADHD:

1.Predominantly Inattentive Type

2.Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type
3.Combined Type (inattention, and hyperactivity-impulsivity)

As mentioned above, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) could be

characterized by sustained inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity.

2.1.1. Inattention
Children with ADHD can still pay attention, they face problems regarding what they
are paying attention to, for how long, and under what circumstances (Pierangelo &
Giuliani, 2006). With ADHD, there are three commonly seen problems regarding
inattention:

1.sustaining attention long enough, especially to repetitious or boring tasks;

2.resisting distractions that are more interesting or matters attracting their sustained
attention; and
3.not paying sufficient attention, especially to organization and details.

Homework may seem to be particularly difficult for these students with ADHD. They
will often forget to write down an assignment or may bring a book home wrongly. Or,
the homework, even though finished, is full of errors and mistakes. Homework is
often accompanied by frustration for both parent and children (NICHCY, 2004).
Children diagnosed with the Predominantly Inattentive Type of ADHD are seldom
hyperactive or act impulsively, yet they could hardly pay continuous attention. They
appear to be daydreaming and easily confused by instructions given by teachers. They
have difficulty understanding the information and words as quickly and accurately as
other same ages. When the teacher gives detailed instructions, these students have a
hard time processing.

2.1.2. Hyperactivity
Children are more active and have more excess activity than those without diagnosing
disorder, even during sleep time. During school time, the situation of the children
being excessively active are more visible to see (Barkley, 2000), thus care must be
given before labeling the child as hyperactive. Many parents find their children or
grown-ups quite active (Friend, 2005). At the stage of development, a comparison
should be carried out between the child and his or her same-age classmates without
ADHD. Studies suggest that at even at all ages, loud and excessive talking maybe
apparent (APA, 2000).
Hyperactive children may always seem to be in the mode of "on-the-go", showing no
signs of resting. If teachers require them to sit still at mealtime or during ordinary
talks or lessons could be a difficult task. They may roam around the room in circles,
trying to touch everything, or tap their pens noisily. Hyperactive students are often
reported to be staying busy and may try to do multiple tasks at once (NIMH, 2006).
2.1.3. Impulsivity
Impulsive children seem unable to think before they really act or curb their immediate
reactions. They will often display their emotions without any restraint, speak
inappropriate comments in a sudden, and act without thinking consequences of their
behavior or conduct. Their impulsivity may make it difficult to control themselves to
wait patiently for things they long for. They may grab a toy from other children or hit
them when they are down. Children and youth with ADHD often act without fully
considering the consequences or the circumstances. Frankly speaking, thinking about
the potential outcomes before they act does not even appear in their minds. Waiting
even a couple seconds is too much for their biological attraction to get it right away,
such impulsivity makes it hard to delay gratification (NIMH, 2006).
Even though children with ADHD may sometimes act impulsively such as crossing
the road without noticing the road situation and cannot queue patiently in a row.
However, they are often surprised to find out that he or she has gotten into a
dangerous circumstance, finding a way out is difficult for them. Research indicates
that they are more accident-prone, particularly those diagnosed children who are
comparatively more defiant or stubborn (Barkley, 2000).

2.2. Key criteria for managing students with ADHD in classroom

A three-steps strategy could be used to achieve better management outcomes in
classrooms. Teachers could start off by 1) evaluating the educational needs and
strengths for individual students with ADHD. Teachers do not necessarily work alone,
they may work with the students’ guardians or parents or in a multidisciplinary team
to understand more on the students’ educational needs and social behavioral needs. In
daily classroom routines, teachers could observe to obtain more details; In
assessment-wise, teachers could carry out assessments like learning style inventories
to find the students’ strengths and put forward instructions for the students to build on
their abilities. 2) Choosing suitable instructional practice. Seek for the appropriate
instructional practice that would meet the above mentioned educational and
behavioral needs for the ADHD students. Be reminded to choose in scopes with the
student’s age, content, and attention-catching context. Lastly, 3) integrate with the
help of an individualized educational program (IEP). IEP could assist in reflecting
goals and services necessary to obtain the goals. As no one plan fits all ADHD
students.
2.3. Skills in conducting lesson
To keep students with ADHD responsive and stay on the task, some techniques could
be used such as: 1)Supporting the student’s participation. Provide the ADHD students
with private cues and give advance warning that they may be called up time by time.
Try to avoid bringing differences between them and ordinary classmates. 2)Check the
student’s performance. Asking them to explain how do they reach the answers or how
the characters in story feel, in order to keep them engaged and better understand their
mindset. 3)Provide extra assistance. Be aware of the students’ performance in
homework or in class, may offer extra explanations to them after class to help them
catch up. In principle, offer extra assistance and keep the students dedicated in class.

2.4. Teachers’ training in classroom management in Hong Kong

Even though the above depicts the skills for better classroom management, the root
problem still exists. Many teachers still think their jobs are stressful due to the
numerous daily challenges that they face. Chan, Chen, and Chong (2010) evaluated
6000 primary and secondary school teachers in Hong Kong, a majority of them have
different levels of stress, which part of the reasons are student related. The amount of
stress is substantially high for teachers teaching students with specific disabilities, like
disturbing behaviors and noisy sounds made during lessons by ADHD students. With
the comparatively more behavioral problems appeared in ADHD student, self-efficacy
in classroom management has to be improved. Self-efficacy refers to the belief in a
teacher's ability to manage challenging circumstances in the classroom (Almog &
Shechtman, 2007).

Teacher training is considered to be one of the crucial factors contributing for

inclusive learning experience for students with SEN in Hong Kong (Government
Education Department Sector, Education Bureau (EDB) (2015). When facing
different circumstances regarding ADHD students, professional learnings for teachers
to incorporate mastery skills to cope with the situation as well as improving teacher
efficacy. In 2007, a strategic plan which focuses on offering teacher training for
inclusive education was implemented across all schools in Hong Kong. The EDB
revised this plan back in 2015 by increasing the number of teacher trainings for each
public sector school to be accomplished by the end of school year season 2019 till
2020 as follows. Within each school, (1) a minimum of 15% to 25% of teachers are
required to complete a 1-week basic course, (2) a minimum of 6 to 9 teachers are
required to complete a 3-week advanced course, and (3) a minimum of 6 to 9 teachers
are required to complete a thematic course (e.g. focusing on specific disabilities, such
as visual impairment) (EDB, 2015).
Even though years after in nowadays Hong Kong, schools would assign a senior
teacher to teach SEN students. However, loopholes could be seen as training on
teaching these students is not compulsory for the teacher assigned. Some SEN
teachers may have insufficient knowledge to cope with ADHD students. Thus,
policies regarding mandatory training teachers teaching SEN students have to be
reconsidered and renewed in order to better equip teachers handling ADHD or other
SEN students.

3. Conclusion
The issue regarding students with ADHD is here to stay. Even with the above skills,
the problem still exists no matter how as the root problem is support for teachers
training for SEN students are insufficient in Hong Kong. The government must act in
response, improving current policies, in order to better equip teachers and educational
professionals.

References
1. Antshel M. & Barkley, R. (2011) Overview and historical background of attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder. Treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder:
Assessment and intervention in developmental context, 1–30.
2. Almog & Shechtman, 2007
3. Barkley, R. A. (2000). Taking change of ADHD: The complete, authoritative guide
for parents. NewYork: Guilford.
4. Barkley, R. A. (1997). Behavioural inhibition, sustained attention, and executive
functions: Constructing a unifying theory of ADHD. Psychological Bulletin,
121(1), 65–94.
5. Friend, M. (2005). Special education: contemporary perspectives for school
professionals. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
6. Polanczyk, de Lima, Horta, Biederman, and Rohde, 2007
7. Law, K. (2019). Empirical study on work-family conflict among Hong Kong
female employees who have children with special education needs (SEN). The
Singapore Economic Review, 64(1), 213–234.
https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S0217590817430111
8. NICHCY, (2004). Steps to independence: Teaching everyday skills to children
with special needs (4th ed.). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
9. Salmelainen, P. (2002). Trends in the prescribing of stimulant medication for the
treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents in
NSW (Vol. 13, pp. 1–65). Canberra, Australia: NSW Department of Health.
10. Snider, V. E., Busch, T., & Arrowood, L. (2003). Teacher knowledge of stimulant
medication and ADHD. Remedial andSpecial Education, 24(1), 46–57.
11. Vereb, R. L., & DiPerna, J. C. (2004). Teachers’ knowledge of ADHD, treatments
for ADHD, and treatment acceptability:An initial investigation. School
Psychology Review, 33(3), 421–428.
12. Pierangelo R. & Giuliani, G. (2007). Special Education Eligibility: A Step-by-Step
Guide for Educators. UK: Corwin Press.
13. Thorell, L. (2009). The Community Parent Education Program (COPE):
Treatment Effects in a Clinical and a Community-based Sample. Clinical Child
Psychology and Psychiatry, 14(3),

(Hallahan & Kauffman, 1997)