There are a number of modifications and accommodations that can be made by teachers and administrators to better serve the needs of children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). The purpose of this paper is to review educational studies implementing various modifications/accommodations and evaluating their effects.
Effects of Teacher/Administrator Modifications And Accommodations
Unfortunately while there have been many articles advocating the use of teacher- and administrator-related educational modifications and accommodations ADHD students, there has been little evaluative research examining the success of such programs. However, Greenewald and Walsh (1996) did report on the evaluation of instructional accommodations/modifications for an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder student's impulsivity and inattentiveness, both of which were interfering with his learning and that of his classmates.
Prior to experimental intervention, a simple event recording was conducted over nine class periods to determine the frequency of the subject's impulsivity and inattentiveness. For ease of observation the most frequently occurring behavior was targeted for study which was impulsivity and inattentiveness.
An ABAB reversal design was used to study the effects of regular instructional procedures (baseline) and instructional procedures recommended for ADHD children (intervention) on the subject's non-attending behavior. Baseline and intervention differed in terms of physical design, management, and curriculum and lesson presentation.
According to Greenewald and Walsh (1996), the results of the study indicated that the intervention did positively influence the subject's ability to attend. However, it was concluded that because the experiment included multiple elements, further research would be needed to ascertain whether a smaller array of environmental variables or perhaps a single variable could produc...