Yes, this sounds absurd, however, I do know, school districts would likely show more compassion toward students and their parents when addressing the cause and effect of ADD/ADHD if the disability and it’s effects were physical in nature. A general lack of understanding is associated with ADD/ADHD in today’s schools. In the world of attention-deficit disorder, there are no clever wrist bands, no celebrity endorsements, nor are there special ADD/ADHD Awareness days. Even though we see epidemic numbers like 9% of American children [NSCH], 13% of boys in the US [NHIS], 15.5% of school children enrolled in Grades 1 to 5 have ADHD [CHADD], and one in five high school boys have an ADHD diagnosis [NY TIMES], the LACK of awareness of this disorder astounds me.
As an education advocate, I am called upon to attend IEP meetings [individual education plan] for special needs students all across the country. It is a privilege to be able to assist families as they navigate the special education system. However, I often discover that teachers and district personnel may be working with a limited set of information or training related to the various disabilities impacting their classrooms. This holds true when addressing a disability like ADD/ADHD for it comes in so many forms but lacks a visual symptom like a missing limb or disfigurement. In fact, many of the children who face ADD/ADHD, “a brain disorder marked by an ongoing pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development [NIMH]”, their diagnosis may go undiscovered or masked due to the typical appearance or the charismatic personalities which may be associated with this disability. For example, the following celebrities have come out as members of the ADD/ADHD community: Justin Timberlake, Michael Phelps, Adam Levine, and Jim Carey. As a result, the level of compassion and understanding may be off-set by the highly inconvenient behavior often associated with this disability. Can you imagine what it would have been like being the first grade teacher of any one of the celebrities mentioned above and trying to keep them focused and on-task for 6.5 hours a day?
Let me share with you a story which highlights the general lack of understanding which still exists today:
The other day, I attended a meeting, like many others, where we are trying to connect the dots between the student’s behavior and the ADD/ADHD disability. On one hand, the school was talking about “motivation, self-control, and making appropriate choices”, whereas, on the other side of the table, we were featuring neurological reports, clinical assessments, and psychological interpretations including “Anxiety”, “Executive Function deficits”, and “clinically significant levels of depression”; which often play out as typical symptoms many high school age students experience when faced with a ADD/ADHD diagnosis. As a result of these debilitating symptoms, school may be a very challenging experience for many of these kids, especially, when compliance, standardization, and organization & working memory skills are required to succeed. Like many meetings I attend, the staff guided the conversation toward medication, parenting, and “taking responsibility”. And the parents left the meeting frustrated as a result.
Fortunately, the end-result of the meeting lead to a formal evaluation, where we will be able to review a wide-range of documentation, assessments, and evaluative tools addressing their child’s strengths and challenges. This is an important part of the intervention process for a holistic, integrated approach toward understanding, through an evidence-based review of documentation, including insights and recommendations from outside clinicians, will lead to a better understanding of the whole child, and ultimately, an appreciation of her, rather than focusing on the inconvenience she presents within the school and classroom. In these cases, when the disability may go unnoticed, unlike a missing leg, arm, or a form of disfigurement, the focus may be put upon the child or the parent as a form of willful disobedience or lacking self-discipline, in contrast to a deeper, more compassionate form of understanding, often associated with physical disabilities.
Since ADD/ADHD does not pull at the heart-strings within the community at large, and there continues to be general lack of understanding related to brain-development research and the attention deficit disability, we will likely walk this path again. So I propose the following: Back in the 80’s and 90’s when ramps and hand-rails were essential for access, let’s consider expanding the notion of access to ADD/ADHD. By building bridges of understanding and compassion, when we address the needs of our children who face this condition, we are supporting them in the same way all disabilities deserve; through respect, understanding, and appropriate intervention. For more information, please contact us at www.specialeducationadvocacy,org