Welcome to an Unwelcoming School

Welcome to an Unwelcoming School 

            "Adaptability is being able to adjust to any situation at any given time." (John Wooden) 

          

Those in charge of the American public-school systems sure have seemed to put on a fixed face of obstinance when it comes to adaptability. By adaptability, I’m not referring to the act of encouraging equity in schools, but rather adapting to something much more overlooked; the needs of students with disabilities. “Learning disability is a lay term (not a diagnostic term) that refers to significant problems in mastering one or more of the following skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, and mathematics. Learning disabilities do not include visual, hearing, or physical impairments; intellectual disability; emotional disturbance; or environmental disadvantage. (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act [IDEA], 2004) (p. 196-197). While there have been classrooms designated to students with special needs in schools, many students being labeled as “behind” may simply be hyperactive or exhibiting a learning impairment that hasn’t been rightfully recognized by the student’s educators. More information about ADHD and hyperactivity suggests that schools are being lazy when it comes to the education of students with specific learning needs. “ADHD describes children who display persistent age-inappropriate symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity that are sufficient to cause impairment in major life activities.” (APA, 2013). (p. 226). What if teacher unions, educators, and parents advocated for more flexibility for hyperactive students who need information delivered to them in a slightly different way than most students? Utilizing technology for learning and relocating learning to an outdoor environment positively impacts the learning experience for students with ADHD.

As psychologists, educators, and parents are becoming more aware of the various types of learning disabilities, they’re realizing that many children don’t function well within the confinement of traditional education. Today’s school model, the delivery method in which information is taught to students, is still quite traditional and standardized. The article “Traditional vs. Progressive Education” claims, “Traditional education is often accused of stifling creativity, treating students as machines to be fed knowledge… Progressive education focuses… more on what students are passionate about and what critical thinking skills they can develop.” It may even be reasonable to argue, depending on which student one was to ask, that the current school system is failing to serve students of average performance. If this is even partly true, it’s logical that it’s also causing those of below-average performance who are more prone to distractibility to fall below the current school system’s standards. Another side point is this; why haven’t schools progressed in a more creative direction given the rising number of artistic and technological careers emerging? The traditional public-school model isn’t adequate given the number of children with learning disabilities who are failing to keep pace with a “normal” education.

ADHD can present itself in a variety of unique ways, which simultaneously causes separate learning impairments to be misdiagnosed as ADHD. Therefore, lack of testing can prove detrimental to a student’s success if they aren’t receiving information in a form they can naturally understand. Antshel, in the book “Abnormal Childhood Psychology,” claims that the issue with children with ADHD doesn’t come down to a lack of intelligence, (although the public school system is portraying it that way.) (Antshel et al., 2008, p. 236). A different author featured in this same book adds, “Their difficulty lies not in a lack of intelligence, but rather in applying their intelligence to every life situation.” (Barkley, 2006a, p. 236). Barkley goes on to say that because children with ADHD are so misunderstood, they can “never quite live up to their potential.” While this is a bleak statement, changes to the education system can be made to provide more opportunities for these kids. Just like with any child, some students with ADHD display early signs of struggling in either language arts, mathematics, or both. Impairments in speech and language are actually quite common among children with ADHD, ranging from 30% to 60%. (Helland et al,. 2012, p. 238). “Children with ADHD not only ramble on, but also their conversation is characterized by speech production errors… unrelated comments… [and] unclear links (Mathers, 2006; McGrath et al., 2008). (p. 238-239 of Abnormal Child Psychology). Although children with ADHD may be difficult to deal with and require extra patience in a school setting, it doesn’t mean their unique thought processes, creativity, and individual passions can’t be celebrated. If schools prioritized making accommodations for students with communication impairments, they would be empowering those students to learn how to work around their disability while learning. If their traits were lifted up instead of suppressed and discouraged, the chances of success for students with ADHD in the public school system would increase.

While technology has earned a negative reputation for being distracting for the average student’s learning experience, there is evidence that students with ADHD and those with language impairments significantly benefit from technology being used as a teaching aid. “One problem in reading instruction is maintaining a balance between the basic, but dull, word decoding and the complex, but engaging, text comprehension. Not all the issues have been resolved, but computer-assisted methods for spelling, reading, and math provide more academic engagement and achievement than traditional pencil-and-paper methods… (Kunkel, 2016; Torgesen et al., 2010. p. 223 of “Abnormal Child Psychology”). This means that rather than teachers solely lecturing ADHD students while expecting them to sit still, a mix of human and computer intervention can improve concentration. Additionally, this book also mentions how visually seeing text read to ADHD students with language disabilities can aid them in growing their reading comprehension skills. For many kids with ADHD, features such as auto correct, and voice typing can help them overcome their spelling and writing challenges to successfully communicate ideas. Being able to have a piece of text read aloud to them also aid in reading comprehension; without forcing the student to focus solely on how to string their words together, they can build their literacy skills by visually tracking words and their correct pronunciation on a screen. Therefore, teachers should strongly consider increased use of technology for some students exhibiting ADHD.

It's beneficial for more parents and teaches to be educated about the more accurate symptoms of ADHD and also underlying symptoms which may be being mistaken for ADHD. For all students, not just those with ADHD tendencies, personal skills and interests should receive more attention than the grade a student gets on a standardized test. With especially hyperactive students, distractibility is an inevitable factor so extra patience should be expected when it comes to the time it takes for them to complete tasks. Finally, technology should be used to our advantage as we individually deliver information to students based upon their needs.