It is estimated that three to five percent of school-age students are diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Individuals usually do not outgrow the condition; therefore, adolescents and adults experience the symptoms.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition (1994) lists the criteria for three types of ADHD.

They are:

• DHD – Predominantly inattentive type
• ADHD – Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type
• ADHD – Combined type.

A student must be at least seven years old and exhibit at least six criteria under each type.

The three main categories of symptoms include inattentiveness, restlessness or hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

Other symptoms that are frequently reported by individuals include poor memory, slow at completing tasks, and poor management of time and tasks.

The usual and customary treatment for ADHD has been medication. Perhaps this is the case due to the lack of knowledge of how to address the problem non-medically.

Empirical and clinical treatment of the condition indicates that the condition can be treated or addressed symptomatically whether an individual is on medication or not.

However, there are various ways and means applying learning styles approaches and methods that can help minimize the impact of this behavior. The following are some of the procedures on how to handle ADD or ADHD.

SYMPTOMS AND TECHNIQUES

Symptoms of inattentiveness can be addressed by some of the following procedures:

• Use seating arrangements or cubicles that are not near others for individual work
• Allow studying in quiet environment for those distracted by noiseUse background music to drown out extraneous noises in the environment
• Practice attention and concentration exercises in the midst of extraneous sounds
• Allow frequent breaks or distributed practice
• Give short assignments (10 problems rather than 25 on a page)
• Plan variety of activities
• Use multisensory materials

Symptoms of hyperactivity can be addressed by some of the following procedures:

• Teach or address the problem with kinesthetic and tactual tasks
• Require learning tasks which require movement
• Allow students to use dance, drama, and pantomime to illustrate learning
• Require students to walk to the board to write or illustrate learning
• Allow frequent breaks
• Use the student as an assistant to the teaches

Symptoms of impulsivity can be addressed by some of the following procedures:

• Require the individual to think of more than one answer or response to a question before giving the final answer
• At the beginning of a period or at the beginning of the day, plan for it
• Reinforce student for raising his or her hand rather than blurting a response
• Require and reinforce student for checking their own work before handing it in
• Teach students to say, “let me think about it,” or count to 10 before responding

Memory problems can be addressed by some of the following procedures:

• Write the schedule or deadlines on the board daily
• Allow students to write a schedule or plan for the day and deadlines and tape in different places such as in the cover of notebook, on the door of the locker, etc.
• Paste a calendar on the notebook
• Teach students how to use watches, stop clocks, and other tools as reminders to end a task, to set a watch 5-10 minutes fast to prevent being late

Problems of disorganization can be addressed by some of the following procedures:

• Give students time to clean out their desk periodically
• Give students time to arrange and label materials in their desks, notebooks, and lockers
• Teach students to put materials where they belong immediately
• Show students how to match the color of Math notebook with the color of the Math book and do the same for other subjects

The procedures are not meant to be exhaustive, rather to provide examples of what can be done to address various symptoms of ADHD which are frequently reported by teachers and parents and which interfere with performance.

For effectiveness it is recommended that teachers and parents work together so that the same procedures and routines are carried out at home and school. If these procedures are done on a consistent basis a habit will be formed. Adolescents and adults in the work place can also take advantage of these procedures.

Isn’t this the beauty of learning styles? Its application can be so enormous - in the family, at school and the community at large!

(The author is the president of the Center for Learning and Teaching Styles, an affiliate of the International Learning Styles Network, based at St. John’s University in New York. He is a graduate of the AIM Masters in Development management and of the Harvard Graduate School for Professional Educators. He is the author of the following books: Cooking Up A Creative Genius; The HI CLASS Teacher, Breakthrough Ideas in Education; and Using Passion and Laughter in Your Presentations. He can be reached at htenedero@yahoo.com)