Challenges in the Classroom: ADHD and Autism

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The modern classroom has many challenges that face it. Shrinking budgets, less parental involvement, higher expectations, and growing class sizes, just to name a few. If this list was not daunting enough you also have the special needs students that have an array problems in your classroom that need specialized attention, lessons and seating. There are many forms of diverse learners from students who suffer from ADHD to physical disabilities to students with autism to ones that are bullied in school. There are so many things going on in our students lives we sometimes forget they have lives, pressures and disabilities that affect their performance and attitude in our class that have a profound impact on how they learn. For this paper I have chose to focus on learners that struggle with autism and students who have ADHD. Autism and ADHD learning disabilities are becoming more and more common in the everyday classroom and many more cases go undiagnosed. According to our textbook, of children ages 6-21in the United States and the District of Columbia, there are a reported 483, 554 or 8.1% with an emotional disability such as ADHD and 140,280 or 2.3% with Autism (Kevin Ryan). These disabilities can severely affect a child’s ability to learn in a normal classroom setting. I choose these two topics as I have seen first hand the affects they can have on the people who struggle through the classroom and life with them. I wanted to learn more about them so I could do a better helping my future students that may have these conditions, so that they will thrive in my classroom and hopefully have successful lives as adults. To begin with, we will look at the affects of ADHD on a student in the everyday classroom. ADHD or Attention Deficit H... ... middle of paper ... ...lives outside of our classrooms. Keep in mind they are children and a friendly face and a smile could be difference between a responsive student and a behavior problem. All learners, even those with diverse needs have a right to safe learning environment and an education. Works Cited "5 Forms of Autism." Health Related Articles. 11 Nov. 2009. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. . Kevin Ryan., and James M. Cooper. Those who can, teach. 12. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Me, Merely. "Teaching Autistic Children - Autism - ADHD." HealthCentral.com. 20 Apr. 2010. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. . "Symptoms of ADHD/ADD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)." WebMD. WebMD. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. .

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