chapter 2 - International Journal of Special Education

ISSN 0827 3383 International Journal of
Special Education
VOLUME 19 2004 NUMBER 1 . Classroom Interventions: Methods To Improve Academic Performance And
Classroom Behavior For Students With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder . Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Causal Mechanisms And Recent Findings On
Attention And Emotion . Primitive Reflexes And Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder:
Developmental Origins Of Classroom Dysfunction . Transformational Learning: A Description Of How Inclusionary Practice Was
Accepted In India . Special Education In The United Arab Emirates: Anxieties, Attitudes And
Aspirations . The Effects Of A First Day And Second Day Reads On Reading Accuracy With
Reading Mastery Iii Textbook B For A Fifth Grade Student With Learning
Disabilities Design And Uses Of An Audio/Video Streaming System For Students With
Disabilities
Constructivist Remediation: Correction In Context
Class Size Reduction: No Silver Bullet For Special Education Students'
Achievement
Medication And School Interventions For Elementary Students With
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder . Able Voices on Inclusion/Exclusion - A People in their own Words
o International Journal of Special Education VOLUME 19 2004
NUMBER 1 I N D E X
Classroom Interventions: Methods to Improve Academic Performance and
Classroom
Behavior for Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder.......................................... ......1
Christopher Reiber and T. F. McLaughlin
Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Causal Mechanisms And Recent Findings
On Attention And Emotion
............................................................................
.....................14 Susan E. Bryson, Reginald Landry, Patrycja Czapinski, Beth McConnell,
Vicki Rombough, and Ann Wainwright Primitive Reflexes And Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder:
Developmental Origins Of Classroom
Dysfunction...................................................................
23
Myra Taylor, Stephen Houghton and Elaine Chapman
Transformational Learning: A Description Of How Inclusionary
Practice Was Accepted In
India.........................................................................
.................38
Vianne Timmons and Mithu Alur
Special Education In The United Arab Emirates: Anxieties, Attitudes And
Aspirations.......................49 Keith Bradshaw, Lilly Tennant and Steve Lydiatt The Effects Of A First Day And Second Day Reads On Reading Accuracy With
Reading Mastery Iii Textbook B For A Fifth Grade Student With Learning
Disabilities.......................56
Erin Fitzpatrick, T. F. McLaughlin and Kimberly P. Weber Design And Uses Of An Audio/Video Streaming System For Students With
Disabilities......................64 Bryan J. Hogan Constructivist Remediation: Correction In
Context.....................................................................
......72 Genevieve Marie Johnson Class Size Reduction: No Silver Bullet For Special Education Students'
Achievement........................89 Fatemeh Zarghami and Gary Schnellert
Medication And School Interventions For Elementary Students With
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder.....................................................................
.........97
Kelly Morisoli and T. F. McLaughlin Able Voices on Inclusion/Exclusion - A People in their own
Words...........................................107
Dennis Francis and Nithi Muthukrishna
VOLUME 19 2004
NUMBER 1
International Journal of Special Education
2004, Vol 19, No.1.
CLASSROOM INTERVENTIONS: METHODS TO IMPROVE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND
CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR FOR STUDENTS WITH ATTENTION-DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY
DISORDER Christopher Reiber
and
T. F. McLaughlin
Gonzaga University
Behavior management techniques are essential components of any
treatment method for students with ADHD. Further, they appear to be
the only line of treatment to which school personnel have direct
access. Research has suggested that nearly all educators employ
some form of behavioral modification techniques in their classroom.
This paper will explore a variety of classroom interventions to
assist teachers to work successfully with children with ADHD. These
include: classroom structure, teaching modifications, peer
interventions, token economies and self-management. The
interventions reviewed were presented on a continuum from the least
basic modifications needed in the classroom to those in which more
time and resources are involved. All the strategies reviewed were
evidence based. Also included in the paper is an interview of a
general education instructor and an review of the strategies he
employs in his classroom.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a persistent disorder
characterized by significant problems with attention, impulsiveness and
overactivity (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). This is the most
common reason for referral of children to mental health clinics (Cantwell,
1996) and a problem affecting an estimated 3% to 5% of the elementary-
school-age population (Barkley, 1998; Carbone, 2001; Fabiano & Pelham,
2003). On average, these estimates place at least one child with ADHD in
every classroom in America (Fabiano & Pelham, 2000). For this reason, the
use of effective interventions for reducing the classroom impairment
characteristics of students with ADHD is important to all school personnel.
Given this data, it is not unexpected that a INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION Vol
19, No.1. wide variety of treatments have been used with ADHD. A recent
comprehensive review found that there are currently three treatments for
ADHD that can be considered supported by research: (1) psychostimulant
medications; (2) behavior intervention; and (3) a combination of these two
(Busch, 1993; Pelham, Wheeler, & Chronis, 1998; Waschbush & Hill, 2001;).
A significant amount of research has been conducted that supports the
combination of these two interventions in the treatment of ADHD (Barkley,
1998). Despite these findings there is a need to continually examine the behavior
modification treatments used to improve the skills of children with ADHD.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended that the initial
treatment of ADHD should be educational and behavioral (Campbell & Cohen,
1990). Their article goes further to say that medication should never be
used as an isolated treatment. Something that most of the evidence-based
literature regarding classroom behaviors of children with ADHD supports. The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the more commonly used in-
school treatments and to evaluate their effectiveness. The discussion of
these alternative treatments is a practical for three reasons. First, ADHD
does not have its own disability designation for special education
intervention. This means that with the exception of an Other Health
Impaired designation, ADHD is predominately addressed in the general
education classroom (Heward, 2003). Second, while recommendations of
medication treatment for an ADHD student may be discussed in a meeting
involving instructors, the decision surrounding this approach is not one
for the instructor to make. Finally, the classroom interventions and
attempts at behavioral intervention are solely in the hands and guidance of
the classroom instructor. Many times this falls on the general education
instructors to ensure a healthy learning environment for their entire
class. The heterogeneous nature of ADHD, with its variance in severity and
response to treatments mean that a full range of techniques must be at the
instructor's disposal. Myths about the generalities and limited
interventions have been addressed and dispelled in an article by DuPaul,
Eckert, and McGoey (1997). The reader is referred to that article for more
information and discussion regarding the myths surrounding ADHD.
Therefore, this paper will focus on a variety of classroom interventions
that can have an effect on the characteristic impairments of students with
ADHD. Classroom Structure
General characteristics of ADHD are inattention, high distractibility and
impulsivity and hyperactivity. These traits make concentrating on school-
work and lessons very difficult. To be successful academically, students
with ADHD must be able to focus their attention on the instructor and the
lesson. Therefore, students with ADHD benefit greatly from an orderly
environment (Yehle & Wambold, 1998). For this reason, classroom structure
is one of the most salient areas of instructor influence in the cl