ADHD Myth?
“When parents hear me say that attention deficit disorder is a myth, they sometimes become very upset,” says Dr. Thomas Armstrong, an internationally known educational consultant.
And it’s no wonder.
First identified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd Edition (DSM-III), in 1980, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper Disorder) as it is also known, has been an accepted mental condition rendering learning modifications for students in Texas classrooms and across the nation for nearly two decades now.
That many public school teachers feel overburdened with having to separately modify assignments and tests sometimes for many different students with ADHD and other disorders in a single classroom is well known. Quiet simply it takes time away from the primary focus-teaching.
Now a higher echelon of public educators is also beginning to raise questions; college and university professors.
Though Dr. Armstrong’s contention is rejected by most medical and educational experts given the evidence today, maybe it is time to draw a transitional bridge between reality and myth in today’s world when dealing with ADHD.
One Houston Community College Liberal Arts professor (who asked to not be identified) when interviewed complained that he was required “to give accommodations to a mid aged student who bragged that she had a 4.0 GPA.” It (accommodation) required that she be allowed to take her test in a separate room. The student apparently ‘cannot function when I hear the test pages being turned’ during an exam, the professor said
Granted that ‘modification’ has its place in higher education and even in the private work domain. A blind person, for example, deserves all the amenities allowing him to perform at his greatest possible level.
But there is a larger question. Given our competitive predicament in the world today, is America preparing otherwise normal adults for the real world by forcing the environment to change to meet their needs?
Does this type of educational system prepare someone with ADHD to work in focus intensive jobs like medical laboratories or accounting offices? Or does it preclude them? Is the ‘modification’ of corporate America the next step?
ADHD is very real. And higher education should be a bridge to the real world. That means that in the ‘real’ world there are no modifications. And that is as good as saying that to the real world ADHD is a ‘myth.’
As published in the 'Examiner.com'
And it’s no wonder.
First identified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd Edition (DSM-III), in 1980, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper Disorder) as it is also known, has been an accepted mental condition rendering learning modifications for students in Texas classrooms and across the nation for nearly two decades now.
That many public school teachers feel overburdened with having to separately modify assignments and tests sometimes for many different students with ADHD and other disorders in a single classroom is well known. Quiet simply it takes time away from the primary focus-teaching.
Now a higher echelon of public educators is also beginning to raise questions; college and university professors.
Though Dr. Armstrong’s contention is rejected by most medical and educational experts given the evidence today, maybe it is time to draw a transitional bridge between reality and myth in today’s world when dealing with ADHD.
One Houston Community College Liberal Arts professor (who asked to not be identified) when interviewed complained that he was required “to give accommodations to a mid aged student who bragged that she had a 4.0 GPA.” It (accommodation) required that she be allowed to take her test in a separate room. The student apparently ‘cannot function when I hear the test pages being turned’ during an exam, the professor said
Granted that ‘modification’ has its place in higher education and even in the private work domain. A blind person, for example, deserves all the amenities allowing him to perform at his greatest possible level.
But there is a larger question. Given our competitive predicament in the world today, is America preparing otherwise normal adults for the real world by forcing the environment to change to meet their needs?
Does this type of educational system prepare someone with ADHD to work in focus intensive jobs like medical laboratories or accounting offices? Or does it preclude them? Is the ‘modification’ of corporate America the next step?
ADHD is very real. And higher education should be a bridge to the real world. That means that in the ‘real’ world there are no modifications. And that is as good as saying that to the real world ADHD is a ‘myth.’
As published in the 'Examiner.com'