#ADHD
The numbers are increasing!
Month of MAY (2018) is enrollment period and preparation for the upcoming Academic Year and this is the time of the year when new students are inquiring for enrollment. As the School Administrator of Wisdom Grade School it is one of my duties to assess and interview incoming students for enrollment.
In the span of two-weeks I have encountered 57 children that shows significant signs of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). A disorder that causes inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity detrimental to learning.
Let me share to you an alarming issue with regard to accepting or not accepting a new enrollee by means of observing, interviewing and testing. Based on my personal experience...
If a child during interview rearranged all the things on the teacher's table, tried to grasp the fish out of the fish tank by hand, he/she cannot sit or stay in one place, he/she got a score of 2 out of 50 basic questions or tried to hit a student who is just passing by - then there is definitely something different with the child, For obvious reasons, I cannot accept the child for enrollment without any proper diagnosis from an expert.
In the late 90's, I have accepted kids with ADHD symptoms, I have grounded my decisions based on sympathy. I thought I was doing them good, it turned out I was not.
Let me inform the reader that after needed testings and observations, and finding that a child who is asking for admission have shown significant symptoms of ADHD - I required parents to get a diagnosis from experts such as pediatricians or a child psychologists for school's documentation and reconsideration. Most of the parents didn't return.
For a child who asks for a much needed attention that my school cannot attend to and for the majority of students in school who needed a regular phase of learning, the decision of not accepting a child with ADHD-combined-type (the most common type) will be beneficial for both parties. ADHD-combined-type, is where both inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity are present, this is the type of ADHD I have encountered with my new enrollees transferring from other schools.
I have observed through the years, ADHD students are more fitted to learn in lesser number of students per class, like a class of 5 to 10 students. There are other schools with such expertise who can handle these special cases. They can provide a way of learning that would suit their needs to grow and get educated. My school is not apt to that, because of the large number of students enrolled each year, students with learning disabilities would be left out.
The best thing I can offer for the family is an honest opinion, suggestions and referrals, but sadly, parents or at least one of the parent is on denial. In front of me, parents will have a debate about the issue.
If the problem is pretty obvious and if the issue is for the benefit and goodness of the child, why does denial occur?
Parent's reasoning would most likely fall into these lines:
"Honor student po ang anak ko sa dati niyang school"
"Mahiyain lang po talaga at tamad"
"90% nga po ang pinakamababa niyang grade sa dati niyang school"
"Kasi po yung teacher niya dati hind magaling magturo"
"Wala po kasi ang Daddy niya nasa abroad"
I was prompted to once again update myself (through readings) about ADHD and in one of my readings it says: "It is profoundly frightening to some parents to acknowledge that a disability exists, denial is usually a sign of deep-rooted fear that, disability means a child will fail in life." (Logsdon, Ann 2018). Retrieved from https://www.verywellfamily.com/parent-reactions-childs-disability-2162643.
If I am going to put this in a different perspective and think about the chances of being a failure in life of an ADHD child who needs a suited and specific learning program against a regular-schooled child, how many so called non-ADHD children can we count, who have never failed in life just because they are non-ADHD?
It is a pity because what we are facing here are children whose parents are unaccepting. Most parents are not aware that their refusal to acknowledge that their child has a learning-disability can affect their child's success in school as well as their relationships, and in the process also affects the majority of the students and the school itself which have no specialty in teaching ADHD pupils.
It is not easy to have a child with neurodevelopmental disorder on whom a lot of attention is needed, but if the parents will continue to deny the fact that their child needs to be streamlined by special educators then the child will be less successful than what they have feared in the first place.
