Problems in school are a key feature of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), often bringing the child with ADHD to clinical attention. It is crucial to determine the severity, nature and duration of issues in schools for children with ADHD. It is equally important to understand how different treatment options affect educational and academic outcomes. These findings are used to inform medical practice as well as public health, public education, and policy. Are the academic and educational issues persisting or temporary? Which are characteristics of academics in children who exhibit symptoms of ADHD but not formally diagnosed? What effects do treatments impact educational and academic outcomes? How can we develop future research that will identify which treatments will enhance the academic and educational outcomes for children suffering from ADHD?
Conceptual Framework
We utilised the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) as a conceptual framework to describe the problems with functioning that are related to ADHD. It was developed by the World Health Organization and developed by the ICF to provide a comprehensive framework, as well as a standard terminology for describing and assessing the effects of health conditions on functional functioning regardless of the disorder or disease. The use of this model allows the comparison of health-related states across studies, conditions or interventions, populations and even countries.
In the ICF theoretical framework, medical conditions affect functioning at three mutually interconnected levels of analysis: body structures and functions, everyday activities, and social involvement. The impairments in body structures and functions are known as impairments. This is which is a more specific and narrow definition as compared to DSM-IV.2 The problems with activities that are part of daily life are referred to as limitations. Social problems are known as limitations. Personal and environmental factors can impact functioning. Treatments can focus on the health issue directly, or may aim at a specific area within the functioning levels or be developed to modify the surrounding environment. Because of the bidirectional effects between the various levels of analysis, treatment targeted at a particular issue may in turn help other levels.
Model of the concept behind International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health.
Applying using the ICF model to the school functioning in children who suffer from ADHD by using the appropriate terms and codes of the ICF classification system. When it comes to the body, ADHD impacts a variety of global as well as specific mental functions, including cognitive function, control of impulses; maintaining and shifting attention, memory and control of psychomotor processes emotional regulation; higher level cognition that includes the management of time, organisation and cognitive flexibility, as well as judgement, insight, problem solving, as well as sequencing complex moves. When it comes to tasks, ADHD may result in limitation in at least two aspects that relate in this study (and other domains covered in the other sections in the volume): (1) learning and applying knowledge, which includes writing, reading and maths; in addition, (2) general expectations and tasks, which include the completion of single or multiple tasks, managing one’s behaviour, and coping with anxiety and stress. We will make a distinction between academic failure, which is a term used to describe problems with understanding and implementing knowledge and achieving poor grades and low scores on standardised tests and academic performance which may include completing assignments or assignments. When it comes to social interaction, ADHD can compromise the main life-skills of education. This includes creating barriers to moving between educational levels, and achieving in the school curriculum and then going to work. Each of these problems could have multiple contributors, which include the condition that causes it as well as functional issues at different levels of examination. We will discuss the limits to participation as educational issues. Factors that affect the environment and their impact on results in ADHD are general and special policies and services for education.
Functional problems associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health conceptual model.
Evolving Definitions of ADHD
The clinical guidelines for ADHD have changed over the past 25 years. Research from during the 80s and 90s usually employed different criteria for inclusion and exclusion that were not used in more recent research. Some studies have a careful distinction between children who have what we refer to as the ADHD-Combined subtype (ADHD-C) and those with attention deficit disorder, also known as ADHD-predominantly Inattentive subtype (ADHD-I). We will briefly discuss the effects of these subtypes specifically. Many children who suffer from ADHD suffer from co-occurring conditions such as depression, anxiety as well as disruptive behaviour disorders, tics, and learning issues. The contribution of these co-occurring disorders to the functional effects of ADHD aren’t fully established. In this review we will examine the educational and academic outcomes associated with ADHD without subdividing populations on the basis of neurobehavioral disorders that coexist in children affected by ADHD.
What are the academic and educational characteristics for Children suffering from ADHD?
Children who suffer from ADHD have a significant drop in academic performance and poor academic performance as well as educational issues. As for impairments to physical functions, children with ADHD have significant declines in the full-scale estimation of IQ when compared to controls, but achieve an average score in the middle of normal. Concerning limitations to activity children who suffer from ADHD are significantly less successful on the arithmetic and reading tests than control. Concerning restrictions on social interaction and social interaction, children who suffer from ADHD have higher repeat grades, the use of remedial academic programs, and enrollment within special classes when compared to controls. Children who suffer from ADHD tend to have higher chances of being suspended, expelled or even repeating the same grade than children who are not.
Children suffering from ADHD are between 4 and 5 percent more likely to require special educational services than kids who do not have ADHD. In addition, children who have ADHD require more other services like tutoring, remedial classes, after-school programming, and special accommodations.
The literature has conflicting information on whether the educational and academic features of ADHD I may be radically different from those of ADHD-C. There have been studies that did not show differences in academic achievement, the use of special services, or the rates of graduation from high school. However, a large survey of elementary school students found children with ADHD-I were more likely to be rated as below average or failing in school compared with the children with ADHD-C and ADHD-predominantly hyperactive-impulsive subtype. A subset of children who have ADHD-I are said to have slow cognitive speed and this leads to the notion of a greater number of learning problems within the ADHD-I subtype than the ADHD-C population. One study supporting this claim found more children with ADHD-I than children with ADHD-C in classrooms for children with learning disabilities.Comparative long-term outcome studies of the subtypes in terms of academic and educational outcomes have not been conducted.
Are Academic and Educational Problems Transient or Persistent?
Studies over time show that academic failures and inadequate educational outcomes related to ADHD are not going away. Children with academic difficulties with ADHD start early in their lives. The most common symptoms are reported by children aged between 3 and 6 years old, and preschool children suffering from ADHD or other symptoms associated with ADHD tend to fall slow in acquiring basic academic capabilities.
A number of longitudinal studies follow students in the school age group with ADHD throughout adolescence, and into young adulthood. The initial signs of hyperactivity, distraction as well as impulsivity and aggression are likely to diminish in severity with time, yet persist and increase relative to controls. Concerning limitations on activity, those who are followed through adolescence are more likely to fail their grades, receive lower grades for all school subjects in their reports, have lower grades in their classes and do worse on tests of academic achievement that are standardised as compared to controls. School records indicate ongoing issues in social engagement, which include the longer period of time required to finish high school, lower levels of college attendance and lower graduation rates for subjects than control.
The people who suffer from ADHD during longitudinal studies usually are classified into one of three principal groups, which are teenagers: (1) approximately 25 percent of them eventually function similarly with normal controls that are comparable; (2) the majority have a persistent impairment in their functional functioning limitation in the application of knowledge and learning as well as limited social engagement especially poor performance in school as well as (3) under 25% suffer from serious, severe issues that include psychiatric or antisocial disturbances. It is not clear what variables influence the long-term results. The persistent difficulties could be caused by ADHD as a whole or be due to a combination of ADHD and coexisting disorders that include internalising, learning, and disruptive behavioural disorders. The impact of environmental factors to the outcomes is not clear.
