Understanding Childs Trouble with Hyperactivity.

As a teacher, we have had students with this disorders that make our classes difficult,

because dealing with them is not easier, I have had those students and its really stressful to

manage the behavior, how to say a child to pay attention and follow your instructions? I can

imagine the headache on teachers after class with them, some characteristics in ADHD,

they dont follow instructions, finishing tasks. They avoid activities that need concentration

or seem boring for them. Villar (2002) los docentes son punto clave para la deteccin del

TDA-H, debido a que no estn tan involucrados emocionalmente con los nios como los

padres y esto les permite ser ms objetivos cuando se enfrentan a la sintomatologa del

padecimiento (TDA-H).

(ADHD) Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a condition of the brain that affects a

persons ability to pay attention. Approximately 11% or 6.4 million school-aged children

have been diagnosed with ADHD in their lifetime (Based on the 2011/2012 national survey

of childrens health). It has been recognized by some doctors since way back in 1902 but

from it until 1980 it was all about little boys who couldnt still sit, couldnt be quiet, it was

just behavior problems, the name of disorder was changed many times but it was all about

behavior problems. Children with ADHD may be hyperactive and unable control their

impulses and they have trouble paying attention, it is usually discovered during the early

school years. ADHD is related with 3 symptoms: inattention, impulsivity, and

hyperactivity. In that way hyperactive children used to have characteristics as: talking

several times interrupting their classmates, changing their places quickly and often, they

keep moving even when they are sitting down, they usually pick up everything they see and

play with it, and it is difficult for them paying attention while the teacher is talking or being
quiet during it. (Morin s.f). I am according with these characteristics some students that I

had in my classes are described with the following, when I was presenting new vocabulary

the child stood up and started running around the class without reason, or he interrupted my

class saying something that happened to him when he was in another place, when it was the

time to color his worksheet he just colored one drawing and they he stood up to bother his

classmates, rarely they could finish coloring the worksheets given, when he should say the

vocabulary, he started to do another things as jumping, yelling and running.

I noticed that its hard to them to wait his turn, he interrupts others or blurt out answers

before the teacher finishes a question. Looking for more information of what causes it?

Kids with ADHD have less activities in areas of the brain that control attention they have

imbalances in brain chemicals called neurotransmitters which are connected each other and

together they transmit information, students with ADHD are related with parents some

investigation told that its a genetic inheritance but I have told with parents and some of the

didnt be as their children, ADHD also is related because of problems between parents I am

agree with this way because I have had small talks with those students and they had told me

that their parents worked all the time, few times they play with the child, there were twice

that students suffer violence from the father, even when parents scold them in a bad way,

scolding makes children anxious, as a teacher I have talked with parents about the behavior

of their children in class, and the first wrong thing they do is start yelling to them, or

jerking their arm, poor children, the face they made makes you as a teacher feel bad, having

in your mind the idea as if I had known that it would be her solution I wouldnt say

anything. In the worst case parents, dont say anything but when they arrive at their house,

they spank this child, I read that spanking teaches the child that its okay to hit someone in
order to solve a problem, because the child copies the actions and words, parents of these

children must remember to tell the child that the behavior was bad but the child isnt bad.

They have to be clear with indications, rules inside and outside the house, if he does

something bad on the school you have to talk with him being calm and having little talking

but with clear instructions, asking at the end what will you do differently next time? These

simple ways will help hyperactive children.

In the past, when teacher talked to parents about the bad behavior of their children in class

they said give him a ticking off, the typical donkey ears having on the head, hitting their

hands with a ruler, not having breakfast, writing pages of I have to behave well in class

or printed stamps of animals as donkey or a bee, students had it on their notebooks

according to the behavior in class. Nowadays if you as a teacher do that with students, you

will be in trouble with parents and also you will get fired from the school, some parents

dont care about ADHD of their children, they thought that they are small and it is not

going to be a big problem, the treatment is a process between teachers and parents without

one the student couldnt be helped and its true because some of them just came to pick up

the baby in their school and they didnt ask to the teacher how was the behavior of their

baby if he works on class, sometimes parents just listen to the teachers but they dont do

anything they take you as a crazy one, Its true because I have a cousin that has a baby of 4

years old and he says bad words, he didnt follow instructions, he hits his classmates in the

kindergarten and the teacher has talked with them about the situation but they act as if

nothing happens, my question is how will be his behavior on high school? Maybe they will

try to solve his problem until their child hit another student or the worst of the case when

the child got bad grades, various other causes have been suggested as drinking alcohol,
smoking or girls get pregnant. El TDA-H es una afeccin crnica y prolongada de no

tratarse adecuadamente puede llevar a de acuerdo con Miranda y Lpez (1995).

Drogadiccin
Bajo rendimiento escolar
Problemas para conservar un trabajo.
Problemas legales.
If the hyperactivity didnt deal since early ages, it will be there always during their life,

25% of hyperactive children become to be alcoholic or addict. According to ages between 4

to 6 years all kids dont listen when you are talking them, frequently they get distractive,

they dont play alone, they bother their classmates and their parents describe them as an

impulsive, disobedient and aggressive, between 7 to 12 years old they have difficulties to

pay attention on class her learning is less than the other students, teachers think that their

behavior is fault of their parents, their classmates refuse them because of their aggressive

behavior, its important to say that we have two different kinds of aggressive, one happens

on the streets, pro-active aggression when kids do, to can have a toy or get something this

aggression is deliberate and planned and the other is re-active aggression when the children

dont start the aggression, they answer in negative way in situations that they feel

threatened.

These students used to have more problems as depression due to their low self-esteem

teachers are always saying please be quiet, stop doing that, pay attention and words that

make them feel stressed and frustrated thats why they become to be the leader on the group

and if they want they will make your classes the worst thing, when they get 12 years old the

adolescence makes more difficult, the relation with their parents get worse, they become

more rebel, they go away from their family, their grades are bad in the school they used to
have fights between other students, teachers solve it excluding them from the school, the

relation with teachers are negative, they like to take the opposite here is when they

involucrate in many addictions. Its important to say that sometimes teachers get confuse

children with problems in their discipline and they label them with hyperactive and that is

wrong although they are similar the case and treatment is not the same. (Horowist & Rst,

2004) say:

Educators, for example, see and identify these children all the time, and their
identification is based on the learning and social behavior exhibited. SI trained
therapists, on the other hand, are trained to identify the underlying
neurophysiologic basis for the behavior and to help the childs central nervous
system function in a better fashion.(p.8)
It was thought that there were some causes that why students present hyperactivity, such as

disorganized and stressed environment but by the time it was rule out because a hyperactive

student in a determinate quiet and organized place they continue being hyperactive, its

right because I had one girl as a student in an organized place and with just 2 more students

and she still present the same behavior, other was that it was caused because of a brain

damage a kind of infection or complications at birth but it has been proved that not all the

hyperactive children suffered that kind of injuries. The brain can detect stimuli as: the

noises, images, movement, smells and tastes thats why its important to recognize the

information filter on it in order to use them when its needed but not all the brains are

efficient in selecting which stimuli to save. Hyperactive children are found in all families

for example: rich, poor, large or small and not all the cases are understood, researchers have

found that many factors internal and external that are causing hyperactivity. () When a

child develops a concentration problem, a well-trained SI therapist is needed to analyze

which came first: the childs poor attention or the planning problem (Horowist & Rst,
2004). People have talked about it being over diagnosed, its really important that we have

to look for a group of symptoms not just one or two, therapy is the first step with these

hyperactive students and if it still continue with the same problem, next step is the

medication it will be helpful and according to the ages. The stimulant medications tend to

be the best course of action for treating ADD. Ritalin is the most widely used and widely

researched medication for ADD. Ritalin is a stimulant that excites the production of both

dopamine and norepinephrine. It will take approximately 20 minutes to have an effect and

lasts for only about 4 hours. Everyone is different. Its is difficult that here in Oaxaca,

parents accept that their children take medicines, I have been talking with friends that they

went to the camp in united states they told me that there most of the children were taking

medicine, most of them were hyperactive but its normal or important that they are under

treatment, here, if you say to parents that their children need to take medicine to can control

them they will say that is normal the behavior and it will be removed when they grow up.

The doctor Tomas J. Canto psychiatrist in children and teens said that there is not one ideal

treatment for the hyperactivity, there are a combinations of different ways that each of them

contribute a benefit, including knowing the characteristics of the children or adult also the

environment and try to improve each one of the aspects, it sounds good but I think that its

really difficult because some families have had violence in their house and try to eliminate

these things will be open another problem, for example the father will not accept to leave

the house to stop aggressing his family and unfortunately we have mothers that continue

having fear of their husbands and there is where we can find those hyperactive children

most of the case they have been living these situations since early ages, I have talked with

these children and most of them told me that the father fought with the mother every day,

the mother is alcoholic, the father hit the child without reasons, the parents are always
working and they just see them at night, these kind of actions take the child to be

hyperactive .

It's important to mention that this disorder in children is not the result for parenting, once in

the school that I am as a teacher, I heard a case where one student had the disorder, she was

4 years old, she even said bad words to the teacher and classmates, the solution of the

teacher was saying to the mother that she hasnt educated well her daughter, she has to

spank the student when she did this actions, of course the mother got angry and the student

stops coming, its clear that neither the solution of the teacher nor the mother is correct.

Because both are not helping the student. Its common that parents and teachers run away

of the problems and also in schools because children who behave inappropriately are

excluded from it, they didnt try to help students, imagine that we have a line drawn on the

floor where all those students are walking and one of them walk out of it, we have to put

him back, not allowing him continue on the wrong way, instead of giving punishment or

suspension classes, schools have to replace it for a called calm oasis where they do

exercises of meditation and breathing also students can talk about their passions and

dreams, only one school in Baltimore is working in this way and the school has changed,

there arent suspended students. La enseanza que deja huella no es la que se hace de

cabeza a cabeza, sino de corazn a corazn. (Howard G. Hendricks).

Some psychiatric say that there are two fundamental pillars, the modification of the

behavior and the appropriate use of the medicaments, besides this the education of parents

and teacher about the ADHD, the more they know about it the better, there are activities

that we can set up around the patient with ADHD, it could be physical activities as sports

but its important to have the extracurricular school support, subjects that are difficult for
them or if they have difficulties on their learning it would be better to have persons with

expertise in ADHD, teachers can help giving them happy faces drawn on the board in their

names or giving stars although their behavior is bad, emphasizing the appropriate conduct

also how teachers see them, the hugs that they give when the students do a good behavior,

having a time out on class is a good option when students do something wrong for example

sitting them on a chair in a proper time and after that incorporate them on the activity

learning that that behavior is not adequate, also explaining them the rules of the classroom,

at the beginning, at the end of the class or while we are doing activities it will be more

complicated when these students dont know how to behave in different places because in

their house they dont have it. Giving points if the good behavior runs through in class or

removing them if the behavior is not correct, also teachers must have a daily reports written

of these students in each day of class.

I had one student of those students and one day he arrived to my class the father left and the

student wanted to be on the house tree that is the school, he doesnt want to be in class he

just want to play there anything worked with him to convince in come to class neither the

happy faces nor the candies, the coordinator talked with him and nothing works so I needed

to continue with my class and the students lay on a mat that is on class and after minutes he

got sleep for 1 hour and when he woke up he incorporated in the class in the activities and

he started to do the activities, the only thing or the reason of his behavior was just because

he wanted to sleep, in my mind was questions like why he didnt sleep well? Do his parents

work early and wake up him too?

I have talked with the parents of one of those child and they told me that they opt to register

their children in a sport as taekwondo which was really helpful with their child because
their behavior improve, he pays attention, he did the activities he is going good now, so

decided to look for information about this sport because is a good key in the hyperactivity, I

found that this sport teaches children to be respectful and friendly with the others, I thought

that its just for knowing how to fight, but no the benefits of this sport are: exercise your

memory and discipline creating habits that help children in their studies and tasks also it

promotes respect and the education making the child to be more compressive and that they

have better personal control creating positive attitudes with others, I think its really useful

this sport with hyperactive children because it release energy and it will help in their

education. In this way I search on internet if there are another sports that could help

hyperactive children, not all sports are created equal because it depends on the children

symptoms certain sports are more advantageous than others, for example swimming can be

another option of sport here, the child will be able to be focus on personal development,

martial arts one of the benefit is that children accept and use routine in other areas of their

lives and leaving the distraction, tennis is focused on individualistic kid hitting the balls

releases frustration that the child feels, other sport that is helpful but in hyperactive girls is

Gymnastic where the movements and the close attention of the body are very similar to

those used in occupational therapy helping by developing her strength and sense of balance.

These sports can help children with this disorder also I heard some of the testimony of the

parents and they have given good comments in how sports saved their children.

Start to work on their behavior is really important since early ages no matter if the kid is

hyperactive of not, I found a photo of Colegio Montesssori del Pedregal about what

chores can do the child? Which explains that on the ages of 2 and 3 years old they can start

saving their toys and put their dirty clothes on the basket also putting the trash on the
correct place, on the ages of 4 and 5 years they can start watering the plants by 6 and 7

years they can start washing the dishes, make pairs of socks and peel the vegetables, on the

age of 8 and 9 years old they can walk the dog, sweep their bedroom, clean or prepare the

table, little by little the chores will increase and by the age of 12 years old they will be

helping by cleaning the furniture or making a simple salad or some easy food. I think its

important that parents teach them to follow instructions no matter if the kid doesnt want to

do it not only in the house but also in the school because its not an option or letting them

know that they have duties and obligations. There are few parents that start teaching chores

to their children and I noticed that because I have given toys to them before class and when

I ask to put them back on the box few students follow and have this habit so for ones is

difficult and for others is easy.

Teachers and parents have to help these students. I will mention some strategies and

advices for the profile of hyperactive students.

Reacting to a Hyperactive Child.

Feelings of anger, shame, sadness, and anxiety can arise in those around the child. Parents

can also feel hurt when other people look at their child disapprovingly. Teachers and

parents can help the child. Its important to let the students that everybody has feelings.

Emotional

When as a person you are feeling in a negative way. Its better not to talk with the child

about his or her behavior. You can say to the child that you are feeling angry, sad or afraid

and that you need minutes to regain the composure in this way the child will understand
that everybody has feelings but we can control these emotions. With this model the child

will try to follow it and eventually also achieve such control. (Horowist & Rst, 2004).

Calm

The following strategies are recommended to be useful if the child is in an irritable or

emotional state.

Realize that your child has a neurological problem.

Recognize that you are in crisis situation.
Prevent the crisis by taking your child out of a frenetic environment
Stay calm
Reduce the amount of stimulation to which your child is exposed
Use stimuli that will calm you child, such as hugging or rocking.
Make sure you childs life is structured. (Horowist & Rst, 2004, p.30)

Discipline.
A hyperactive child needs a structure according to his or her individual nervous system.

Here are some strategies having discipline in hyperactive students. (Horowist & Rst, 2004,

p. 30)

Think twice before you say no. its important to stay consistent.
A Grandmothers rule for discipline is to work first and then play.
However a hyperactive child may need special activities (e.g. a movement break or
drink break) between tasks intervals to help get the work accomplished.
Remember to comment on and reinforce the good things your child does. Be
positive in this way, good behavior is stimulated. ()
I really like these 3 points that they suggest because as a teachers we have to take care what

we are saying to students in general, It doesnt matter if they dont behave good in class,

because our words will hurt them and maybe the only place they feel save is in their

classroom, teachers dont have to be rude with them and start yelling because of their

behavior if we want to help them we have to be the model, giving a stronger self- esteem.
Cary (1999), propone una serie de consejos bsicos para lograr una adecuada

implementacin de reglas por parte de los padres y el cumplimiento de parte de los hijos.

Ser objetivos. Los padres suelen tener expresiones como: Prtate bien, Se
bueno o No hagas eso, estas expresiones significan diferentes cosas para cada
persona, los nios entendern mejor si las normas se hacen de una forma ms
especfica y decir exactamente lo que se debe hacer. Por ejemplo Habla bajito en
una biblioteca; Da de comer al perro ahora: Agarra mi mano para cruzar la
calle.

Ofrecer opciones. En muchos casos se puede dar a los nios una oportunidad
limitada de decir como cumplir las rdenes. La libertad de oportunidad hace que un
nio sienta una sensacin de poder y control, reduciendo las resistencias. Por
ejemplo: Es hora del bao Lo quieres tomar con la ducha o en la baera llena?.
Es hora de vestirse, Quieres elegir un traje, o lo hago yo?

Ser firmes. En cuestiones realmente importantes, cuando existe una resistencia a la

obediencia, es necesario aplicar el lmite con firmeza. Un lmite firme le dice al nio
que debe parar con dicho comportamiento. Por ejemplo: Ve a tu habitacin ahora
o Para los juguetes no son para tirar. Los limites firmes son mejor aplicados con
una voz segura, sin gritos y una mirada seria en el rostro. Los limites ms suaves
suponen que el nio tiene una opcin de obedecer o no, por ejemplo: Porque no
llevas tus juguetes fuera de aqu, A qu hora te apuras a hacer la tarea.
Enfatizar lo positivo. Decirle a los nios que debe hacer Habla bajo antes de lo
que no debe hacer No grite, el decir, No, Comprtate o Para le dicen al
nio que es inaceptable pero no explica que comportamiento se quiere a cambio.

Mantenerse al margen. Por ejemplo Quiero que te vayas a la cama ahora mismo
una buena estrategia es hacer constar la regla de una manera impersonal, Son las
ocho, hora de acostarse, ensendole al reloj. En este caso, algunos conflictos y
sentimientos estarn entre el nio y el reloj.

Explicar el porqu. Cuando una persona entiende el motivo de una regla, como una
forma de prevenir situaciones peligrosas para s mismo y para otros, se sentir ms
animado a obedecerla. De este modo, lo mejor cuando se aplica un lmite, es
explicar al nio el por qu tiene que obedecer. La explicacin debe de darse en
pocas palabras por ejemplo: No muerdas a las personas, eso les har dao.

Sugerir una alternativa. Indicar una alternativa aceptable por ejemplo. No te puedo
dar un dulce antes de la cena, pero te puedo dar un chocolate despus. Al ofrecerle
al nio alternativas, le est enseando que sus sentimientos y deseos son aceptables.
 Desaprobar la conducta, no al nio. Es necesario que dejar en claro que la
desaprobacin est relacionada con el comportamiento del nio y no directamente
con ellos. Por ejemplo en lugar de decir Nio malo (Desaprobacin del nio) se
puede decir No muerdas (Desaprobacin de la conducta).
In order to follow the rules its important to let the child that each action has consequences

because the threats dont help to achieve the rules they just scare and shame the child. What

you will get making threats to the child is to hurt them and you will affect their self-

esteem. The rules and limits should be adapted according ages and personality of the child

because each of them is different, some behaviors are common in certain ages. Its

important to avoid many rules because children will get confused. These strategies will help

also to teachers in classrooms.

The following activities have been working in the profile of my students but not only with

the ones of deficit but also the complete group, it depends in the ages and you can adapt

them in a English class, adding some words or changing some steps its on your opt to you.

I have taken these activities from the book. Silberg, (1998):

VEO, VEO
(Desarrolla el poder de observacin)
Inicie el juego diciendo: veo, veo
Los nios deben preguntar: Qu ves?.
Y usted responde: Una cosa.
Los nios preguntan: Qu cosa?.
Usted responde: Maravillosa.
Los nios preguntan de qu color?.
Usted responde: Color.
Los nios tienen tres oportunidades de adivinar el objeto que usted ve.
Contine el juego, pidiendo a un nio que inicie la rima.
Pruebe el juego sustituyendo colores por formas, nmeros, etctera. (p.44)

SALTOS NUMRICOS
(Desarrolla habilidades motoras)
Elabore tarjetas con un nmero escrito en ellas.
 Pguelas en secuencia a travs de la lnea recta.
D instrucciones a un nio a la vez. salta al nmero tres. Salta al nmero
siete. Etctera.
Cuando los nios aprendan este juego, deje que sean ellos los que den las
instrucciones. (p.52)

LA MEZCLA
(Desarrolla el reconocimiento de las letras)
Dibuje un crculo, un cuadrado y un tringulo.
Coloque letras dentro de cada uno de ellos.
Dos letras en cada figura es un buen inicio. Por ejemplo, coloque la letra T
y la letra M dentro del crculo.
Ahora formule a los nios diferentes preguntas.
Qu figura contiene a la letra T?
Dentro de qu figura se encuentra la letra M?. (p. 19)

LETRAS CALIENTES
(Ensea a reconocer las letras)
Esta es una variacin del juego de la papa caliente
Haga que los nios se sienten formando un crculo y reparta tarjetas con una
letra en cada una.
Diga a los nios que usted va a poner msica.
Pdales que se pasen las tarjetas mientras suena la msica.
Pdales que se dejen de pasar las tarjetas cuando la msica se detenga.
Asegrese de practicar la direccin en la que pasarn las tarjetas.
Lleve a cabo el juego y, cuando la msica se detenga, pida a cada nio que
nombre la letra de su tarjeta.
Tambin efecte este juego para reconocer nmeros, formas y colores. (p.20)

SALTA EL CUADRADO
(Ensea las figuras geomtricas)
Recorte varios cuadrados, crculos y tringulos de varios colores.
Colquelas en el piso.
Llame a un nio a la vez.
Dele una instruccin precisa. Por ejemplo, dgale que salte hacia el crculo
rojo, que salte el cuadrado amarillo, etctera.
Contine hasta que cada nio haya participado. (p.113)

PATO, PATO, GANSO

(Promueve la cooperacin)
Este juego muy popular jams pierde su magia.
 Haga que los nios se sienten formando un crculo y elija a un nio para que
sea eso
Ese nio camina por el crculo y toca a los otros en la cabeza diciendo
pato.
Cuando toca la cabeza de un nio y dice ganso, ese nio se pone de pie y
corre alrededor del crculo tratando de tocar al nio que es eso. (p.25)

PASA EL BALN
(Estimula la cooperacin)
Haga que los nios se formen, uno detrs del otro.
Entregue un baln al primer nio.
El objetivo del juego es que los nios pasen el baln por entre las piernas al
que se encuentra detrs.
Cuando el baln llega al ltimo nio, este comienza a pasarlo hacia delante
por encima de su cabeza.
La diversin del juego consiste en la rapidez con la cual pueden pasar el
baln los nios.
Diga:Preparados, listos, ya y comience a contar.
Cada vez que repitan el juego, los nios intentan pasar el baln ms rpido.
Este juego funciona mejor con los nios ms grandes. (p.11)
There are parents that think applying authority over the child consist in acting in a rigid

way, inflexible and even offensive having mistreatment in order to get their obedience. It is

important the participation of parents to have good results independently in the treatment

they choose for the child. The intervention of parents is essential, they will enhance greatly

the evolution or the seatback of the symptoms.

It will be steamily useful having a workshop to teachers in order to aware about the ADHD

and how to manage the behavior inside of the classrooms. Parents and teachers well-

informed and willing to help these children will give a positive result without forgetting the

psychological, pedagogical and medical treatment. Also it will be a good idea to expand

workshops in schools not only for ADHD but also for autism and mental retardation which

are the principal disorder seen in children inside classrooms.