The principal characteristics of ADHD are reflected in the name of this disorder: it is attention deficit and hyperactivity, which are usually accompanied by impulsivity. On the other hand, we know that all children occasionally become too active, perform thoughtless acts and daydream about something. That means that the majority of children without exceptionalities also have the symptoms of ADHD, but their level is tolerable, so they are not considered to be exceptional. The presence of ADHD is determined when hyperactivity, impulsivity, and poor concentration, combined with a tendency to be easily distracted, begin to seriously interfere with the learning process and adversely affect the relations with other children. Hyperactive children are constantly in motion. They rush, grabbing anything that gets in their hands and/or talk non-stop. They cannot stay calm in the classroom at school; they move around, spin, pick up from the place, touch and pull everything they can reach, tap their fingers or pen on the desk, etc. Children with attention deficit find it difficult to think about one and the same thing for a long time and it is tedious for them to do something that needs attention for more than a few minutes at a time. However, if they become really excited by something that is really interesting for them, they can do this during a longer time. Unfortunately, such interesting and exciting things rarely include school subjects, reading and systematic cognition of something new. Homework poses a particular difficulty for such students; often they forget to write down what needs to be done, and even if they do write it down, they will forget the notebook or confuse the book. If homework is nonetheless done, it is full of errors and corrections. In order to make the learning process easier for the student with ADHD, teachers can use setting accommodations, timing accommodations and presentation accommodations (Morin, 2016). Setting accommodations will allow the student sit in the place where he can learn best (Morin, 2016) – for example far from the doors and windows which can easily distract him, and close to the teacher so that teacher can stand close to the student’s desk when presenting the material and make sure that the student is paying attention. Additionally, space between desks can be increased with the purpose to avoid distraction by other students. Timing accommodations include frequent breaks (Morin, 2016). Large tasks can be divided into smaller parts and the student should be given an opportunity to take a break after completing each part when he will be able to move around and to change the focus of attention to something else. Presentation accommodations include giving the student an outline of the lesson so that he can follow it and easily catch up with the class in case he gets distracted for a few minutes. Keeping instructions simple and clear and giving them both orally and in written form will also help students to keep attention concentrated on the task. Using graphs and pictures will make the material look more interesting and therefore will draw student’s attention to it.
Speech and language impairment can become a significant obstacle during the educational process. Speech and language impairments can range from difficulties with pronunciation of sounds to inability to use or understand the speech as a means of communication. Some speech impairments are associated with neurological disorders, brain damage, mental retardation, and organic disorders of the structure of vocal apparatus or its functional immaturity. The most common speech impairments faced by students include phonetic and phonemic violations that can reveal themselves in distortions, replacement and interchange of sounds in the student’s speech and difficulties of their auditory recognition. To make the learning process easier for the student with speech and language impairment, teachers can use response accommodations, presentation accommodations, setting accommodations and timing accommodations (Morin, 2016). Response accommodations that include giving the student a possibility to choose whether to give a response in written or in oral form, as well as allowing the student to use a word processor where he can type notes or give responses in class (Morin, 2016) will provide student an opportunity to reply in the form that is easier and more convenient for him. Presentation accommodations include giving assignments both orally and in writing as well as providing a copy of class notes to the student in order to make sure that the student can read the instruction and the main points of the material that was covered during the lesson if he did not manage to properly hear all this information. In order to minimize the noise that can distract the student in class during the test, the teacher can use setting accommodation, and namely provide a separate private room which will allow the student to concentrate on the test in a quiet setting. Timing accommodation, e.g. not interrupting the student if he is speaking too slowly and his response is taking too much time and permitting the student to spend an extended amount of time on the assignment or test will give the student a possibility to express himself and perform the task on the top of his abilities.
The students with exceptionalities require special attention and care from the teachers in order to make learning process more convenient, pleasant and easy for them. Certain setting timing, response and presentation accommodations will allow the students that have IEP, and in particular those with ADHD and with speech and language impairments to master the school material together with other students.
References
Morin, A. (2016). Common Modifications and Accommodations. Understood.org. Retrieved 26 January 2017, from https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/treatments-approaches/educational-strategies/common-classroom-accommodations-and-modifications
