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ADHD and ASS in the classroom: What works?

A study commissioned by the schoolpoli of Accare. Nynke Antonides-Jellema & Ynske Buiteveld

Background and aim

The law on inclusive education [Wet passend onderwijs] was passed in August 2014. This law ensures that more children with psychiatric problems follow education on regular schools. If these children experience problems in the classroom the schoolpoli of Accare can provide assistance to them. In the present study, file research was performed on clients of the schoolpoli. Furthermore, this study investigated wheat works in the classroom for children with psychiatric problems. Due to the prevalence of the diagnoses autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) among clients of the schoolpoli, this study specifically focused on these two diagnosis.

Method

We performed file research on 27 clients to gather information about their problems and type of intervention that they received. The clients (70.4% boys) varied in age from 6 to 17 years old, with an average age of ten years. We consulted the following literature databases to investigate what works in classroom support: ERIC, PsycINFO, MEDline and SmartCat. The search yielded 68 articles. Of these 68 articles, 40 focused on the diagnosis ASS and 28 focused on the diagnosis ADHD. All included studies were published between 2001 and 2015.

Results

Results from the files show that the diagnoses ASS (40.7%) and ADHD (44.4%) were the most prevalent among clients of the schoolpoli. Most of the clients (n=24) received another type of intervention prior to treatment. These interventions included medication, parent training and counselling, and psycho education. Visual support techniques (video modeling and social stories) and the treatment methods LEAP and TEACCH were among the most effective interventions for children with ASS.  For children with ADHD, behavioral interventions (such as the Daily Behavioral Report Card (DBRC) and medication proved to be the most effective interventions.

Conclusion and re c ommendations

Based on the investigated interventions it is recommended that the schoolpoli of Accare implements those interventions in treatment programs for children with ASS and ADHD. Another recommendation is to keep better track of client records.

Keywords: ASS, ADHD, classroom support, interventions

Supervised by: Anne-Marie Huyghen

Last modified:05 April 2019 11.15 a.m.
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