Question

Discuss the nature and treatment of:
   - Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
   - Learning disabilities
   - Autism.
Which treatment do you think is best and why?
Discuss some educational techniques that are helpful for children with special needs.

Answer 1

ATTENTION DEFICIT / HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER is a chldhood disorder. It affects children and teens but continue to the adulthood. ADHD is more common in boys than in girls. In ADHD the child have difficulty in paying attention to the present stimuli. In adults ADHD may leads to the problem in managing time, setting goals or holding a job.

The symptoms of ADHD can be grouped into three categories :

1. Inattention: Child fet easily distracted, forget daily activities, have problem in organize things, etc.
2. Hyperactivity: Child doesn't stay seated. He seems to move about constantly, including in situations in which it is not appropriate.
3. Impulsivity: Chid makes hasty actions that occur in the moment without thinking. he may be socially intrusive and excessively intrupt others. They make long term dicisions without thinking about its concequences.

TREATEMENT OF ADHD:

• Medication = ADHD medication reduce hyperactivity and impulsivity and helps the person to focus. Talk with doctor if are going to take medication.
• Behavior therapy = It is a psychotherapy that aims to help person to change his behavior. Behavior therapy helps a person in monitor his own behavior and give oneself praise for acting in a desired way.
• Social skill training = It teaches behaviors such as taking turns and sharing.
• Special education = It helps a child to learn at school. These chidren should have special routine and structure of studying in schools.

LEARNING DISABILITIES is group of disorders. These are disorders that affects one's abilities of spoken or written language, methematical reasoning, attention and coordination of movement. According to DSM-5, learning disability is characterized by one or more difficulty in learning and using academis skills.Some of the learning disabilities are:

• Auditory processing disorder
• Dyscalculia
• Dyslexia
• Language processing disorder
• Non verbal learning disabilities
• Dysgraphia

TREATMENT OF LEARNING DISABILITY:

As there is no cure of the learning disdability but the conditions can be improved by developing special skills for reading and writing. Teaching mnemonics and repeatition can help in this way. COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR THERAPY may also work in treating the emotional and behavioral problems.

AUTISM is defined by difficulty in communicating, reading body landuage, making friends and making eye contact. These people have :

• Abnormal body posture
• Abnormal tone of voice
• Behavioral disturbance
• Deficit in language comprehension
• Delay in learning to speak
• Inappropriate social interaction

TREATMENT OF AUTISM:

There is no medication as such for the treatment of autism. There are many typs of treatment available for autism.

• Behavior and communication approaches : These helps children with autism by providing stucture, direction, and organization for the child in addition to the family. Therapies like, sensory integration therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, etc. are helpful in treating autism.
• Dietary approaches : Some dietary treatments have been developed by therapists. Removing certain type of foods from children's diet and increasing vitamine and mineral supplements in their diets.

As we have seen that medication could never a best option. If some is diagnosed with any metal disorder, the best way to treat him or her by psychotherapies. These have no side effects in order to treat. The person sold have good family support. Family support can heal most of the part of the disorder. Othr than family therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy may be a good option. Before going for medication please consult to a doctor.