Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a commonly diagnosed psychiatric condition among children (Hill, 2000). Approximately 35%-50% of children who have been diagnosed with ADHD have a language impairment (Cohen, Vallance, Barwick, Im, Menna, & Horodezky, 2000). Because children with ADHD have short attention spans, low frustration tolerance, an inability to recognize possible consequences and difficulty completing tasks, their behaviors may be disruptive (Barkley, 2003). They may have trouble sitting still, controlling their impulses and thinking before speaking. ADHD children often face difficulties with the development of language and communication skills including pragmatics, behavioral issues and metacognition. Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs) play a vital role in treating children with language or communication deficits caused by ADHD through the use of social skills training. By understanding the link of ADHD and language deficits, SLPs can understand how to identify and treat children with ADHD. Impact on Language Pragmatics is the appropriate use of language within social and situational context (Bruce, Thernlund, & Nettelbladt, 2006). Children with ADHD (herein after referred to as children) demonstrate deficits in pragmatics. For instance, the child may be sitting in the middle of class yelling out answers on a test unnoticeably curious about knowing the correct answer. These children may also exhibit inappropriate turn taking skills within conversational speech, such as talking excessively or interrupting people (Geurts et al., 2008). Oftentimes, children with ADHD may be unaware of what is happening in their surroundings and feel the urge to move (Mahone, 2011). This in turn discour... ... middle of paper ... ... doi: 10.1007/s10803-008- 0587-1 Gremillion, M. & Martel, M. (2012). Semantic language as a mechanism explaining the h association between ADHD symptoms and reading and mathematics underachievement. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40, 1339-1349. doi: 10.1007/s10802-012-9650-7. Ketelaars, M.P., Cuperus, J., Jansonius, K., & Verhoeven,L.(2010). Research report: Pragmatic language impairment and associated behavioural problems. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 45(2), 204-214. Mahone, M. (2011). The effects of ADHD (beyond decoding accuracy) on reading fluency and comprehension. Neuropsychology, 11, 1-8. Palmer, J., & Thompson, J. (2013). First-year english: Welcoming different learners to the table. CEA Critic, 75(3), 293-302. doi: 10.1353/cea.2013.0024

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