Dustin Featherstone

Standard #2: Learning Differences  The teacher understands how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences.  Article: Contemporary Issue Project  Date: April 23, 2015  Class: Education 101  Description: A teacher needs to be equipped with the knowledge that there are various elements that are incorporated into the development of children. Each learner is going to grow and develop at a different pattern. Different factors affect the development whether it is social, physical, cognitive, or linguistic.  Rationale: There is a major debate within the classroom today over how to encourage and keep children focused. There are different ways of achieving this goal based on the individual learner.

Attention Deficit Disorder  Definition: a medical condition in which someone (such as a child) has problems with learning and behavior because of being unable to think about or pay attention to things for very long  An condition similar to ADHD was described by Hippocrates, who lived from 460 to 370 BC. The name Attention Deficit Disorder was first introduced in 1980 in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Positives  The ability to pay better attention  Feeling less distracted  The ability to more easily recall information from memory  Feeling less restless or jittery  The ability to think before speaking or acting  Having better control over emotions and moods  Less erratic behavior  Increase in motivation  The ability to start and finish projects  Sleeping better  The ability to establish and maintain more positive social relationships with peers  Less temptation to engage in reckless behavior

Negatives  Feeling restless or jittery  Irritability, mood swings  Difficulty sleeping  Racing heartbeat  Loss of appetite  Upset stomach  Headaches  Depression  Dizziness  Tics

Statistical Analysis  Nearly one in five high school age boys in the United States and 11 percent of school-age children over all have received a medical diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to new data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The figures showed that an estimated 6.4 million children ages 4 through 17 had received an A.D.H.D. diagnosis at some point in their lives, a 16 percent increase since 2007 and a 41 percent rise in the past decade  About one in 10 high-school boys currently takes A.D.H.D. medication, the data showed.

Why the Increase?  The C.D.C. director, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, likened the rising rates of stimulant prescriptions among children to the overuse of pain medications and antibiotics in adults.  Some parents are pressuring doctors to help with their children’s troublesome behavior and slipping grades.  Sales of stimulants to treat A.D.H.D. have more than doubled to $9 billion in 2012 from $4 billion in 2007, according to the health care information company IMS Health.

Open Ended Questions  Do you believe the benefits of medicating a child with attention deficit disorder outweigh the risks?  What is the reason for the increase in the amount of children being prescribed Attention Deficit Disorder medication in recent years?

References  Data and Statistics | ADHD | NCBDDD | CDC. (n.d.). Retrieved from ml  Schwarz, A. (2013, March 31). More Diagnoses of A.D.H.D. Causing Concern - NYTimes.com. Retrieved from h/more-diagnoses-of-hyperactivity- causing-concern.html