Effective Warm-Up Activity in Adaptive PE

By Scott C Kelly

Who do students remember the most? Teachers who are passionate. They put their heart into their lessons and connect life expectations/outcomes to their philosophy. Who do staff/supervisors remember the most? Teachers those work with students that have disabilities. Even though they do not receive an award at the end of the year (which they should) or a higher salary, their jobs are the toughest of them all. Even though they won't go up to the teacher that is working with a student that has a disability and tell them they are doing a good job, in the back of their head they appreciate everything that teacher does.

Working in Adaptive PE class, it can be troublesome to create lessons that make students active. Some of them lack the psychomotor ability along with cognitive ability to perform a skill. Therefore, exercise is at a minimum because you want to create the simplest lesson possible. Well I am here to help that cause in creating an effective warm-up for adaptive PE.

Remember, when you work with a student that has a disability such as autism-if you are bored, they are bored. What is bored? Bored is doing daily walk/jog around the track, your basic calisthenics and static stretching that no one in the world wants to do. There has to be extra excitement and extra juice in your system to get them motivated. They are exceptional people and phenomenal individuals so make sure you treat them like one.

For a student with mental disorder, here is an example, instead of the boring warm-up routines get the kids excited right off the bat. Always make sure there is music playing because it will automatically neurologically stimulate the student's brain and release endorphins. Give the student any size ball (depending the student, the ball can be hard or soft). Have them line up in a line so they can all see you (no we're not doing sprints). As the instructor, have them start jogging in place with the ball (make sure you are performing this as well so the student's understand what to do). They will mimic everything you do. Start jogging in place; raise the ball over the head, in front of you, behind your head. Stop and bring the ball down to their toes, spread the legs and bring the ball down to each foot. Then get things going again, start jumping up and down, high knees, hopping side to side. Stop and have them bring the ball around the body; around the legs, around the trunk, around there head. Praise students if they are accomplishing this task and/or there trying. Transition to having them walk/jog 10 yards (have cones or line to identify where they will be stopping). Changeover by placing the ball on the ground; Have them tap the ball back and forth with their feet. By doing this, you just transitioned right in soccer and ready to start your lesson for soccer. After they tap the ball between their feet, they can dribble now back where they started. The rest of the lesson is history in the making.

This can be transition into any activity. Same transition would apply for basketball, hand-ball, and volleyball. If you are not doing a lesson that implements a ball, this still will be an effective warm-up because if erases the student's mind of fitness.

This is an excellent way to transition into a lesson. Use basketball, beach balls, volleyballs, tennis balls. Any ball is sufficed to shift into your lesson. Best of all, you will be creating the best fitness of all Fitness with distraction.

What You Should Know About Oppositional Defiant Disorder

By Abigail Simmons

Oppositional defiant disorder or ODD develops during childhood, many patients experiencing symptoms throughout adolescence and adulthood, unless special psychosocial treatments are introduced. Social studies aiming to reveal the causes behind this disorder have concluded that children whose parents have trouble with substance abuse, namely alcohol, and have a history with breaking the law, run an 18% probability to develop ODD during their early childhood. This evidence prompted psychologists to believe that ODD is actually the result of behaviour trans-generationally transmitted. In other words, children adopt their parents' behaviour, be it defiant, hostile or antisocial, as their own.

It is very important to know that ODD is different from conduct disorder (CD) in that the latter manifests through a repetitive antisocial pattern of behavior with the single purpose of breaking every rule, limit or norm imposed. ODD, however, is a disorder that can be recognized by the emotional intensity which usually accompanies each and every of its symptoms, starting with rage outbursts, the defiant attitude, and ending with the resentful and spiteful character of every action.

Children with ODD surpass the boundaries of normal childhood problems with authority. For example, if a normal child who enjoys his independence is given a chore, he/she will, at first, try to get out of it and then eventually comply; however, a child with ODD would start breaking everything in sight while screaming that nobody has the power to decide what he should do, but him/her. This example only presents two of the many other ODD symptoms, specifically: refusing to comply with requests/rules and acting so as to deliberately annoy or angry others.

Besides generally being defiant, disrespectful and hostile, children with ODD are often easily annoyed or low tempered, and will start a fight or an argument even without having good reasons, but just "for fun of it". Also, when confronted with the consequences of their behavior, these children will blame others and refuse to accept responsibility. Their overall hostile attitude is oriented strictly at parents and other authority figures in their life. It seems as though children with oppositional defiant disorder are incapable of forgiving or forgetting given that they seek revenge and are always resentful of others.

Last but not least, such symptoms have a dramatic effect on the child's social life. He/she has major difficulties with integrating and building relationships with other children of the same age. Also, academic performance is very low with children presenting ODD symptoms. The only known treatments are based on cognitive behavioral therapy which focuses on positive reinforcement, parent training programs, individual and family psychotherapy, and social skills training.

Abigail Simmons is Author of Positive Parenting Secrets Book. She has helped many parents solve their parenting problem using her practical positive parenting techniques. To learn more about her parenting tips and techniques, please visit http://www.101ParentingResources.com

ADD Fad or Fact?

By Bobby Rethnamma Krishnan

Attention Deficit Disorders has become a catch phrase in educational circles. When I started my clinic almost 10 years ago, a diagnosis of ADD resulted in puzzled and suspicious looks from parents and teachers alike. However, the pendulum has swung the other way. It has become a substitute for a hyperactive child. Parents and even some professionals make this diagnosis by ticking off a number of symptoms that they may have observed in the child. This has led to misdiagnosis and misuse of medication. In our fast track lives, a quick diagnosis with a quick solution has replaced careful clinical assessment and multimodal interventions.

For the novice reader, ADD stands for Attention Deficit Disorder, a common mental disorder seen in 10 to 20 percent of children. I hesitate to call it a mental disorder because it's signs and symptoms are not pathological. It is a dimensional not a categorical disorder i.e. many of the symptoms may be seen in the average child or person but in a person with ADD they are severe enough to cause problems in education, behaviour and or social fields.

ADD is a complex disorder not a checklist disorder. It can start insidiously wherein subtle signs are missed in early childhood because they are mainly related to inattention. They may also present with a bang with a hyperactive child. Nonetheless, these children may even present later in life if they are very bright e.g. in high school or even college. ADD can mimic other problems. A child traumatised by a mixture of unrealistic expectations, harsh punishments and inappropriate curriculum can present with inattention and restlessness. Anxiety, especially posttraumatic stress disorder and separation anxiety can also cloud the picture. Other disorders like Juvenile Bipolar disorder or Asperser Syndrome wherein hyperactivity is also a symptom can complicate the diagnosis.

ADD also has a wide spectrum of clinical presentations. From an inattentive, quiet and withdrawn child (Inattentive ADD) to a restless, impatient and impulsive one. In fact Dr. Amen has described 6 types of ADD each having their own brain images on the SPECT machine. No two children with ADD are same. Co-morbid conditions like anxiety and depression can change the clinical picture. Language difficulties, either spoken or written along with Specific Learning difficulties complicates the clinical presentation. Environmental conditions also affect the ADD child. Highly mobile expatriate societies as those seen in Dubai, Hong Kong and Brussels see a higher rate of ADD in their student population. One of the reasons being changing school systems, anxiety with relocation and other environmental factors that aggravate a mild predisposition to ADD to a blatant one.

The other feature that can confuse parents and teachers alike is that ADD is not an absolute deficit. This means that symptoms can fluctuate. A child with ADD can be well focused in a subject he enjoys but can become very restless and difficult in those he doesn't. Thus an ADD child can sit and work on a computer for hours but cannot sit and read (even if he is good at reading). Some readers may feel that this is true of many people. However, those without ADD can make themselves pay attention to uninteresting topics when they know they have to. Also many ADD children may not be educationally impaired.

Early diagnosis and multimodal intervention is the key.

Research has shown that ADD is a life span disorder that can be seen to follow the ADD child into adulthood. Untreated ADD can lead to many complications. From emotional disorders to psychiatric disorders; from school failure to school dropouts and from behavioural problems to felony, a child with ADD can develop many problems.

I cannot end this article without touching on the crucial factor of medications. Many parents and teachers feel alarmed by use of behaviour changing medications, especially if the child is not very difficult to manage. However, ADD is a neurochemical disorder. That means it is organic in origin and is not caused by bad parenting or poor schooling. (Though they can aggravate it). Medication is necessary to prevent complications and ensure academic and social success. Stimulant medications can improve attention and reduce impulsive and restless behaviour. They can improve academic efficiency and performance and hence avoid complications of low self-esteem. They can improve behaviour and attention and hence improve social acceptance. However, social skills, remedial help for learning difficulties must be given.

To conclude ADD is a complex disorder which impacts the person life long. Diagnosis and therapy must be long term and multimodel.

For more information visit our website
http://www.singhaniachildrensclinic.com/

ADHD Treatment? Drug Treatment or Non-Drug Treatment?

By Tess Messer

Treating ADHD with drug therapy versus non-drug therapy is a hotly debated topic. Some people believe that ADHD is a made up illness and that parents that treat their children with ADHD medications are poisoning them. Other people believe that not treating ADHD with medication is irresponsible. The debate in the lay community for and against ADHD drug treatment can be contentious and divisive. At its best, these debates are enlightening and helpful but at their worst they are mean spirited and ugly.

As with most opinions, both sides have good points to make but getting one camp to objectively look at the other camp's point of view is not easy. There is a good reason for this. Flexible thinking is an executive function skill and it does not come easily to people with ADHD. Some believe that you either believe in treating ADHD with drugs or you don't and there is no room for shades of gray in this debate.

I once challenged someone to consider thinking of ADHD treatment in a more nuanced way and the response that I got was this. "Shades of gray advice is irresponsible because it confuses parents of kids with ADHD into thinking that they can treat their kids with homeopathy and Health Food Store remedies and other treatments that don't work." I believe this attitude to be patronizing. It assumes that parents of kids with ADHD cannot understand a message that is not black and white.

I am a health care worker. I know for a fact that patients and parents can understand "shades of gray" health care advice. Medicine is an art as much as a science and there are many health conditions where the advice given depends on individual factors and where a "one size fits all" treatment plan is not helpful. Medical treatment advice must be clearly explained, the treatment response must be monitored, you must be available to answer questions regarding the treatment and most importantly, you need to avoid patronize the people that you are advising.

It is my belief that many patients benefit from ADHD drug therapy and that the majority of patients will get the most ADHD symptom relief from a combination of treatments. Drug therapy is not right, non-drug treatment is not wrong. They are both right and wrong depending on every individual's symptoms and circumstances.

The saddest ADHD statistic is this. The majority of patients with a diagnosis of ADHD are not on any treatment. Of the patients prescribed medication, two thirds of them, despite debilitating ADHD symptoms, will no longer be taking their prescription medication a year after it is prescribed. Some will stop because of side effects, for some, the medicine will not help their symptoms, and others will stop for other reasons. For patients who cannot or will not take prescription medication, other treatments must be tried. Fortunately, other ADHD treatments exist that compliment or sometimes can even replace drug therapy. Many non-drug therapies better prepare people with ADHD with specific daily challenges such as organization deficits, social problems and emotional control. Parents are encouraged to educate themselves regarding these other treatments.

Tess Messer, MPH is the founder of the award winning blog, Primarily Inattentive ADD. Valuable information about ADHD drug and non-drug treatment can be found in Tess Messer's new book, Commanding Attention: A Parent and Patient Guide to More ADHD Treatment. The link can be found at http://commanding-attention.blogspot.com. You can also find free ADHD resources at http://Primarilyinattentiveadd.com.