Lynn Lam
Hieu Trinh
Period 6

David was a thirteen year old, eighth grade student
who had reading and math skills one to two years
below grade level. He was failing every subject and
seemed destined to repeat the eighth grade. His
teachers described him as disruptive and oppositional
in class and stated that he had difficulty paying
attention during structured and unstructured activities.
The school administrators contacted his grandparents
and suggested that he was likely suffering from an
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
A
developmental disability involving short
attention, distractibility, and extreme
difficulty in remaining inactive for any
period.
Genetic influence
 Exposure to environmental toxins (e.g. lead,
PCBs)
 Babies with low birth weight
 Brain injuries
 Food additives (e.g. artificial coloring, sugar,
preservatives)
 Alcohol or drug abuse during pregnancy

 Stimulant
ADHD medications (e.g. Ritalin,
Adderall)
 Behavioral therapy
- Learning to give oneself praise for acting
in a desired way, such as controlling anger or
thinking before acting
- help organizing tasks or completing
schoolwork, or working through emotionally
difficult events.
About 3 to 5% of school-age children have ADHD.
Boys are 3 or 4 times as likely to have ADHD than
girls.
 Famous people who have ADHD: Justin
Timberlake, Will Smith, Michael Phelps, Jim
Carey, Paris Hilton
 People with ADHD tend to suffer from drug
abuse.

 http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publicatio
ns/attention-deficit-hyperactivitydisorder/complete-index.shtml
 http://www.webmd.com/addadhd/guide/adhd-causes
 www.aboutourkids.org

Josh becomes very frustrated when his homework
assignments are written on the white eraser board in
black small letters. Josh sits toward the back of the
room in a cluster of five desks pushed together. The
teacher writes their assignments on the eraser board
approximately four minutes before the last bell rings.
Josh has a very hard time putting down the numbers
and letters on his assignment page in the proper order.
The more confused he becomes the more angry he
becomes. He tries very hard but cannot finish in a
timely fashion and understand the directions.


A learning disability that can hinder a person’s ability
to read, write, and spell.
Symptoms:
- Letter and number reversals
- Difficulty copying from a board or book
- Inability to remember content clearly
- Problems with spatial relationships
- Uncoordinated & problems with organized
sports
 Trauma
dyslexia – caused by a brain trauma
or injury
 Primary dyslexia - dysfunction the left side of
the brain (cerebral cortex); hereditary
 Secondary/developmental dyslexia – caused
by hormonal development during the early
years of fetal development.
There is no real cure for dyslexia
 If needed, the child should be sent to a special
school that will provide an appropriate
treatment plan including:
- systematic study of phonics
- multisensory reading approaches
- Most important: attitudes of adults around
the child.

 One
in five students, or 15-20% of the
population has dyslexia. Dyslexia is the most
common learning disorder.
 Famous people with dyslexia: Tom Cruise,
Orlando Bloom, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney,
Thomas Edison, Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein
 Dyslexics do NOT see letters backward.
 http://www.dyslexia-test.com/famous.html
 http://www.medicinenet.com/dyslexia/artic
le.htm#1whatis
 http://athome.readinghorizons.com/commu
nity/blog/50-interesting-facts-aboutdyslexia/