Individualized Teacher-Child Relationship (ITCR) Strategy to Enhance Academic Performance of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Author(s) : Amjad Ali

Abstract:

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common psychological disorder of childhood. This disorder has negative impact on the students’ learning. Teachers tackle and handle this problem in a variety of ways based on their knowledge and experience. Similarly I also had ADHD children in my class understudy. Teaching to ADHD children was a challenging job for me because they had extreme energy and restlessness in their behaviour and were unable to focus while learning something. This Action Research had been designed to solve this immediate problem with a major focus on the adjustment of their behaviour and improve academic learning outcomes. In order to achieve the objectives I used Williford’s strategy of “individualized teacher-child relationship (ITCR). This strategy provides important contexts for the promotion of children’s emotional health and learning. The data were collected through multiple means; class assessments, observational notes and weekly discussions with the subjects. It was found that individualized teacher-child relationship (ITCR) strategy is effective for teaching ADHD children and it has a positive impact on students’ behaviour and learning outcomes.

Keywords: Action research, ADHD, individualized teacher-child relationship (ITCR)