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The hyperkinetic child: What do teachers know?
Author(s) -
Jones Nancy M.,
Loney Jan,
Weissenburger Fred E.,
Fleischmann David J.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6807(197510)12:4<388::aid-pits2310120402>3.0.co;2-0
Subject(s) - hyperkinesis , psychology , referral , intervention (counseling) , task (project management) , clinical psychology , special education , attention deficit , developmental psychology , psychiatry , attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , medicine , family medicine , mathematics education , management , economics
School personnel are involved in the diagnosis and treatment of hyperkinetic children in many important ways: (a) schools identify and refer the hyper‐kinetic child to the physician, who then relies on behavioral reports provided by teachers and parents in making a formal diagnosis and in evaluating treatment; and (b) more recently, schools have begun to administer behavioral intervention programs which may well be as effective as drug treatment in reducing the off‐task classroom behavior of many hyperkinetic children. There are many hyperactive children in classrooms who are not referred for medical evaluation and treatment. A group of teacher‐identified hyperactive boys was rated significantly higher on the Hyperkinesis Index of the Conners Teacher's Questionnaire than a group of non‐hyperactive classmate control boys, but the mean Hyperkinesis Index scores of teacher‐identified hyper‐actives and clinic‐diagnosed hyperkinetics did not differ from each other. The teacher‐identified hyperactive boys were observed to be off‐task 33% of the time in their classrooms, and the clinic‐diagnosed hyperkinetic boys were off‐task a comparable 37% of the time. It was suggested that if school personnel use their expertise to identify hyperactive children in the classroom and begin behavioral intervention programs at the earliest possible time, medical referral and treatment will be unnecessary for many children.