The AD/HD Student and College Composition: Unlocking the Gate

Barbara Graham Cooper

Howard Community CollegeColumbia, Maryland

Who is the AD/HD student?

Portrait J. P. Collomose and P. M. Hall

My Name is ADD

My name is ADDShort for Attention Deficit DisorderI will make you impulsiveyou will do stupid thingsI will distract youKeep you from doing easy thingsSchool work will come harddaydreaming comes easyI will make you hyper, maybeI will give you tantrumsand energy you can’t stopI will make you creativeYou will see what no one else seesYou will understand things in a different

wayYou can not cure meYou can only treat meYou will have me for lifeMy name is ADD

-- Cary G. Cooper

In his 1892 Talks to Teachers, William James recognized “a great native variety among individuals in the type of their attention…”

“In others we must suppose the margin to be brighter, and to be filled with something like meteoric showers of images, which strike into it at random, displacing the focal ideas, and carrying association in their own direction.”

AD/HD is not the result of

Poor Parenting Inadequate Teaching Laziness Lack of Moral Fiber Emotional Disturbance Cultural Dysfunction Decline of American Character

AD/HD is the result of a neurological difference

How is the neurological difference manifested?

“Executive dysfunction is the most important cognitive deficiency in AD/HD, more important than impaired attention.”

Russell A. Barkley

ADHD and the Nature of Self Control

Executive Functions directly impact the process of writing Organization and planning over time Inhibition of impulsive action Set-maintenance and set-shifting Ability to mentally manipulate information and

work with more than one set of information at a time

Use of self-directed speech Ability to absorb new information in an

organized, coherent manner Ability to draw on previously learned

information to perform goal-directed activities.

What does this have to do with College Composition?

“If even one LD [or AD/HD] student is a member of a

college writing class, mainstream or basic, then

Composition as a field should educate itself about the needs of that student.”

Patricia DunnLearning Re-abled: The Learning

Disability Controversy and Composition Studies

The AD/HD Student: The Invisible Challenge

Composition teachers cannot be expected to diagnose AD/HD

But we are trained to diagnose writing/language problems and prescribe ways to “fix” them

AD/HD Writers exhibit a constellation of problems

Inconsistent performance Poor time management Procrastination Perfectionism Writer’s block Easily distracted from task Poor handwriting Sophisticated and unusual ideas that are

inadequately developed

Topic that is too broad or too complex for the time and space of the assignment

Poor or non-existent transitions Extremely complex sentence

structures Sentence fragments Poor (sometimes bizarre) spelling Late assignments or failure to

submit assignments at all

But AD/HD Writers also have Positive Traits:

High energy level Intelligent Highly verbal Unique perspective Intensity about interests Creative Responsive to structure

Russell Barkley said:

“ADD is considered to be not a disorder of not knowing what to do, but rather a disorder of not doing what you know.”

qtd. in Out of the Fog, Murphy and LeVert

Implications for Teaching Composition Provide students with explicit opportunities to

develop their understanding of their own learning/processing strengths and weaknesses and how these affect their writing.

Help students to feel comfortable in the class. Provide written directions for each assignment

that clearly state what is expected. Break assignments into a series of clearly

manageable tasks and hold students accountable for completing each task.

Provide explicit, strategy-based instruction in written-language structures, rules and discourse conventions.

Use advance organizers. Integrate listening, speaking, reading

and writing. Incorporate non-verbal modalities. Devise activities that will allow students

to discover the connections between old and new knowledge

Help students discover which strategies work for them.

Establish a routine for submitting work.

Chinese Proverb:

I hear and I forget.

I see and I remember.

I do and I understand.

The Principle of Universal Design:

What is essential for some is beneficial for all.

Hold the gate open…