Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity are probably the most well known learning disabilities because of all the press and controversy the diagnoses and its medications have received in the last decade. This disability used to be referred to as ?œminimal brain dysfunction??and affects three to five percent of school-age children or approximately 800,000 children in the United States. The characteristics that a child with ADD exhibits are inattentiveness, talking excessively, hyperactivity and impulsiveness, or any combination of the three. A child with ADD may daydream excessively, not seem to listen or follow directions, and may hand in careless looking work, according to Dr. Mel Levine, founder of All Kinds of Minds Institute and professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School in Chapel Hill. NIMH literature points out that ?œa diagnosis of ADD should be made only if the child shows such behaviors substantially more than other children of the same age.??People with all levels of intelligence have been diagnosed with ADD. The causes of the attention problems are usually related to an inability to understand with is said or what is going on, an inability to focus or concentrate for long periods of time, and strong feelings or emotions that are affecting concentration.

In order to help a child with ADD, one must first realize how the disability is affecting her academic performance and then make adjustments accordingly. Dr. Levine states, ?œSimply saying that a student has ADD or ADHD does not help us know the cause of that particular student?™s attention problems when s/he is reading, writing or doing a math problem.??Some suggested behavioral management techniques for children with ADD are an organized and predictable environment, having clearly defined behavioral expectations in advance, and having immediate consequences for actions. The goal in working with or raising a child with an attention disorder is to decrease undesirable behaviors and to increasing positive behaviors through a system of rewarding and ignoring, according to an article in the booklet, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?”Policies/Information Regarding Diagnosis/Interventions and Services, published in 1996 by the Learning Disabilities Association.