Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Background and objective: hyperactivity/ attention deficit disorder is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders among school children in the world, which has a negative impact on their social and academic performance accompanied by symptoms of inattention and impulsivity. The present study attempts to distinguish the efficacy of two methods of Training focus exercises and self-regulation on reducing the symptoms and also on the academic achievement of the students with ADHD, aged 7 to 10 years who were studying in first to fourth grades of elementary school.

Materials & Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study and pretest - posttest with a control group. The Statistical population was primary school students with ADHD, aged 7 to 10 years old in Yazd City and due to behavioral and academic problems were referred to counseling cores as well as Imam Hussein Counseling clinic. The subjects of study were selected by purposive sampling method and were divided into three groups. One group (self-regulation) included 33 students with attention deficit/hyperactivity who attended in 10 sessions of 35 minutes of self-regulation training. The training Summary performed by participants was also shared with parents. For Self-regulation training the Researcher Training Package Was used which included the concepts of self-monitoring, self-management, problem solving, scoping, academic planning and Verbal Self – Instruction. Finally, scores were calculated for 30 of them due to the drop in participants (those failed to participate in all training sessions). The second group consisted of 32 Subjects who received 14 sessions focus exercises Such as Image games, Computer games and physical exercises focus. Due to the reduction of subjects, the Scores of 30 students were calculated. The questionnaire of Diagnostic and statistical Manual of Disorders made by American Psychiatrists (Fourth Edition) was used. Psychiatrists and psychologists had confirmed the content and face validity of the questionnaire. So, the reliability of the test has reported 0.82 that parents of all the subjects completed before and after the training intervention, Teacher made test was used for academic achievement. Teachers considered scores for students in different courses and average academic scores at pre-test were calculated. So, the score mean that teachers calculated after the implementation of the independent variables are considered as achievement test score in pre-test. Considering the general consensus of families, only the students were tested in experimental design whose families preferred non-drug methods. At the end, the results were analyzed in two levels of descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, etc.) and analytical statistics (Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test, Levine Test, Test of Homogeneity of Variances and Analysis of Covariance)

Results: Results by analysis of covariance showed that the focusing training exercises and self-regulation is effective on reducing the symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and on their academic achievement (p<0.01). The results of the hypotheses and the possible reasons for the effectiveness of methods of Training focus exercises and self-regulation on reducing the symptoms and academic achievement are discussed in the study. According to the results of the study, it seems that Training focus exercises and self-regulation methods provides favorable conditions to change the behavior and academic achievement of children with ADHD.

Conclusion According to the research findings, it is appropriate that used training of focus exercises and self - regulation on reducing ADHD symptoms and academic achievement of students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.