Adapted Physical Education: Self-Control and Attention

Abstract

The most pervasive characteristics of populations of children and youth with special needs are distractibility, lack of self-control, and poor attention. Typically these problems occur because the individual is overactivated or too excited to function normally, or underactivated or too "dreamy" to pay proper attention to important parts of the environment. These problems can be manifested in (a) poor assimilation of a lesson, (b) social abrasiveness and aggression toward peers, parents, and teachers, and ( c) physical danger to the child or youth himself or herself. Over the years many professionals have suspected that hyperactivity and inattention have a familial basis. Data from a recent study suggest that hyperactive children may or may not have family members who are similarly afflicted (August & Stewart, 1983). These same investigators found that a child, one of whose parents may have been hyperactive, is likely to display a greater variety of behavioral disturbances than a child whose family members are free of hyperactive tendencies. Usually, hyperactivity in a child is caused by organic (neurological) problems combined with environmental and social-emotional factors. Educators promoting physical activity have a special obligation to understand the root causes of distractible behaviors and provide techniques and methods by which these undesirable aspects of behavior may be adjusted in positive ways. A useful tool has been developed by Torrey (1981) to help parents and others identify hyperactive-hypertensive children in need of various kinds of intervention. This Hyperactivity Behaviors Identification Questionnaire is beginning to be used in various research studies (Brandon, Eason, & Smith, 1986). The questionnaire asks the rater to rank a child on a 5-point scale ranging from 5 (always) through 3 (sometimes) to I (never). Thirteen statements are rated in this manner. For example: "My child gets into things" ... "My child is easily upset" ... "My child is impatient." For several decades various medications (usually stimulant drugs) have been used in efforts to reduce hyperactive/inattentive behaviors. For the most part, however, medications have not significantly improved test scores, they produce highly variable individual