O desempenho cognitivo e escolar da criança com o Transtorno de Déficit de Atenção e Hiperatividade

Abstract

This paper covers topics related to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which are presented in three studies carried out with children, their parents and teachers, and health and education professionals from Divinópolis (MG). Together, the studies raise three main questions: 1) is it possible to draw an ADHD cognitive profile that, associated with the criteria proposed by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IVTR), makes possible an accurate recognition of this condition?; 2) what is the relevance for the educational system of identifying children with ADHD cognitive deficits? 3) what do teachers, parents and health professionals who deal everyday with these children know about this disorder? In order to answer those questions, 71 children were analyzed through a battery of tests and tasks which track preserved and deficient cognitive processes in ADHD and comorbities. The questionnaires were answered by teachers, health professionals and parents of the children involved in the study. Study one showed a significant number of false positive and false negative diagnosis and also public health and education professionals’ inability to identify dyslexic children. Results achieved in test 2 attested a worse school performance of students with ADHD when compared to children without the disorder: their performance, in relation to deletion of phonemes and the arithmetic test result, is closer to the one presented by dyslexic children than the one presented by students without the disorder. Thus, a disadvantageous situation of children who present comorbid conditions associated with dyslexia + ADHD was observed: these students, even presenting a worse school performance, are identified neither by health professionals, nor by teachers. The study identified that all people who deal with these children have a poor knowledge of ADHD. From a general perspective, the use tasks and tests to evaluate deficient cognitive processes related to this disorder helped to reduce the number of false positive and false negative diagnosis, making the ADHD identification process more accurate. Therefore, local authorities, who are responsible for coordinating actions related to children’s health, should promote training of multidisciplinary teams, so they could apply the tasks and the tests used in this research in order to identify ADHD. From the results achieved by us in this research, it was confirmed how important to train teachers to identify the existence of a cognitive profile of children with ADHD (and with dyslexia) is, so they can receive adequate professional help. It is crucial that authorities responsible for these children’s education and health realize how cognitive deficits processing in this disorder compromise both their school and social performances, in order to help them get through the difficulties caused by ADHD. It is hoped that the findings of this research, to be released to community, help both education and health professionals to rethink pedagogical and treatment practices towards children with ADHD. It is also hoped that parents of these children understand the importance of carrying out tests to confirm a proper diagnosis of children at risk for this disorder, so they can receive adequate professional help.