Mandujano 1

Eduardo Mandujano

Professor Batty

English 101

Focusing on the Distracted

Continuing your education is one of the hardest and stressful things to do in life. Many

people are able to do it with little to no difficulty, but not everybody is the same. In a classroom,

some students often fail to pay attention, make careless mistakes, and fidget to the point where

it’s distracting themselves or the people around them. It isn’t entirely their fault, as they could be

suffering from ADD/ADHD. Within the recent years, more children within the range of ages 4-

17 has increased to have been diagnosed with ADHD to up to 5% each year. With high

percentages of ADHD rising, studies show up to 25% of college students showing signs of

possible ADHD like symptoms. As many schools have a Students with Disabilities Services, but

it’s not well known as other services the schools offer. If schools that offer programs that help

Students with disabilities, should also have the instructors and professors be involved in the

support services so they can better teach the students with the added resources from the program

and not having to rely on tutoring session for them to understand the material. This will benefit

them to do better in school and better their education. This also helps more students who have

disabilities to have an equal chance of an education as much as other students.

Something that I really like about class is the fact that teacher reminds students to attend

tutoring that is offered to the students. But not everyone can really benefit from it as most

students have special needs that cannot be met in a tutor session that is open to everyone. If

someone who has ADHD does not use their time wisely and don’t get their work done. Schools
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that offer services to students to this specific disability are able to not only understand the

students with their disability, but also offer academic accommodations for them to help them

succeed. In the article, " Helping the ADHD Child at School", the author, Katie Hurley, writes

about the effects of ADHD that students go through. Hurley also writes about accommodations

that helps the students do better in school. Hurley first states, "The best way to determine your

child’s needs in the classroom is to seek input from the teacher and any other support staff. No

two students are the same, even if they have the same diagnosis. What works for one child won’t

necessarily work for another." (Hurley). The start of helping a student with their education due to

their disabilities is to see how they differ from other students. She goes on to list many academic

accommodations that are specific to ADD/ADHD students, that many schools offer. Such as

preferential seating, copied notes, extended time on test, and more.

When someone who has ADHD/ADD is in the class and the instructor and or professor

notices them being inactive in the class activity or showing disinterest, they don’t know that the

student does it on purpose. In the article, “Disability? In College? Advice on Talking to

Professors”, the author, Nancy Darling, writes about the benefits that students with disabilities

can get access to, but something that caught by eye was the communication with the students

professors. She states, “Talking to the professor and handing them a summary of your issues is

very helpful... If you're meeting in person, this gives you the opportunity to discuss behavior that

professors might see as 'slacking' or 'lack of interest' as just problems related to illness...Going to

the professor right at the beginning of the semester demonstrates that you are being pro-active

and are working to succeed despite your handicap and are taking responsibility”(Darling).

Communication between students and professors about the students handicap allows for the
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professors to get the full picture of the student’s disability. This could allow for the professors to

start the academic accommodation in class. Showing equal opportunities to the students who

need it, to give those who are at a disadvantage a leg up.

As I previously stated, professors remind students about the tutoring that they can attend

at their own time, which helps directs students to one of the many services that the school offers.

The most frequent services that I hear the most about is the Writing Center and Counseling. As

I’ve heard of the other programs that the school offers, but the one I hear the least is the SSD,

Services for Students with Disabilities. A factor that can be a reason to why it’s not as spoken of

as the Writing Center as it doesn’t pertain to everyone in every classroom. The SSD program

serves as one of the more important programs that schools have to offer. And if instructors and

professors themselves were more involved with the program as tutors for their students, it will be

easier to help them as they can know where they are struggling at and where to improve.

In conclusion, having instructors and professors being involved with students in

the SSD program will not only help students improve on the work, but it will shed light on the

SSD program itself. As having the instructors and professors being involved in the program will

allow it to be talked more about in class, just how other services like the Writing Center is. More

students It would help more students discover the service and they are able to see if they are

eligible to take part in the academic accommodations if they have a disability that needs support

in to have a better chance at a equal opportunity to have a good education as everyone else.
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Work Cited

Darling, Nancy. “Disability? In College? Advice on Talking to Professors.” Psychology

Today, Sussex Publishers, 12 June 2015, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/thinking-about-
kids/201506/disability-in-college-advice-talking-professors.
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Hurley, Katie. “Helping the ADHD Child at School.” PsyCom.net - Mental Health
Treatment Resource Since 1986, 25 Nov. 2018, www.psycom.net/adhd-children-school.

Staiger, Christiane. “Comfrey: a Clinical Overview.” Phytotherapy Research : PTR,

Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Oct. 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3491633/.