The Cognitive and Physical Benefits That Arise from Dance
Technique Classes for Children with
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Department of Dance, Bridgewater State University
Problem/Purpose
• Children with ADHD often have difficulty
with attention skills and experience
hyperactivity, although have few
educational strategies to release their
hyperactivity.
• Children with ADHD often spend 4-6 hours
in a classroom each day with little
opportunities to move their body and
release emotions and energy.
• The purpose of this study is to investigate
and determine how dance technique
classes can benefit the cognitive and
physical health of children, between the
ages of 3 to 18, with ADHD
Research Questions
1. How can dance technique benefit
children with ADHD?
2. How can dance be used as a way to
release the suppressed hyperactivity of
children with ADHD?
3. What are the benefits that emerge from
children with ADHD participating in
dance technique classes?
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my peers and especially Dr. Dragon for
the help, support and continuous guidance throughout
this process.
Contact Information
Kristina Smith
K20smith@student.bridgew.edu
By: Kristina Smith
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Donna A. Dragon
BSU Mid-Year Symposium
December 10, 2018
Thesis Statement
Creating more educational dance technique classes
within after school programs can provide children,
between the ages of three to eighteen, with ADHD,
many cognitive and physical health benefits.
Research Processes
• Examined relevant peer-reviewed research
articles on the topics of dance education,
dance movement for children and ADHD in
children, found through the Maxwell Library
database
• Created an annotated bibliography.
• Wrote an advocacy paper
Findings & Significance
• “Children with ADHD benefit the most,
more than any other disorder, from regular
exercise, because movement exercises
increase dopamine in the human brain, just
like the stimulus does (Barkley, 2004 in
Grönlund 2005, 65).
Findings & Significance
(Continued)
• Dance movement specifically in
technique classes provide, “a form of
physical activity ‘outside’ of
conventional forms of sport that
provide more examples of different
ways to engage young people in
physical activities—which ultimately
encourage embodied pleasurable
experiences” (Wellard 2007, 89).
• Children with ADHD engaging in
dance movement classes found
opportunities; to express strengths
and personal resources as well as
transform underlying emotions such
as shame which can lead to the
destructive impulsivity that
characterizes their behavior and
coping methods (Gronlund 2005, 66)
Next Steps
• Develop this research further
• Continue to advocate for
creating afterschool programs
driven to provide children with
ADHD opportunities and
strategies to express suppressed
energy in a holistic embodied
experience.