If everything is ADHD then...teachers\u27 confusion of ADHD with other disorders

The ability of Special Education teachers (SET) and Regular Education teachers (RET) to accurately identify and distinguish the characteristics of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) from those of other childhood behavior disorders was examined. Both SET and RET teachers were able to identify a majority of ADHD characteristics ; however, both groups were poor in differentiating ADHD characteristics from those of other disorders, with SET showing more incorrect assignment of problem behavior than RET (p\u3c.01). Neither pre-service nor in-service training correlated significantly with the ability to accurately identify ADHD characteristics. The general lack of skill in the discrimination of ADHD from other behavior problems by both SET and RET teachers strongly suggests the need for better pre-service or in-service training

Using a Computer Simulation in the Research, Training, and Evaluation of School Psychologists

A computer program, School Psychologist Simulation, is described. The program presents users with information and events such as might be encountered in a real school setting regarding schoolchildren referred to the school psychologist; users can practice the skills needed by a school psychologist in the assessment of the case. The participant then submits a report detailing assessment, recommendations, and reasoning for the case in either essay or multiple-choice format. An additional program permits the instructor to customize the material presented to the user by modifying the case material of a specific child and/or by altering the forms displayed to the user in all cases