NSW: ADHD affects brain's ability to organise, memorise: study
SYDNEY, Aug 29 AAP - Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)experience learning difficulties because it affects the brain's ability to organise andmemorise, new research confirms.
The findings countered beliefs that children with ADHD were simply badly behaved, aneducation expert said.
Between four and eight per cent of the student population suffer from ADHD and experiencedifficulties with schooling.
Head of Education at WA's Curtin University, Associate Professor Heather Jenkins, willpresent the research tomorrow at the Learning, Language and Literacy conference at Sydney'sWestmead Children's Hospital.
Prof Jenkins and her team looked at the difference in performance between 55 children- 26 with ADHD and 29 without the disorder - in maths.
The study found ADHD restricts the brain's ability to organise, memorise, manage timeand prioritise, she said.
"Children with ADHD have difficulties learning because the disorder is neurologicallybased, restricting and impairing cognitive functions like memory, motivation and speech,not because of bad behaviour," she said.
"Our research is an important step on from debating whether the condition is real ornot, and moving to developing and implementing new strategies which can give studentsevery chance of learning."
Prof Jenkins said new research on the disorder should develop tools to help educatorsteach children with ADHD, and announced $500,000 in funding for a new three-year study.
AAP wf/ka/mg/bwl
KEYWORD: ADHD
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