Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-1999

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

Dianne P. Whitaker

Committee Members

Joel F. Lubar, Claudia T. Melear, Thomas W. George

Abstract

Barkley (1998) reports that 36% of students with ADHD never finish high school. DuPaul and Eckert (1997) reported that although there were positive effects of school-based interventions, the academic improvement was “almost uniformly low,” even for a significant minority of children on stimulant medication. A primary objective of this study was to explore how AVS and HEG interventions affect the psychoeducational and physiological states of the student with ADHD. Fifteen children with ADHD, who have varied psychoeducational and physiological manifestations of the disorder, including girls and boys ages 8-15, were chosen to participate. This was done in an effort to define changes that may occur as a result of audio-visual stimulation (AVS) or bloodflow feedback (HEG) training, laying the foundation for further investigations. Five participants received AVS, five received HEG for 20 sessions, five control participants received no intervention. Some changes were positive, and some were not. Although there were changes, no change was significant. The academic and behavioral manifestations of ADHDare different fi-om child to child, even within the same family. Just as the behaviors and abilities of children -with ADHD vary from day-to-day, their individual treatment effects from the interventions varied. A major limitation of this study was that these are evolving interventions, with several different treatment protocols. Another protocol with a larger sample size may obtain different results.

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