Abstract:
The study sought to determine the teachers' knowledge and appreciation of Attention
Deficit Hyperactively Disorder (ADHD) children in primary schools in Busia District,
Kenya. The main aim of the study was to establish the challenges children with
ADHD faced in classroom instruction in a regular classroom. The theoretical
framework hinged on the Carl Rodgers theory of person centered perspective which
holds that people are basically good and are endowed with self-actualizing tendencies
unless thwarted by an environment that inhibits growth. The objectives of the study
were to: establish the existence of ADHD children in primary school classrooms;
determine the extent to which attention deficit hyperactivity disorder affects the
performance of children in middle level primary school; find out what intervention
measures were put in place to ensure children with ADHD benefit from primary
education; examine the challenges that teachers face in the instructional process of
handling ADHD children; assess the effect of ADHD in terms of gender. The study
adopted the descriptive survey design. The target population was 420 teachers and 6
Ministry of Education officers. The sample population drew 125 teachers and 6
Education officers. The population was drawn from 25 primary schools using simple
random sampling technique while the education officers were raised using purposive
sampling. The study used questionnaires and interview schedule as instruments of
primary data collection. Some document analysis was done to corroborate the
primary data. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study findings
provided guidelines upon which conclusions and recommendations were made on
how best ADHD children should be handled in schools. The results point to the need
for the Ministry of Education to develop strategic teacher training policies and
methodologies that would enable teachers to identify and handle the ADHD children
- who are the forgotten minority. The results of this study have practical implications
for parents, teachers, counselors and Ministry of Education policy makers.