Personal Research Journey

     The general topic that I have chosen to research in the early childhood field is if there is any information out there on the possible long term side effects of ADHD/ADD medication on children and how the ongoing development of assessments and a more stringent curriculum will play a role in the amount of children diagnosed not only with ADHD/ADD but sensory processing disorder as well.  My journey into researching this subject so far has brought me to three subtopics of interest including what genetics tells us about the inheritence and gene expression that are predictors of ADHD and ADD and the prevalence of males versus females, do universal assessments take into account phenomenons such as right-handnessness, left-handedness and the differing learning abilities between males and females, and what medical information is currently available about the long term effects of ADHD/ADD and SPD medication on young children into adulthood and what are the alternatives.
    I have many reasons for choosing these particular areas to research.  With advances we have seen so far in early childhood, and the emergence of universal standards, it makes individuals accountable for their part in early education but what is also creates the field of " expectation" for some parents and education is race and as a result full day kindergarten has become a nationwide event. (Elkind, 2009)  But how does the emergence of more rigourous standards and this need for specific outcomes affect our children?  First legislation brings forth the "No Child Left Behind Act," which ensures that children get the help they need to move on to the next grade but as a result disorders such as ADHD and ADD become more prominent and children who are exhibiting problematic or inability to sit still are often being medicated to make it through the school day. But is this just a short fix that will ultimately cause further problems in a child's future not only academically but possibly medically? 
     I have seen and educated children with ADD/ADHD and and a child who the school system had misdiagnosed and encouraged the parents to medicate their child even though he was only in preschool and after six months, assessments,  and progress reports I, at the time not having any knowledge of sensory processing disorder, encouraged the school to re-evaluate and with the help of specialists came to conclusion that he had SPD and the help he needed was with a therapist not medication.  I was so facinated by this discovery and to find out that in his medical file, being from an orphanage in a poor, underdeveloped country whose mother was victum of malnourishment and no pre-natal health care that he chances of having this disability were very much increased.
     I have chosen an area which engulfs many areas of research and has an immense amount of information to offer.  I will still research what I can find out about how children progress in the years after taking medication for ADD and ADHD but I have chosen to mainly focus on what genetic predictors are out there in recognizing children who are successtable to this type of behavior and what other options there are for parents of these children in hopes that as an educator I will learn valuable information that will help in my quest in creating and running a more inclusive program that will adhere to these needs.  I hope in my quest I will take from it key aspects that will also help me in creating curriculum appropriate and adjustable to varying needs of individual children.
    What I have learned so far is that the knowledge of this particular subject requires the specialization of the fields of not only education but neuroscience, genetics, and psychology and I hope that in the years to come information like this will be used in appropriately assessing children.  I would love any suggestions any one has or research studies that they would recomend or suggest, it is not a small topic.

Reference:

Elkind, D. (2009).  The Wisdom of Play.  How Children Learn to Make Sense of the World.  Retrieved from http://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/RoomPlanningWisdomofplay.pdf.