Date of Award

Spring 5-19-2024

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Major

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Britney Jones

Abstract

This study looks at how people understand the decision to medicate or try alternative treatments for children with ADHD through the eyes of a parent, educator, and psychologist. There has been an increase in the diagnosis of ADHD along with the prescription of pharmaceuticals as a treatment. However, there are detrimental long-term effects of pharmaceutical medications for young children. If there is an increase in diagnosis for ADHD, are there healthier treatment alternatives? What are these alternatives, and how do people make the decision to try alternatives or use medication as treatment for children with ADHD? This study finds that two stakeholders (Educator and Psychologist) had similar perspectives regarding the diagnosis process and treatment with alternatives for children with ADHD, one stakeholder’s (Parent) decision making process which resulted in medication was influenced by their own philosophy, occupational background, and personality. In addition, this study also finds that regardless of the stakeholders beliefs and philosophy regarding alternatives or medication, the use of medication to treat ADHD can be game changing for certain children, and there are multiple ways people can support children with ADHD in the home and the classroom. Since this study only uses the perspectives and experiences of three individuals, a future study can look at a larger sample of these three stakeholders to find more opinions and alternative methods.

Download

Share

COinS