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Background: Estimates of ADHD diagnosis and stimulant medication use vary across studies. Few studies ascertain the teacher perspective on these rates. Objective: To ascertain teachers' perceptions of ADHD prevalence and medication treatment within their classrooms. Method: The present school survey collected teacher report of identified children with ADHD as well as unidentified but suspected children with ADHD in an effort to determine the occurrence of ADHD and related behaviors in elementary and middle school classrooms. The number of children treated with stimulant medication was also collected. Results are grouped by elementary/middle school level. Results: Results indicated 5.58 % of elementary and 3.53 % of middle school students were identified to the teacher as diagnosed with ADHD. A comparable number were suspected to have ADHD, but were not formally identified. Three-quarters of identified elementary school, and two-thirds of middle school students, received medication treatment. Few moderators of prevalence rates were identified. Conclusion: Teacher perceptions suggest an under-identification of children with ADHD in elementary and middle school classrooms. Stimulant medication treatment wanes as children progress to middle school, per teachers' reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects of music and video on the classroom behavior and performance of boys with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and examined the effects of 0.3 mg/kg methylphenidate (MPH). In one study, 41 boys with ADHD and 26 controls worked in the presence of no distractor, music, or video. Video produced significant distraction, particularly for the boys with ADHD, and MPH improved the performance of boys with ADHD across distractor conditions.There were individual differences in response to the music such that some boys were adversely affected and others benefited relative to no-distractor.In a second study, music and MPH were assessed in an additional 86 boys with ADHD to examine further the music results. In the presence or absence of music, MPH improved performance relative to placebo. Similar individual differences were found as in Experiment 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]