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Distribution of The Respondent's Scores in Percentage
Distribution of The Respondent's Scores in Percentage
Position Paper
knowledge of ADHD. After the questionnaires were collected, the researcher then determined the
scores of the respondents, the generally agreed upon items and the frequency of errors in each
item.
19-20
5% 5%
10% 17-18
25% 15-16
13-14
12 and bellow
55%
Figure 1 represents the distribution of scores of selected UP Diliman students after they
answered the questionnaire given. The results are promising, the data shows that more than half
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of the students scored atleast 15/20 (75%)well above the passing rate of 60%. The most
surprising observation is that only 5% of the respondents, that is 1 out of 20, got a score lower
than 12, which is the passing score. In summation, the majority of the respondents passed the
questionnaire given that the passing score is atleast 12, this shows that the respondents do have a
No. of Respondents
Figure
This graph depicts the facts about ADHD that UP Diliman students generally agree on,
meaning atleast 75% of the respondents must have the same answer. The graph shows that all
students agreed that ADHD is a real medical disorder and that intervention and medication can
help people with ADHD. The graphs also shows that generally the students are able to
distinguish ADHD from other disorders. For example, only 2-3 out of 20 students disagree with
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the 7th and 8th fact. The two facts shown are both related to each other regarding the relationship
of ADD and ADHD; while ADD is similar to ADHD, it lacks the hyperkinetic characteristic of
ADHD. In addition, only 95% of the respondents do not believe that intellectual disability and/or
autism is the same as ADHD. To summarize, the students of UP Diliman recognize that ADHD is
select UP Diliman students. The data reveals that the 3 most frequent items that UP Diliman
students get wrong are ability to focus, medication and intervention as a cure and everyone with
ADHD is hyper. One of the observations shows that while all the respondents agree that
medication and intervention can help a person with ADHD(refer to Figure 2), the respondents
are divided whether or not medication and intervention can be a cure to ADHD. This is supported
by how 55% of the respondents correctly agreed that ADHD is a permanent condition, which
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means that there is no cure for the disorder. There were two questions regarding the a persons
ability to hyperfocus, both recieved the same number of errors from the same respondents. All of
this show that there is still a gap of knowledge regarding ADHD, even with 95% of the students
As a whole, the students of UP Diliman are knowledgeable of ADHD. This lead them to
correct conceptions of the disorder which include recognition of ADHD as a real disorder, that
medication and intervention can help a person with ADHD, and that ADHD is not synonymous
to intellectual disability/autism/ADD/etc.
The recognition of ADHD as a real disorder among UP Diliman students is not surprising
as 12 of the respondents have indicated that they know someone who has ADHD. However, the
acceptance of intervention and medication as help for someone with ADHD is in contrast to a
study done by Dorseis, Ellwood, Mitchell, Safer, Soeken and Zito which states that 38% of the
general consensus believe that the medication is over-prescribed. The same study also states that
are more acceptable to parents. The respondents are divided when it came to the use of
intervention and medication as a cure. Nearly half the respondents believe that ADHD is curable,
this gave them the incorrect notion that intervention and medication will cure ADHD. In reality,
experts generally recognize that medication and intervention can only aid a person with ADHD
60% of the respondents believe that a person with ADHD does not have the ability to
focus properly. However, people with ADHD do have the ability to focus and even hyperfocus.
Dr. Ari Tuckman observed that people with ADHD, when given the right activity, becomes
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laser-focused on that one activity. This idea may go against the name of the disorder itself, but
this is because the attention deficiency in ADHD is rooted to the persons selective focus. Once
the person with ADHD is focused on a subject, Dr Tuckman describes their focus as unbroken
attention.
Further studies, should note that not all facts were covered in this research. The KADD-Q
was used a basis for the survey and is generally used to determine the knowledge of a subject
regarding ADHD. The studies should also include a wide variety of respondents, as the
respondents in this study were predominantly freshman and from College of Mass
Communication. Further research are recommended to also include a section regarding the
attitudes of the respondents towards ADHD as this may uncover prejudice among the
respondents. Through these recommendations more accurate and informative results may be
produced.