Student with ADD meets classroom challenges

Attention Deficit Disorder makes it tough for some students to sit still and focus. It's even worse when you're sitting through lengthy classes and grappling with college-level material. But senior Joe Lapore hasn't let ADD prevent him from striving to succeed.

It's 8:45 a.m. and Joe leaves his Merrow Hall dorm to go to his first class, COM 325-Interviewing with Dr. Stephen Grubman-Black. Today, Joe will be one of four students testing what they've learned by interviewing the professor.

Joe Lapore relaxes in his Merrow Hall room.

As the first student goes to the front of the room, Joe looks through his papers to review his questions. His left heel begins to repeatedly, but quietly, tap on the floor. His eyes wander about the room, even as he tries to remain focused while taking notes.

Another student goes to the front of the room. Joe strokes his mustache and continues to bounce his leg up and down. The third student goes before the class and Joe takes out his cell phone and places it on the table to watch the time.

All the idiosyncratic movements that he's demonstrated throughout the class now come together in one grand display. Then it's Joe's turn. He makes his way to the front and sits across from Grubman-Black. A video camera points in his direction, recording every moment of the interview.

The interview on recently released movies lasts about 10 minutes. It demonstrated Joe's characteristics of being both humorous and connected in conversation.

Success! Joe has completed his assignment today. When the class is over, he leaves with a smile and sighs in relief that his interview is finally over.

An observer might say that the assignment did not seem so difficult for Joe, but he admits that at times he has trouble keeping focused because of all the little distractions around him.

Joe's next two classes, both in Independence Hall, provided a second-floor window view of Upper College Road. The beautiful weather had brought winter-worn students into the sunshine, along with one of Joe's greatest interests: loud, engine-roaring cars.

Throughout each of the two classes, he attempted to maintain focus, but succumbed to the roars of the mufflers down below. Every slight rumble forced Joe's head to torque to his left so he could stare out the window.

"I'll even turn around every time and tap the guy behind me and point out the window at the car going by," he said.

Joe, a senior Communications Studies major, admits that there are days when he really has trouble concentrating on school, but he says nothing is going to keep him from graduating.

"I hope to graduate this December," he said.

Disability Services for Students not only provides help for students such as Joe, but suggestions for their teachers. Its website presents strategies such as "exercise patience and empathy" and "use a multi-sensory approach when providing information to students."

Grubman-Black agreed about teachers using multimedia to help educate the students. "It would be deadly not to," he said.