The modern classroom faces many challenges. Shrinking budgets, less parental involvement, higher expectations and increasing class sizes, to name a few. If this list wasn't daunting enough, there are also students with special needs who have a variety of issues in your classroom and who need specialized attention, tuition, and seating. There are many different forms of students, from students who suffer from ADHD to physical disabilities to students with autism to those who are bullied at school. There are so many things going on in our students' lives that we sometimes forget that they have lives, pressures and disabilities that affect their performance and attitudes in our classroom which have a profound impact on the way they learn. For this article I chose to focus on students who struggle with autism and students who suffer from ADHD. Autism and ADHD learning disabilities are becoming more common in everyday classrooms, and many more cases go undiagnosed. According to our textbook, of children ages 6 to 21 in the United States and the District of Columbia, 483,554 or 8.1% are reported to have emotional disabilities such as ADHD and 140,280 or 2.3 % with autism (Kevin Ryan). These disabilities can severely impair a child's ability to learn in a normal school setting. I choose these two topics because I have seen firsthand the effects they can have on people who struggle in the classroom and in life with them. I wanted to learn more about them so that I could better help my future students who may have these conditions, so that they can thrive in my classroom and hopefully have successful lives as adults. To begin, we will look at the effects of ADHD on a student in the everyday classroom. ADHD or Attention Deficit H...... middle of paper ...... lives outside our classrooms. Keep in mind that they are children and a friendly face and smile could mean the difference between a reactive student and a behavioral problem. All students, even those with diverse needs, have the right to a safe learning environment and education. Works Cited “5 Forms of Autism.” Health related articles. November 11, 2009. Web. March 25, 2012. .Kevin Ryan. and James M. Cooper. Who can, teaches. 12. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Me, simply. "Teaching Autistic Children - Autism - ADHD." HealthCentral.com. April 20, 2010. Web. March 25, 2012. "Symptoms of ADHD/ADD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)." WebMD. WebMD. Network. March 25. 2012. .