On October 11^th, the Ministry of Education and University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) celebrated with Dr. the Hon. Linford Pierson, past Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, his achievement in completing a PhD in Psychology from Walden University.

Dr. Pierson’s dissertation titled, Working Memory Training to Improve School Preparedness of Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) examined the negative effects of ADHD on the working memory of children diagnosed with ADHD and aimed at determining whether working memory training can improve these children’s school preparedness.  Dr. Pierson explained that this study filled a gap in research on this topic, as no other similar study has been done or documented in any of the international journals of Psychology.

Speaking at the press conference, Dr. Pierson thanked the Ministry of Education, particularly Mr. Brent Holt, Senior Policy Advisor, Inclusion and the Department of Education Services and Ms. Denise Casserly, Education Psychologist for supporting his research and helping to set up the study in the government schools.  Dr. Pierson explained that 20 students took part in the study.

Dr. Pierson indicated that he is interested in undertaking further research and would like to support the Ministry, Department and Schools more on helping students with ADHD in the system and was open to the possibility of teaching opportunities at UCCI.

Minister of Education, Hon. Rolston Anglin celebrated Dr. Pierson’s accomplishment by saying, “Dr. Pierson is a wonderful example of a life-long learner, showing that no matter what your age, you can always further your education once you have the determination to do so.  It is wonderful when we witness our own Caymanians succeeding and obtaining a PhD and I would like to congratulate Dr. Pierson on his accomplishment.”

Chief Officer, Mrs. Mary Rodrigues, also congratulated Dr. Pierson on behalf of the Ministry and Department. “There is a lot we can learn from Dr. Pierson’s work, on how we can better support our students with ADHD.  I congratulate him and I am pleased that he is keen to share his expertise with our educators.”

Mr. Roy Bodden, JP, President of UCCI also offered his support to Dr. Pierson saying, “We can now proudly say that we have a local expert in this area and I would like to thank Dr. Pierson for showing us that you can still do new things after 60 and further educate yourself.”