Hi
I have an 11yr(6th gr) old son with ADD. He has been on meds since 3rd gr, but he is pretty much topped off the dosage and it helps, believe me, he is just still disorganized and forgetful. We have had to lower his dosage some to lower side effects. So he is more forgetful.
Anyway, his main problem right now is math. He nearly failed 3rd and 5th grade in math. He now has a 56/F and it is so late in the year I seriously doubt that he can pull it up. But because he has passed every year so far the schools won’t even give him a passing glance. He is in 6th and tests at 5.4. So they know he is behind.
I believe he has a learning disorder. Whether it is a math learning disorder or a perception or reasoning disorder that is causing the math problems, I’m not sure. But he is so tired of struggling. He comes home with headaches and I have to punish him for not even trying half the time, but I can’t blame him.
Anyway, he definitely has ADD. He has been diagnosed. I think he has had since he was born. LOL But his teachers don’t think he has it. Mostly because they don’t see a behavior problem. The medication deals with that effectively. They say if they remind him or try to help it is just giving him a crutch. In fact he has 2 teachers that get sarcastic with him and if he is having a good day, they’ll say something like “Whats the point, Erik? You haven’t tried all week.”
I believe he needs to put more effort into it, but he needs some reinforcement at school.
I asked for an evaluation and they put him on an intervention plan that according to our state laws, schools must do to see if that will solve the problem(even though I am certain that federal law trumps state law). I am going to request in writing an evaluation under IDEA. I really don’t think its gonna fly, cause he’s not far enough behind.
But I have 6 questions:
1. I have read the law and that a teacher has to put input into whether or not the child has ADD. If his teachers do not believe he has ADD, even if the parents and Drs do, does this mean a definite no?
2.Should I take him off his meds, so they can see the real Erik? Cause even though he takes meds, the meds don’t solve all his attention problems, just some. He still needs some guidance.
3.If I request services under Section 504 and things do not change, can I go back and the make another request under IDEA? I want to request under IDEA because I want the evaluation, even though I believe Section 504 would cover his needs.
4.If I have him independently evaluated on my own, to what extent does the school have to accept the evaluation? Do they have to accept it at face value or do they have to do one of their own?
5.Can they just do nothing with the evaluation and still refuse to evaluate?
6.I have been told by my sons school school that they are not required to evaluate. But from the letter of the law and Child Find it sounds like they do HAVE to evaluate, just not find him in need of special services. Which is it?
I know this is long, but I live in MS and I cannot find any resources to help me answer my questions. Everytime I think I got it down and know the law and am ready to do my thing I read something different and get confused.
Thanks
Mary
Flexibility
I read a study some years ago that suggests that once an ADHD-diagnosed child is put on stimulants, they are likely to receive LESS academic assistance from the teachers because the teachers think the problem has now been solved. This is despite the fact that stimulants have not been shown to be associated with improved learning in the long term! So while the child may be more receptive to the teacher’s intervention while receiving medication (and I don’t know if this question has been studied), it is clear that the teacher will have to DO something different to accomplish learning, just like they might with ANY child in their classroom.
I think the issue is NOT whether they chose to believe in the ADHD label or not. The problem is that they are acting as if their teaching style should automatically reach every child, and that if your child is not reacting positively, the problem lies with your child, so they don’t have to do anything about it! I would not spend a lot of time trying to convince them of the appropriate label, but focus rather on assuring that they do what works for your child. Personally, I think we could ditch 90% of the testing and evaluation that is done if we simply operated from the premise that “if what I am doing now isn’t working for this child, I should probably do something else!” Every child deserves to have their needs met in a reasonable way, regardless of whether they qualify for the “ADHD” label or not. Your son’s needs are NOT being met in the classroom, and they are being verbally abusive to boot. That is what I would focus my energy on.
Another thing to consider is changing the environment. We ended up homeschooling or using alternative public schools for our ADHD kids, and they have done very well. Another couple of studies in the ’70s indicated that ADHD-diagnosed kids are virtually indistinguishable from “normal” children in an open classroom where they had some control over their time and over which activity they do when, wereas a matched set of ADHD-diagnosed kids in a regular classroom stood out like the provebial sore thumb. So a different classroom environment, with teachers that are more flexible and more willing to accomodate the child’s individual needs and preferences, might be a very good answer. Don’t rule out homeschooling either. We did it out of desperation, but it really was a great thing, even though it didn’t work at all the way we had originally planned. Again, homeschooling offers an opportunity for you to adjust the educational approach to the needs of your child. That’s what your son seems to need. I don’t know how likely it is that the current teacher will modify his/her beliefs and approach based on your feedback, so I encourage you to keep your options open.
Hope that helps!
Re: Advice on my son please?
I would love to, but I’m not sure where to go to get him tested. The only person I can find in my area that tests for learning disabilities is a psychologist and that all he is. He works with a lot of children but he isnt a “child” psychologist. Is that good enough? I don’t want to spend that much money for lousy results. Or does it matter?
I see people on heare talking about neuropsychologists and different experts and we just don’t have any here.
Testing
How about a Sylvan Learning Center or similar operation? They focus less on diagnosis and more on recommending learning strategies, which seems to be what you are wanting from your teachers. If they can recommend specific accomodations for your child’s specific needs, that may carry more weight than your layperson’s opinion. Although personally, I think the parent is the ultimate expert on the child, and it ticks me off big time that you have to get “experts” to support what you already know to be the case.
Re: Advice on my son please?
Honestly, I don’t think my child requires that much assistance. Its just one of those times where you have to demand the cow to get the milk. I’m afraid if I simply go for just 504 then it won’t be enough and then it will be even harder getting IDEA. He definitely needs more time on assignments. He can be organized when he is medicated. In fact that is one thing his teachers complain about. He gets too organized, almost OCD. If it is time to take a test, but his binder is not just so, he cannot concentrate. He will actually sit there until he cant stand it and start organizing it. He has some weird behavior when he is on medication. At times I have wanted to take him off, but he begs me not to. There is so much I don’t know. I have heard that ADHD can mimic LD and maybe all this time I have been medicating him for something he doesn’t have. It’s a mess.
We are looking for a tutor. I need a tutor who would come into my home and that would start over with the basics of math. I am searching on that.
We are also seriously looking into homeschooling, also. My problem there is at home my mom tried it with me and it didn’t work. I just couldn’t discipline myself. It put me back a year, but back then if you crammed credits you could skip a year in high school. I think I could do it, but I would hate to with my sons eductaon even more. The way things are looking though, I could do a better job than he is getting now.
Our education system is so flawed. No child left behind, my butt! More like, “You’ll come or we’ll drag ya”! So many are being left behind because their achievement tests are fine but they are not getting the basics or are barely getting by so they don’t even come under the schools radar.
I was on a website earlier about charter schools and it had a section on how to start one. I’m tempted. We have just one in our state.
I think I am just going to start looking for some resources in New Orleans. They are not far and usually they have more to offer.
Thanks for your input, Steve
Re: Advice on my son please?
Generally I agree with Steve, but this time I have to take exception. I would not recommend going to Sylvan for an evaluation. It would not be done by anyone recognized by the school system, not a psychologist or recognized therapist, and you would then get a hard sell to buy Sylvan’s program, which is unlikely to help your child.
Why don’t you live near me? I need more students, dern it.
Love your humor!
“Come along or we’ll drag you!” That about sums it up! I love it!
I was not aware that the Sylvan evals are not respected by the schools. I think it’s a shame, because they seem to be much more practical (and more successful!) than the evals that I ahve seen through schools. I read IEPs and educational/psychological evals all the time in my job, and sometimes it is almost too painful to read. If we would just focus on what works for each child, we could save so much time!
Anyway, love your attitude, and good luck! I hope you get that charter school going!
Re: Advice on my son please?
Steve,
I read in one of your other posts on another forum that you did help found a charter school. If you can spare an idea or two, I would be interested in some ideas. I don’t have many contacts in the community as I have been a stay at home mom. I am fairly certain I could drum up interest in the project. I guess my main problem would be the legal and financial aspects. Would I need to get a lawyers input? And how far do I take this? Do I just get the ball rolling?
Thanks
Mary
Re: Advice on my son please?
Sylvan personnel are not qualified to diagnose the presence or absence of LD and they do not market themselves as such. Lots of folks on this board have posted about their negative experiences with Sylvan and their LD children. Sylvan is good at helping kids who just need a little extra attention and they are also making a name for themselves augmenting curriculum for kids who need more challenge than their schools can provide. A psychologist who specializes in diagnosing LD would be fine. If there is no one near where you live, consider traveling to the nearest city or univeristy that has a good medical school.
I would get him privately evaluated right away and worry about all the rest later. Your son’s teachers are definitely toxic and I’m sure they will remain unconvinced regardless of any reports. Even so, a good evaluation will help YOU and your son to understand what is going on and give you some guidance on what to do about it. Once you know what you are dealing with, you can go back and do battle with the school and/or pursue remedial therapies on your own. Good luck!