Hey everyone. Even though I am not a parent, I really want to find help for my 16 year old brother. He is diagnosed ADHD and is on Adderall, but they could be wrong.
He is a really smart person..he got 99th percentile in his standardized test scores, but when it comes to the classroom, he ultimately fails. He forgets about assignments and giving papers to mom and dad. It seems that he doesn’t care, but I can tell he does.
We have just been hit with Hurricane Katrina and my parents can no longer handle this, and I just want to know what I can do for him. My mom is like fine, quit..she lacks the patience she used to have for him.
I’m 70 miles away from him at college, but I want my brother to do well with his life ya know?
Please, any information you can offer me would be beneficial.
Thank you!
Re: ***For my brother..please help***
How are you and your brother doing now? I am very sorry to hear you were affected directly by the hurricane.
Gifted kids and high school
I agree - he is probably gifted and being expected to do work that is not challenging or engaging of his abilities. I often find that kids like that do much better if they get into a community college classroom. I don’t know if the school has connections with a community college, but maybe he can get high school credits for community college work? Not only will it be more interesting and challenging, he is also more likely to meet other people like him who are actually interested in LEARNING rather than just getting by. A lot of high school kids are pretty burnt out on school and are either just there to get a grade or are actually hostile to any real intellectual curiosity. Gifted kids tend to do very poorly in that environment, because they are smarter than most of their peers and have a hard time getting along socially, but are bored with their classes and want more substance to their assignments. I know this was very true for me - I hated high school with a passion, but I LOVED college, because I was surrounded with people who were more like me - intelligent and engaged in trying to make the world a better place, rather than apathetic and conventional.
Hope that helps a little!
Re: ***For my brother..please help***
The community college is a very good idea. I remember taking a course while in high school, and it provides an extra challenge and builds college credits at the same time.
When it comes to homework and remembering, a coworker who has a son with ADHD was able to get her son’s school to provide a “study buddy” who took notes but also reminded him to take the homework home. Also, school personnel were supportive enough to call home if he forgot something. She basically had a support system for her son that included the school, students and family.
Your brother may need visual reminders, posted on or near his desk. And he may need more advanced work or special enrichment projects to feed his mind.
Good luck.
adhd or gifted and bored??
the diagnosis for both are very similar..