Why is hiugh school so ADD unfriendly

hi

School has many kids to care for. Most high schools tend to be large - much larger than elementary schools. High schools need students to be sitting in their chairs and taking notes. High schools simply don’t have the room or the staff to give individualized attention to students and ADD kids can need individualized attention. The ADD student who still has trouble sitting still for long periods of the day will sadly find high school an unfriendly place.

Another factor is that there are more than a few professionals in the schools who believe ADD/ADHD is a myth, and refuse to cooperate with any adjustments or modifications that a person with this LD needs to succeed. Some even resent that they have to allow for modifications at all. Others will practically insist that the child be put on drugs, even if they are not necessary for the child to succeed.

And the general atmosphere of high school is radically different because of the presence of teenage hormones, which is a complicating factor in children with no LD’s or issues of the kind. Testosterone is responsible for more violence than crack, meth, and heroin combined, and the presence of this in males with ADD/ADHD can make things, shall we say interesting.

The high school I am working at is very tolerant of students with special education and ADD. I believe the tolerance is there because this school has a special education staff that is on top of what is going on in special education and makes sure that all the teachers are aware. I must admit that I am surprised that the teachers do not want to know more about the students they are servicing and how to help them. Even though high school has it’s own set of probblems, it is my experience that a student in high school with ADD is much better than a child in elementary and middle school. It has been my experience that the lower grade schools are even more intolerant.