Ahhhhhhh

I was just told by my son's teacher that he has the worst ADD she has ever seen. Also a suggestion that he may have some other "issue" (i did not ask what).

Other than that the meeting went ok, but generally that was kind of depressing to hear.

Please don't feel depressed about it. I know that's hard for me to say, but now you know what your up against. I wish that was said about me when I was in school and not 30 years later. Now that you know, it's up to you and your son to work together to understand, adapt and control the meaning of having ADD/HD. This will save him years of greef and wondering why he feels different from his peers.

Work with your school and not against it. You have a great opportunity to help your son's life be full of positive memories. Things that most older diagnosed ADDers tend to have missed out on.

Good luck,

Tim

my question would be how many other children she has ever taught/seen with AD/HD....in other words, what is she comparing him to?

my question would be how many other children she has ever taught/seen with AD/HD....in other words, what is she comparing him to?
Pem has a point. How many years has she taught? And out of those years, how many children with AD/HD has she taught?

It may turn out that she is not much of an 'authority' on AD/HD kids.

Are you saying the teacher "diagnosed" your son with ADHD? Do teachers really play psychiatrist this often?

You can't be sure until you've ruled out other causes. Has this been going on his whole life?

Are you saying the teacher "diagnosed" your son with ADHD? Do teachers really play psychiatrist this often?

You can't be sure until you've ruled out other causes. Has this been going on his whole life?
She has been teaching about 15 years, but it is a small town. I was kind of surprised, because I HAVE seen more hyper kids myself. Just feeling bad, because he has the ability to do the work and wants to be a good student, but has a lot of trouble with focusing on his work. We will just keep plugging away and get his meds adjusted soon hopefully.

then again, and this can happen in rare cases, she may just not be able to find anything likeable about him. it is called a "personality conflict" in the adult world.
my daughter's 3rd grade teacher didn't like her. i tried to get her transferred out of that class to no avail. thank goodness the woman retired the next year, so she couldn't damage any other little psyche....

Siangirl don't let this teacher get you down. We had a teacher last year (my son was in second grade) that just did not like my son. Big personality conflict with her because he is on Adderall XR . My baby bought her ice cream with his break money to <make her happy>.(his words). This year my fifth greader has a teacher that thinks most her class needs ridlan and she may be right but she's no doctor. Her son(which is 22) has been on it since he was 6 and she told me that my 10 year old needs it. I agree she needs something this year. I had to take her to her ped. last month with chest pains and she is having anxiety and panic attacks. Never had any before this year. Monday she starts therapy and we go from there. But back to my 8 year old I changed his school and he has a very good teacher this year. She has never ask about any meds and they get along very well. Just praying it continues all year.
Just keep incouraging you son and let him know you know he can do it.We all have trouble focusing sometimes.

Hi, Don't take her opioun for more than it's worth, remember they are like buttholes, everyone has one. My son whom is 19 now, finished 3 yrs worth of high school, in 1 yr. in a private school, where he made A's. This was after getting thrown out of the rest. The last time, was basically because because of the name, he done made for himself. My daughter who was honor role, said they her AG teachers had said Michael should have been in AG classes, but they couldn't control him. When you would walk into his classroom for the first 4 yrs of his schooling you always new which desk was his because it was distiguishly away from everyone elses. 5 little circles of desks, and theirs Michaels, he would finish his work so fast then get in trouble for trying to do or help someone elses. I wish I would have been more aware then, I would have had them give him other projects. Why don't they find the key to finding,or helping find his focus. I always find making something fun and interesting keeps me there, does he like something in particular cars, trucks, or what ever, applying them or it, to a learning tool may help. Having something for his hands and mind to do, is there anything he can do the other kids can't or would find interesting, feeling helpful is part of our personalities, Michael always done best for this one teacher, because she let him be her helper, He Loved It! Being the special one can also cause jealousy among some kids so this has to be talked to about. There are special schools that teach kids through music and art and I think it is a great idea. They are finally seeing that we have to teach some people out of the box. Because of the different way we see things, I can see these schools being nicknamed the creative adhd schools. I hope something helps here, your not alone here, I wish I could have been more aware when Michael was young, but.....

Well, that was not a nice or appropriate thing for that teacher to say and I am sorry that it upset you. For those of you who are always talking about how horrible teachers and the school systems are, I just say try it! I was a teacher for 13 years and can tell you that yes, the public school system is not well set up to deal with adhd and that as a teacher it really can be tough having adhd children in your classes. Really, all I can say is please don't cut down the teachers unless you have tried it yourself. (Once when I was teaching I had a grandma who thought I was picking on her grandson and she came and sat in on my class several times. One day she was there when I was out and there was a sub - the next day she came and told me how awful the class had been without me and that she had tried to help out and control them and they would not listen to her either and she never complained or felt the need to sit in on my class again.) So anyway, while I agree that there are certainly some teachers who do not do a great job and not all personalities get along well, you really should respect teachers for the job they are doing !
That said, sometimes children do better for different teachers and it is a personality thing. When we had my daughter screened for adhd, one teacher (who my daughter just loved) scored her quite a bit lower than the other 2 did (the other 2 had her over the top of the chart).
I have found that it helps to pray for my child and for her teachers.
Toymom

Yeah, there are ALOT of teachers out there who do their best to love and care for the kids in their classes (and boy, am I thankful for those- I'm still in school!:D ), but there are certainly those who just don't give a flip about any child. Just as a mere sugestion, you might want to ask his REAL doctor if there needs to be a change.
I sometimes have trouble with my teachers, but it isn't ALWAYS MY FAULT. If she was sincere and trying to help, maybe its true; however, if she was either angry, irritated, snobbish or whatever - I'd disregard her speech as "words of wisdom". She just is having trouble with control and doesn't like it.

so sorry that that happened to you. I hope that she was being well meaning instead of insensitive and could potentionally be in alot of trouble for diagnosing without a medical degree. You could report her you know, but I am sure you don't want to do that.

Thank you, she was trying to be well meaning, I am just so sick of the school system.

Thank you everyone, was just re-reading the posts. I honestly believe the teacher was trying to help...just gets tough. The school system is not set up for kids like mine, and it is too bad.