Hi, I am new to this forum, and please forgive me if I screw things up from time to time. I dont do things like this often. My son is a young 1st grader and has been diagnosed with ADHD. He has started medication...Adderall xr and is up to 10mg 1/day. I find that the meds are really making a difference at home. He is definatley less excited, eating better, a bit more focused. However, when I am in touch with his school teacher I get alot of negative feed back. "he is about the same, frustrates others, including teachers, often needs to be seperated from the classroom" etc.
I guess I am hoping to learn somethings from all of you, including how to know if I am just not looking at things with wide open eyes. or if these teachers are just negative nillies. ?!?
How and when do you decide that the school your child attends is doing an injustice. afterall, last year he was top in his class in his old school but already this year the decision has been made to hold him back. The reasons start with he is just a little immature to he just isnt testing out well. Even tho at home he seems to know the material.
I would love some feed back..thanx so much!

Welcome to the forums Drewsmom! Good to have you here. Don't worry about screwing up, the entire forum is full of ADD people, we screw up all the time around here. :D :D :D

Are there other teachers you can discuss this with? It is indeed possible that his teacher is just biased against him from his previous behaviour. However, it is also possible that he really IS still having troubles at school. Have you asked him about school as well, what bugs him about it, what he likes, who he doesn't like and why?

I would definitely be concerned about them holding him back. That is something that can seriously affect a child all across the board. I would insist that before this decision is implemented that he be reevaluated in an ADD friendly way. Your school must make certain accommodations for him; he has the same right to quality education that all the other kids have.

Is it possible to move him to a different school? I would also consider this. While it IS possible that your teachers are right here, I would DEFINITELY examine the entire issue VERY closely and be SURE that nobody is tromping on your son's rights here... because a lot of warning signals are there in my humble opinion.

And by all means, stay here at the forums, ask any other questions you have... and if you have advice or commiseration to offer anyone else, even better! :D

Try to keep smiling...

Paul

Hi, thanks for responding.
I am really quite new to this adhd stuff and I really dont know a whole lot yet. there is so much info to sort through and much of it so contradictory. That is why I was happy to find the site.
My son doesnt handle change well. so I am very hesitant to change schools much less teachers. He says he likes her, tho I find that hard to believe, *I* dont like her! My x and I talk and agree that she is not able to handle add/hd children. But due to his size, and his lack of maturity...it would probably be best to hold him back. We did start him in school early, earlier than I would have liked but we figured it was the less of two "evils" when the other option was sitting in front of a tv all day with no structered environment.
I have spoken with other teachers, including the school principal. the principals idea of a solution was to remove him from 1st gr. and place him back in Kgrtn. NOT! The only other idea was to move him to a different teacher tho, it seems the other classes are "full"......so, for now, we leave it be, I guess.
His teacher did call last night, and we had a nice chat..she is nice as a person, and even as a teacher..maybe just not for *my* child?
he has also been bullied on a consistant basis by a child in his class who she had made his seating partner...we (I) nipped that in the bud during our talk last night as well. My lil' guy had a much better day today!
THANX! 8)

Great to hear you have made improvements already. And also glad to hear you already thought through things I thought of...

(means less work for me hehehe :D )

Hi DrewsMom,
Thanks for the post. How's Drew doing now?

Hello Drewsmom and welcome to the forums. First of all don't worry about messing up I"m adhd and mess up all the time. Just take a deep breath and learn to laugh at yourself when needed.

My first question is have you had your child fully tested to see were he stands? The school system tried to flunk my son in the second grade, his doctor said that would be wrong for him and wrote a perscription to have him evaluated academically by the school. They test not only his academic knowledge but also his social skills. My son now in the fourth grade completes eighth grade work with an aide who assigned him. While this may not be the problem with your son it is comforting to know were exactly he stands academically and what areas he need's to improve. It at least gives you and his teacher's a battle ground.

Also, have his teacher try different seating arrangement's and try to figure out when his attention span is at it's best, small details sometimes make the biggest difference.

And last but not least you are his mom and his only voice. Speak up when you think the school is wrong it is your right.

And I too would like to know how thing's are going now?
Cherity

Drew came home from school friday my happy lil guy again. No note from teacher, I know she has 19 kids to care for but after the week he had, was it so hard to take a min. to let me know how the day went after changing his seat? grrrr this woman is getting to me!
I have to ask...what do you all mean by "fully tested"? My only experiance has been recommendations by other professionals in his life, Ie, his dentist, his son is add and after the panic attacks and rough appointments, he suggested the dr. that we see now. She "specializes" in children with add. My first impression of her was that her mind was made up..."here comes another add kid, what med should we use today?" My x and I really did not want to go down medication alley. We tried diet changes, behavior modification (tho this is continuing) etc, but to no avail. Before starting meds the dr. had us (both parents and teacher) fill out a check list type form..behavior, issues, that type of thing that we had to rate on a scale of say 1-5. Dont get me wrong, I am pretty happy with how he has progressed...I just didnt want to choose meds as the "easier way of life". Drew see's the dr every month. but that is it. I have asked a couple of times to have him evaluated by the school "counselor" but to my knowledge this still has not been done. There is a teacher that has apx 5yrs experiance in teaching add/adhd kids and I really like her, of course there is no room in her class for Drew this yr.
As far as his school work goes, in *MY* opinion, he is keeping up..I dont think there is a dr. Seuss book he cant read cover to cover. When he was 21mos, he could play "memory" on the computer better than I could...including manipulating the mouse to start the game himself. at 3 he could do simple addition and subtraction on his fingers. Im not saying he is exceptionally brilliant or anything or that he has complete and total mastery of every subject in 1st grade...He has a really tough time with small motor skills and is physically and emotionally about a yr behind. (premie w/ lots of probs. during my pregnancy) He will be 7 in June and only weighs 43lbs and is about a head smaller than most kids his age. he truley looks and acts more like 5 going on 6. I think (and his dad) that it would probably be best for him to repeat 1st grade if nothing more than to just help him become comfortable in his peer group. Time is the magic cure for all ---right?

Giving your son meds for his add is not a cop-out. Insulin for diabetics is not a cop-out, either. It helps by providing something their own bodies cannot produce. So it is with add drugs. There is a chemical component in our brains that is deficient, causing an inability to pay attention and/or stay on the current task. This can be especially devastating in school.

But meds alone are not enough. They must be used in conjunction with behavior modification.

My daughter wasn't diagnosed until the end of 3rd grade, and I heard all the "immaturity" hogwash too.

She took ritalin for a while, switched to concerta and then metadate. Currently, she only takes her metadate on the first day of school. She is now in eighth grade, and doing amazingly well.

The teacher needs to implement a 504 or IEP plan, or whatever it is your state calls it.

Sometimes you need to be a little forceful , even with the nicest teacher.

My favorite is when they say all you have to do is pay attention. If we could, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.....

my thoughts.