School Drama's & Pushy Teachers.

[gumby01]

Hello,

My son has been diagnosed by a specialist with a very mild case of ADD, guess he got that from me.............

Well, my little family & I live in a low economic area, my son goes to the local public school 95% of the children come from a non english speaking background, my son has blue eye's & frizzy blonde hair so he is different already.

He is reading at an advanced stage, he is in Kindergarten reading at grade 2 level, he loves maths but has trouble writing & concentrating. The later appear to be the catalyst for the the grief we are getting especially my wife.
The teacher bails my wife up at any chance she has and bullies her about my son. She insists that he needs to be on Ritalin & without it she has giving up on him, come on he is in kindergarten.

My wife has been doing the hard yards, she has an Occupational Therapist, we has seen a specialist & a phsyciatrist.
The specailist has recommended that we keep perservering with the fish oil & exercise, work a bit on the diet & see where we sit in 3 months. Medication is a last resort at the moment. This is not good enough for the teacher & she has assured us that he will fall behind the other children, even though she believes he is extremely bright.

It is hard to explain the grief that we are getting via keyboard.
Has Ritalin become a fallback??
Has anyone else had drama's like this, if so how do we proceed?




On a side note I have read that school's get more funding with the more special needs children they have, my gut feeling is that this may be a reason for the push we are getting.

[Juliak]

i don't know what you should do but good luck!

[Lady Lark]

Well I know what I would end up saying, but I'm not sure it would really help this situation.

Try talking to the principal and explaining everything. There is no excuse for a teacher trying to force you to put your child on medication if that's not what you want to do.

[Imnapl]

Originally Posted by gumby01

Has Ritalin become a fallback??

A fallback? I've been taking Ritalin for almost thirteen years and I consider it a necessity for me. There are lots of adults here who take medication and can answer any concerns you have.

[Tilly]

I'm sorry you feel you are being pushed. Just remember you can't be pushed.
You need to do what you feel is right for your child meds or no meds.

We do no meds. Excercise didn't work so much here, but I know it does for others. What really helped us especially is diet. We use the feingold program and have also removed or are rotating foods that he tested to be allergic to with allergy testing. There is a diet section here if you haven't seen it.

We started diet with my son when he was in kindergarten. We've been putting the pieces together for the past 2 years and I think we are almost done or we will be left with a learning disorder at worst.

I wish you lots of luck on your journey.

[canukie]

Teachers have no business insisting that a child be put on any meds. I would talk to the principal and also check the school board's policies (not that they may be "right" but so you know exactly what you're talking about when you discuss things with the school.) Good luck!

[Imnapl]

Originally Posted by gumby01

he loves maths but has trouble writing & concentrating.

Is this an advanced or gifted program? Kindergartners learn numbers and counting, they don't do maths. Many kindergartners struggle with fine motor skills - especially boys. By writing, do you mean printing his name?

Originally Posted by gumby01

My wife has been doing the hard yards, she has an Occupational Therapist, we has seen a specialist & a phsyciatrist.
The specailist has recommended that we keep perservering with the fish oil & exercise, work a bit on the diet & see where we sit in 3 months. Medication is a last resort at the moment.

What is the OT working on with your son? The specialist is giving you good advice about not rushing things. You haven't mentioned a behavior management plan - has the specialist suggested any parenting classes?

Originally Posted by gumby01

This is not good enough for the teacher & she has assured us that he will fall behind the other children, even though she believes he is extremely bright.

As you learn more about ADHD, you will understand what the teacher means. Children with ADHD underachieve compared to their ability.

[gumby01]

Originally Posted by Imnapl

Is this an advanced or gifted program? Kindergartners learn numbers and counting, they don't do maths. Many kindergartners struggle with fine motor skills - especially boys. By writing, do you mean printing his name?

What is the OT working on with your son? The specialist is giving you good advice about not rushing things. You haven't mentioned a behavior management plan - has the specialist suggested any parenting classes?

G'day, I was on Ritalin most of my life, age 5 - 21, just appears as soon as a child exhibits a personality/rowdiness alot of people think medicate.

School has changed a fair bit & this teacher is a shocker, they went to a farm the other week & she told him what happens to the cows with the pink dots........................

Anyway, it's basic maths such as small additions & counting, they write sentences(short) & letters. She just doesn't seem to understand that repeatative work is mind numbingly painful & he only wants to do things once.
The OT is working on his fine motor skills/writing.
The specialist suggested sport & we have got him into martial arts, this might help with his impulsivness.


They push little children alot harder than they used to, in my day all we learn't was finger painting was good & Clag Glue tasted great.

Originally Posted by Imnapl

As you learn more about ADHD, you will understand what the teacher means. Children with ADHD underachieve compared to their ability.

Especially when the Teacher has told my wife that she has given up on him.


Principal is no help, they are all friends.

[Imnapl]

Originally Posted by gumby01

G'day, I was on Ritalin most of my life, age 5 - 21

Did it help you? Not all children with ADHD are rowdy. Some children with ADHD don't even get noticed in a classroom and that's a problem too.

[Dizfriz]

Gumby01

In the US, most states have laws that make it unlawful for a teacher to recommend medication for a child. They are very good laws in my opinion.

There is no excuse for the teacher's behavior. To threaten to give up on a kindergarten kid is, I feel, reprehensible. Start with the principal but you might consider going higher. One idea is to question the teacher's medical qualification to insist that the child needs to be on any kind of medication. This should be between the child's physician and the parent with the school kept in the loop. To medicate should not be the teacher's decision. I have seen success by getting the physician involved.

It might be an idea to check to see if the the national or regional school governing body has a policy on this and possibly give some help.

Here are some sources of information that may give you some ammunition:

Russell Barkley is considered by most to be the top man in the field of ADHD. This is a transcript of a workshop by Barkley. It is dated 2000 but most of the data is still basically pretty good and a number of parents have told me that it has given them a lot of insight into ADHD. I do warn however that Barkley is information dense and can be a bit of a struggle to work though. It is worth it in my opinion. Some consider it the the best writeup on ADHD available on the internet.
http://www.greatschools.net/pdfs/220...f?date=4-12-05

Russell Barkley's site. There is some good stuff here.
http://www.russellbarkley.org/

The National Resource Center on AD/HD: A Program of CHADD is the nation's clearinghouse for science-based information about all aspects of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD).
http://www.help4adhd.org/

This a book I recommend. Use it as an idea generator and to give to others whose support you need.
Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents (Revised Edition) by Russell A. Barkley (Paperback - Sep 1, 2000) Buy new at Amazon: $19.95 $13.57, 93 Used & new from $7.25 as of last look at it.

This may be of some use:CHADD Educator's Manual $14.95
http://www.chadd.org/source/Orders/i...D_online_Store

I do not know what in involved in getting the books to you in Sydney but a library probably would be able to be of assistance in getting copies to read.

I realize that these are all US based resources but that is all I have. I suggest that you might look for local support groups, something similar to CHADD in the states.

I know this is a lot but your kid is worth it. You do not need to do all of these, and there are others that are good but this list is a good place to start. Your child is young and you will have to be an advocate for you son all the way through. Take your time, it is a thing worth doing.


Good luck and give some feed back on how you are fairing.

Dizfriz

[ADHDNEWB]

UGH, the nerve of some teachers. There are probably a lot of other factors involved with how she feels. Such as things like being under paid, dealing with family issues, putting up with tons of kids that are unruly everyday, etc. So, as another member said, I'd talk with the principal and advise him/her of the situation. Those reasons still don't justify her actions, but do play a role I'm sure.

BTW..

My girlfriend is a teacher at a school with lots of unruly kids - so I know how that teacher might feel. I get a LOAD when she comes home from work and tells me about her day. But my girlfriend would never do anything like that.

Principal is no help, they are all friends.

Not entirely true, sorry. Even if that was the case and things still didn't get fixed, I'd take it up with the superintendent.