Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When we still lived on Long Island, my son did have an IEP for first grade, his grades were fine and it was determined he no longer needed services. He had been receiving speech, when we moved up here to PA he was first enrolled in a private school and did not receive any services for 8 months. When we enrolled him in public school, I provided them with all the paper work from NY and he once again has an IEP. This is his first year in middle school and he has an extra reading class, although he was shown to be on a 5.9 reading level at the end of last year. I am a bit confused by this and will follow-up with the school. He also has a rescource class, which is a first, this is a child that is a solid A/B student.
Your son deserves an IEP, and by law if he has been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, from what I have been led to understand,
he will qualify for it, sometimes you have to stand up and assert his "right" to have this though.
I use to have a neighbor who was involved in CHADD, I would strongly suggest that you contact your local chapter
because there are so many ways you could stand up and be an advocate for your son.
OK...I know I have asked similar questions before on these boards, but I don't think I will find my peace until I find out what exactly is going on with this child.
Now, with the new piece of official information (which we were aware of before, but there was nothing official)...I wonder if I can get some more enlightening answers.
Our son, soon to be 7, first grade, was officialy dx-ed with ADHD this past week (didn't understand exactly if it was ADD or ADHD but she will soon send the report and it will be clarified). The school has said in the past that whatever neurological differences he might have, he is very unlikely to qualify for any services because his academics are very strong.
They are obviously not taking into account the possibility that his academics are very strong because he consistently gets very solid one-on-one tutoring from me at home, not without lots of sweat on my part (and I know a thing or two about education since I am in the business).
When I asked them how they think his academics might have been had I NOT been such a directly involved-in-his-education parent (homeschooling style), the teacher kind of shrugged and she said "well, we'll never know".
That aspect aside, I continue to be tortured by one question, and now I wonder if this may have to do with his ADD condition.
This kid is by far the best in his class in reading. The teacher said it. They have several reading ability groups, he is not only in the top group, but she said he is at the top of the top group; and this is a competitive school, with lots of upper-middle class, "pushy" type parents.
OK. Nice news for the parent, let's congratulate ourselves.
Or not. What I see at home is a child who can read very well but he won't CHOOSE to read. A child who wants me to read to him in the evening but who will not CHOOSE to pick a book himself and immerse himself in the story. It must be assigned - and he kind of goes for a little while, then he's ready to be done. He can't seem to ever get sufficiently excited about anything to just sit there with the book and die to see "what comes next". Yes, I have brought him at home every possible book on every possible topic that he is excited about, including dinosaurs ...which has been almost an obsession for him for years and had attracted suspicions of Aspergers in the past. (The dr. disconfirmed it and said ADD instead).
I brought him books on tornados and all sorts of science (he loves science), on adventures and volcanos, on animals, what have you. I am sick of looking for topics that he is "really interested" in - because I covered them all.
A dearth of books with topics he is "REALLY interested" in is not the problem.
Something else is going on here.
I have noticed he often listens without asking the meaning of words and he has said that he doesn't read because he doesn't understand some words and he gets stuck. I have checked on his comprehension when I read to him and when he reads himself, he appears to be fine.
He is the kind of child that moves and fidgets a lot (not in an athletic way, but rather in an uncoordinated, fidgeting way) and he just can't stay still for too long.
At the end of the day, reading - no matter how exciting - involves sitting physically still; and that's clearly not his line of work.
Could the ADD have to do with this disinclination from picking a book and staying with it long enough to derive pleasure from reading?
This drives me up the wall. Literally.
We are currently debating whether to go the medication route or not. My husband leans towards yes because he's worn out from this boy, I incline towards no...not because I am not even more worn out than he is, but because I feel as if I would be sentencing him to a life of being hooked on meds from such an early age. Pretty terrible thought to have in one's head.
Yet in moments like this, when I see that some things just don't add up, I wonder if the medication would actually bring some visible, significant change - including the desire to be more focused, studious and still. After all, what's the point of being so advanced in reading level if you don't...well...read!!
Any input welcome, I want to hear it all, from all directions. Thank you.
I am so thankful that they didn't drug kids when I was growing up, because they would have drugged me. I really think that screws with a kids developing brain. Just because it's hard to deal with kids like your son and like I was, it's no reason to drug him. He's okay. It's everyone around him who has a problem. Let him be...he will figure out how to function in the world and how to compensate for his ADD. Fortunately, kids with ADD tend to be really bright, so are able to find work arounds. If you drug him, he won't get to develop normally for him and find ways to function with ADD and he needs to be able to do that.
You may be frustrated that he won't sit still and read. He can't sit still. So what. There are worse things. Again, just let him be. Don't try to force the issue. I couldn't sit and read for long periods of time until I was 25. Then it was like discovering books, in a way, for the first time and it was great fun.
Anyway, just try to accept your son the way he is. Drugs are not the way to go. It really scares me to think that if I were growing up now there's a good chance I would have been drugged and I am really concerned for the children with ADD who are now being drugged. What does this do to their developing brains? Also, it robs them of the opportunity to figure out how to deal with ADD, which they will still have as adults. You don't outgrow it. So, you may as well learn to cope with it early on, naturally, not with drugs.
I am so thankful that they didn't drug kids when I was growing up, because they would have drugged me. I really think that screws with a kids developing brain. Just because it's hard to deal with kids like your son and like I was, it's no reason to drug him. He's okay. It's everyone around him who has a problem. Let him be...he will figure out how to function in the world and how to compensate for his ADD. Fortunately, kids with ADD tend to be really bright, so are able to find work arounds. If you drug him, he won't get to develop normally for him and find ways to function with ADD and he needs to be able to do that.
You may be frustrated that he won't sit still and read. He can't sit still. So what. There are worse things. Again, just let him be. Don't try to force the issue. I couldn't sit and read for long periods of time until I was 25. Then it was like discovering books, in a way, for the first time and it was great fun.
Anyway, just try to accept your son the way he is. Drugs are not the way to go. It really scares me to think that if I were growing up now there's a good chance I would have been drugged and I am really concerned for the children with ADD who are now being drugged. What does this do to their developing brains? Also, it robs them of the opportunity to figure out how to deal with ADD, which they will still have as adults. You don't outgrow it. So, you may as well learn to cope with it early on, naturally, not with drugs.
This is a post that resonates very well with my "gut feeling".
That was my point. The teacher was already labeling this child....Obviously even thought he is maintaining his grades at this early age, was it first grade? He will need supportive services....maybe even a remedial reading program right now. It is a disability....and IEP is adjusted based on his educational needs, on an as needed basis. I am encouraging this young inexperienced parent to get the supportive measures in place now....so if/when he needs help the resources are in place. But, thanks for your comments...and hoping your links will encourage the OP also.
He may need them but I think syracusa would have a fight on her hands if it's determined that he only has ADD. I say that b/c ADD often is coexistent with other LD's like dyslexia, tourette's, or bipolar. When it's not, and substantially impacts his learning then they may put him on an IEP under the "other health impairment" label.
But I would ask the OP what exactly you want for your son at the school. You should probably schedule a visit and see how they do things. I work at a large high school but I've also seen elementary sped classes and while they do put the kids in smaller groups, it's often more distracting than the regular classroom and instruction can be quite variable, depending on teachers. Also, imagine trying to teach a group of 6 kids: 1 has extreme ADD, 2 have autism--[1 of the autistic kids flaps his arms a lot and the other is echolalic (repeats everything you say)], 1 is emotionally withdrawn but has frequent outbursts of temper or bad language, one won't stop talking b/c he can't, and 1 has an IQ of 69 due to fetal alcohol syndrome. I'm not saying this in a disparaging way but as you can see, these kids all have widely varying needs and often get lumped together at the convenience of the school. Also, the teacher dearly loves to teach but spends the lion's share of her time working on IEPs where she makes goals for the kids--why not make your own and hire a life coach? Do not blame the ADD for his lack of reading though--if he were interested, he would do it.
The way I understand it, & this is condensing a very complex law, an IEP is for those who show via testing a discrepancy between performance & IQ. ADHD is a medical diagnosis that can warrant a 504 Plan.
Having been a 1st & 2nd grade teacher for 25+ years, only a handful of students in each class exhibit a love for independent reading at that age. Most six and seven year olds, especially boys, are not developmentally ready to chose on their own to read. There are so many other action-oriented activities that take precedence... gross motor activities, building with blocks, computer games, etc.
One way to get your son reading could be via reading instructions for building lego structures, model dinosaurs or planes, science experiments, etc. There are some outstanding home science experiment books with fun results. Those wooden dinosaur models develop spatial relation skills also of value. Perhaps he would enjoy following instructions for building bird houses. A trip to a science store might pique interests.
I would certainly recommend a second opinion with an ADHD specialist and not rely solely upon a pediatrician.
Best of luck! I must say, though, Syracusa, that I have followed your educational concerns for a couple of years. Relax! You have great kids!
The way I understand it, & this is condensing a very complex law, an IEP is for those who show via testing a discrepancy between performance & IQ. ADHD is a medical diagnosis that can warrant a 504 Plan.
Having been a 1st & 2nd grade teacher for 25+ years, only a handful of students in each class exhibit a love for independent reading at that age. Most six and seven year olds, especially boys, are not developmentally ready to chose on their own to read. There are so many other action-oriented activities that take precedence... gross motor activities, building with blocks, computer games, etc.
One way to get your son reading could be via reading instructions for building lego structures, model dinosaurs or planes, science experiments, etc. There are some outstanding home science experiment books with fun results. Those wooden dinosaur models develop spatial relation skills also of value. Perhaps he would enjoy following instructions for building bird houses. A trip to a science store might pique interests.
I would certainly recommend a second opinion with an ADHD specialist and not rely solely upon a pediatrician.
Best of luck! I must say, though, Syracusa, that I have followed your educational concerns for a couple of years. Relax! You have great kids!
Thank you, Bongo. :-)
Yes, he does love to build with lego and I am amazed at how closely he follows those instructions; but those are visuals.
Anyway, I am about to start another thread - this time on math. So do I hear a collective "Oh, nooooo!!!!" ???
But again, just curious.
Thank you so much, everyone, for your input - I learned a lot from the variety of opinions and advice.
I'm not going to go back through every page, so if this has been offered already, I am sorry. I'm a former reading specialist.
Have you had a thorough reading evaluation done? I'm asking because many very bright dyslexic children learn to read by memorizing the shapes of words. They can get enough out of a story to answer questions correctly and talk about it convincingly to the teacher. This can be a huge problem when a student is "advanced" enough that he/she is put into a group with mostly silent reading. However, these students don't have the decoding skills they need to read new words easily, hence they often dislike reading yet appear to be strong readers. These children may not "test" dyslexic until later grades when lots of time has been lost. The assessment I'd start with for a child like your son would be the names test. Here's a link to a research article and a copy of the test. The idea is that the words follow phonics patterns and make sense, but there is not context for figuring them out. Sample: Mr. Jobe Brinner.
Just a thought.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
