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My son had ADHD and is having real problems getting through high school. We moved from NJ to NC last year, and there has been no change in his performance. Are there any alternative means other then home schooling that we can try. The traditional school is not working, we tried smaller classes, classes with aids and main stream and nothing works. My son and realizes that he has messed up, but I need to get him through and hopefully to a trade school. We have always tried to help our son, and schools in both NJ and NC have been very open to help also, so I am not complaining about the schools. This has been my son's problem, but I certainly do not want him to drop out of school. Please, anyone that has any ideas, please respond.
I'm moving this to the special needs forum as you will get more support from other parents.
Does your child have an IEP or a 504? Are they receiving behavior therapy on a weekly basis and possibly taking medication? He obviously has more than just ADHD, has he had a full assessment by a clinical psychologist?
Jessiegirl could be right, but if it's just a matter of motivation and you just have a feeling that "He's not trying hard enough" you could try an ADHD life-coach. It's a counselor who is assigned to your son and helps him get his life on track and set a schedule and goals and then holds him accountable. Depression could be a factor too--many kids with ADHD in their teens get so frustrated that they stop trying, and then hormones are going crazy too. He's definitelyr at risk for dropping out of high school though, so you really do want to get this taken care of. When a child has ADHD and is in high school and can't pay attention to save his life, things do look pretty hopeless--how well I remember.
My son is 17 years old and was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 3. Every test,diagnosis,medication available to man has been tried or is being used. My son has ADHD, nothing else, just ADHD. I will look to the other board you moved my message to. Thank you and hopefully I will get some information I asked for there.
It may be that he needs to go to trade school instead of H.S. I was in that position and got my G.E.D. when I was his age, H.S. just wouldn't work for me (my problem not theirs) and I did well dealing with adults instead of other kids. There is no shame in leaving H.S. and getting a G.E.D., even the H.S. agreed that it's not for everyone and I really don't think many people even look at H.S. outside of colleges.
I started driving trucks and found that job worked well with my ADHD/ADD since I was on my own for a great deal of time and things were always changing, I could listen to the radio and met different people all the time. The other job I liked was heavy equipment operating. I ended up being a top driver for my company since I didn't "milk" the clock though I was not too popular with the other drivers since I made them look lazy and slow. ADHD really paid off in that job!!!
I would also suggest therapy so he can realize what HE is responsible for and learn how to control himself as much as possible and that he has to motivate himself. It may take a while for it to work but repetition should help.
Good luck!
Thank you for the information and I am glad things worked out for you. I beleive that trade school woould work for my son also. He has incredible artisitic talent having drawn some incredible pictures. He would like to be a video game artist, and I understand there is a course offered at Devry Institute. He will need to take a GED prep course and earn his GED before anything else. Does anyone else have any ideas. Again, thank you to all who have responded.
What are your son's strenghts? There is something that he is good at or very interested in. Play towards those strenghts/interest and develop that. It is so important that he is able to identify with something that he is good at (self-esteem/selfworth). While you and he are focusing on that use the resources of the school and community to help him meet the other aspects of him-self. That could be reading, writing, listening. etc. When it comes to test taking-he can be allowd to have more time, use taping devices, etc. Due to the attention deficit-it will take him longer to process and complete task-the school system must allow for this. He can go to summer classes, take evening classes, and if necessary make up work. It is a huge challenge-but you and he can do this. My son also has ADHD. I had to focus on his interest and what he was good at doing-so that he and I both could releive the fustration. In the mean time-he was still required to do home-work and pass his courses. Make sure you are very much aware of his rights and the services that are available to you. If he needs more reading-make sure he gets it. You as his mother and primary educator along with him-KNOWS WHAT HE NEEDS. My son completed high school, passed ALL of the assessment test, and enrolled in a junior college. YOU CAN DO THIS.
My son had ADHD and is having real problems getting through high school. We moved from NJ to NC last year, and there has been no change in his performance. Are there any alternative means other then home schooling that we can try. The traditional school is not working, we tried smaller classes, classes with aids and main stream and nothing works. My son and realizes that he has messed up, but I need to get him through and hopefully to a trade school. We have always tried to help our son, and schools in both NJ and NC have been very open to help also, so I am not complaining about the schools. This has been my son's problem, but I certainly do not want him to drop out of school. Please, anyone that has any ideas, please respond.
Do you have an alternative education curriculum in your district? Where I live there are classes students can take in High School that are outside of the basic academics-in a different building... they can study woodworking- cabinet making- build prefab houses... there are computer classes... mechanics/auto... this is all stuff that they are graded on and most of the time students in your son's position prefer because they do well in it and get good grades- something that is not as difficult for them as the usual Math or Science Class... just a suggestion or something to look into... often times these kids move on to do more in that area of study- they find a trade and do well with the new found interest.
What is your son't buy-in to his education? Perhaps he needs a mentor in the art field who can spend time with him, encourage him to set goals and talk him through some of the rough spots. I've seen lots of kids respond to those who are doing what they dream of.
I've come close to posting on this thread for 2 weeks, but I can't seem to word it in a way that will not upset you (which I would like to avoid). I'm a high school special ed teacher. First, if he was diagnosed at age 3 and no medication or teaching modifcations have ever worked for him, I question whether he has ADHD in the first place. Secondly, I had a parent of a 17 year old once say to me that she wished her son had never been placed in special ed at age 5. He was a very bright ADHD kid who learned that he didn't have to work as hard and could use his ADHD as an excuse. Now, I don't think that is true of most special ed students but it might be true of your son. It seems that he has more of a motivation problem than anything. My only suggestion would be to sit down with him, discuss what he wants to do after high school, and map out a plan. Perhaps if he knows exactly where he is headed, he can muster up the motivation to get there.
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