Managing 2e kid (ADHD+highly intelligent) in MCPS high school
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Anonymous
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DS is entering 9th grade at a large MCPS high school (WJ) next year. While he is slightly 2e, he was not given that designation previously and has not qualified for GT/LD services. He has been in parochial school so far and has done great there. His most recent evaluation stated that he has inattentive ADHD, remediated dyslexia/dysgraphia (no longer a diagnosis), and significant intellectual strengths. He is a critical/deep thinker. Slow processing speed.
We would like for him to take Honors and AP classes because we are pretty sure he will be bored in regular classes (and that is a recipe for disaster with his ADHD). However, we need to find AP and Honors classes that he can handle and that we can accommodate well enough at home. Which advanced classes would be a good fit for a kid like this? His strengths are in Science but not Math, Social Studies but not Reading/English, and he loves playing in band. He is highly disorganized and needs lots of EF support. He does best with a reasonable workload (takes a long time to do homework), access to audiobooks, extended time on tests, and extended time to turn stuff in. |
Anonymous
| I don’t get it. It sounds like he can’t handle AP classes, despite his intelligence. It sounds like he has plenty of room for improvement even in “regular” classes, despite the horror of occasionally being bored. |
Anonymous
| We pushed my kid like this to try honors classes in 9th and it was a mistake. The transition to high school is tough enough for a kid with EF challenges and slow processing. Give him a year to get his feet under him and THEN think about honors. |
Anonymous
| You are going to need to get him a 504 plan for him to have extended time. Did he have a CAP at the parochial school? Talk to the special ed department or 504 coordinator about placement decisions. |
Anonymous
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OP here. Thanks for the responses. He does have plenty to learn in regular classes in terms of executive functioning. But I teach regular classes at a high school in Fairfax. While my son is not perfect in any way, his reading level, vocabulary, background knowledge, and critical thinking capacity are far above the 9th graders I teach. I have one or two kids in each 25-30 kid class that is kind of like my son. And the class is so far below their level. If there are two students like that in a class, one of them has ADHD and struggles with organization. That kid is dying of boredom and not able to perform despite the class being low level. I fear he will give up on school completely soon. I agree that boredom is not the most terrible thing -- but it is terrible if it makes you give up on trying hard in school.
School is a tough fit for this type of kid. He did have a CAP at parochial school and was part of the resource program. |
Anonymous
Thanks for sharing this experience - I am definitely paying attention here!. I'm wondering, what was the outcome of the mistake? Bad grades? Having to drop classes or drop back to regular classes? Mental health or self esteem issues? Giving up on school and having school refusal? Genuinely curious and not trying to poke at stuff. I guess I am wondering if some not-great grades for freshman year might be better than hating school and refusing to go (which is what I worry about with the regular classes). |
Anonymous
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My son, now in 12th grade, is 2E - intellectually gifted and with severe ADHD. We’re also in a large public high school (not in MCPS). We were in a similar position going into 9th grade, and my son really wanted to take honors and AP classes - similar to your son in that he was afraid of being bored, is naturally very intellectually curious, and wanted to be in classes with other kids who care about learning.
We did a few things that ended up working well for him: First, he does have a very supportive 504 plan with lots of accommodations – extra time on tests, flexibility to turn in assignments late when he forgot them, and the option to reduce certain homework assignments (like doing every other math problem). We also gave him a lot of support at home - I helped him organize his homework plan every day after school, helped him set up study plans for tests, etc. Basically EF support. He also had to limit activities that happened immediately after school, since his ADHD meds would wear off around 6pm and he had to get all his homework done after school. And last, we essentially lowered our (and especially his) expectations of his grades. Even though we knew he had the intellectual ability to get A’s, because of his slow processing speed and his meds wearing off in the early evening, he just couldn’t “grind” work out. He couldn’t study for tests as much as he often needed to, and he had to do a lot of homework on the weekends. He ended up taking nearly all honors classes, with a few AP classes in his favorite subjects (math and science), and he’ll be graduating with mostly B’s (and a handful of A’s). Over time he got better at organizing his work, and now that he’s a senior I no longer need to provide EF support (he still misses assignments here and there). He also got into his first choice college (for engineering), and overall has been engaged with school and enjoys learning. I think if we had really pushed him to get A’s, it would’ve affected his mental health, and if he had avoided honors and AP classes, he would’ve been really bored. |
Anonymous
| I don’t understand why a kid should get extended time to take advanced classes. If the kid is so “bored” in regular class he should use that time to work on executive functioning until he is able to take advanced classes without all of the hand holding and extras. It’s just ridiculous. I realize that pride is at stake for the parents of these kids, but it’s gone too far. |
Anonymous
This. OP needs to have her kid tested - the school will do it but a better approach is always to pay for a full neuropsych. THe school isn't going to do anything before that. 504 or IEP. |
Anonymous
You sound like so many teachers at the school where I teach. These attitudes are so harmful, damaging to individual students, and lead to smart kids dropping out of school. Clearly, you have never had a 2e kid. Keeping them engaged is really hard when the content is boring. |
Anonymous
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I have this kid at WJ in the apex program (which is being phased out) and on track to have about 12-14 APs by graduation.
My kid very much wants to take all the hardest classes. I think he would do worse in the wasy classes to be honest. His biggest problem academically is that he just doesn’t do any busy work or assignments he considers dumb. First, I think manage your expectations. Lots r kids at WJ will get straight As. Your kid will not and if you can’t accept this it will be rough for you. A lot of the grade actually depends on organization and the ability to track and turn in a lot of pointless assignments. Most kids use that to pull up their grades. A lot of them are using ChatGPT for those types of assignments — mine would rather take the B than do something he doesn’t feel is productive, but YMMV. The teachers vary greatly in their ability to accommodate kids like this or help them. Don’t expect a ton of help but most teachers will honor very specific accommodations (not the general ones they often put into 504s). There are a lot of great teachers that want to do what they can but they are very overloaded. There are a handful of very bad teachers. You have basically no ability to pick your teachers and most courses are taught by many teachers (with the exception of some specialty APs where you can basically predict your teacher with the class). You need to get familiar with parentvue (aka synergy aka Gradebook) and canvas—you need to check both at least daily until he is to the point where he reliably tracks this stuff himself. You need to go to back to school night and take notes because not every teacher uses canvas calendar and they often don’t upload to synergy until way after th deadline so you won’t know he didn’t turn it in until it’s too late. I would also take some of that money you were spending on private school and put it towards and executive function coach. It’s really hard to do that as a parent but they will help keep him organized and teach him skills for how to manage assignments and study. My kid never needed math or reading help but organization help he needs in spades. You’ll need to teach him to advocate for himself with teachers and if he’s out sick you need to make sure he knows when the makeups are and affirmatively is reaching out to teachers. Most teachers are available during lunch to help students (which is amazing) and really want kids to take advantage of that if they are struggling. |
Anonymous
I would love if you could share which engineering school. Really looking for one that is realistic with a lot of Bs! |
Anonymous
You really don’t understand 2E kids. The easier it is, the less they do. |
Anonymous
You have no idea what my kids are dealing with. But if a kid can’t handle “regular” classes they don’t belong in advanced classes. This is obvious to all of us who don’t have an outrageous sense of entitlement. |
Anonymous
1) you have no idea what kind of kids I understand 2) then put them in the advanced classes WITHOUT all of the accommodations. That should be sufficiently hard to keep their attention. You all want it both ways. If your kid NEEDS to be challenged then … CHALLENGE them. |