What Should I Do????

[Anonymous]

How do you know he has ADHD? Has it been diagnosed by a dr.? If so, the school would be required to evaluate him and possibly refer him for special ed. An IEP (Individualized Education Plan) comes after the evaluation. I teach, and there are steps you have to go through to get a child evaluated in the first place, but if your son has officially been diagnosed with ADHD, I don't know how the school can just ignore that. Like someone else said, it is required by law to evaluate him to get him some help. As for it being late in the year, you are probably right that nothing can be done this year as far as changing his classes, etc, but if you start the process now, by next fall it should be put into place.

[Anonymous]

it is not too late in the year to get an IEP. It would be optimal to have one in the place, at the ready, for the start of next year in any event. A parent can write the school (I'm assuming your son is in public school) and request an IEP. I may be wrong but once you do that, the school has to do an initial evaluation with his teachers and specialists, and if found to possibly need an IEP in their view, they have a certain number of days (by state mandate) to do an evaluation and set up and IEP meeting with you and your husband. At this meeting you all agree on the contents of the IEP. Anyway, an evaluation for an IEP is something that you can formally ask for and the school must provide one....

[Anonymous]

1. If you think your child has ADHD, then you need to be proactive and have him evaluated so that he can get the help he needs -- from you, from doctors, from the school system, etc.

2. RE the lazy comment: I'm not sure if I would push this with the teacher at this point. Maybe your kid was being lazy or difficult. Is being called lazy such a horrible thing? I don't think so. I've asked my son why he was acting lazy when I told him to pick up his toys, etc. I don't think parents serve their children well by stepping in and "protecting" them from such little things like this. I think it shows children that they don't have to respect their teachers and that Mommy will step in to fight their battles. Maybe the teacher had a poor choice of words at that one particular moment, but I doubt any longterm damage is suffered. Now, if you detect a disturbing pattern, then you should follow up with the teacher and principal. The suggestion of contacting a lawyer at this point is ridiculous, but not surprising given how society seems to embrace litigation as a tool to solve all problems. If your son is struggling with behavior issues and in the classroom, then you should focus your energy on being his advocate and seeking positive solutions (through a medical and psych evaluation as well as through the assessment measures offered through the school system).