ADHD Clusters in a classroom

Anonymous
SO many kids are either diagnosed with true adhd or present with adhd symptoms due to poor sleep, poor nutrition, and lack of parental boundaries. The schools can’t do much about it; each class has at least 4-5 disruptive kids. Teach your child how to let some stuff roll off her back and how to advocate for herself when it’s important.

—a teacher and parent
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I don’t think OP realized how many more kids have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. 6-8 actually seems low based on our experience and that is only ones that parents and kids have said something-after with other posted that kids and families more open now about it as more acceptable/understood, but clearly not by all.


+1

It's not 5-8 in one class per grade, it's 5-8 in every class in each grade.
Anonymous
What a disaster. My kid's 504 plan stipulates that he'll get preferential seating next to high-achieving kids. Seating him next to other ADHD kids would be a nightmare.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:SO many kids are either diagnosed with true adhd or present with adhd symptoms due to poor sleep, poor nutrition, and lack of parental boundaries. The schools can’t do much about it; each class has at least 4-5 disruptive kids. Teach your child how to let some stuff roll off her back and how to advocate for herself when it’s important.

—a teacher and parent


Some inattentive ADHD kids aren't even disruptive. Mine is a daydreamer and a doodler. However, they probably have an above average propensity to become disruptive if seated next to 6-8 disruptive kids.
Anonymous
They do this at my kids’ school - one class per grade in 3rd-6th is the LLIV class with all the high achievers (many go to the center but a few stay especially if they have a sibling in Gen Ed), some of the advanced math kids, and some kids on grade level. Another class has the rest of the advanced math kids (they trade rooms for math and go to the LLIV teacher, and switch with the on grade level math kids from that class) and on grade level kids. And the 3rd has most (not all but most) of the behavioral cases and the kids who are “behind.” They also have a few aides who rotate in and out throughout the day whereas the other two classes do not. It’s not a great situation and everyone tries to avoid it by pushing for advanced math.

The problem is a lot of the boys in the “behaviors” class don’t get along with each other and there is a lot of interpersonal drama and scuffles that leak out into the rest of the class, many of whom are quiet girls who are maybe ESOL, inattentive ADD, mild ASD, and/or have learning disabilities.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:They tend to group IEP/504 kids in one class so the special Ed teacher can stay in there most of the day. It sucks.


I hope someone discriminates against your kids, too.


Who is discriminating against whom in this situation, PP? The school discriminating against special education children? Me discriminating against them because I'm pissed that my child is suffering the consequences of their bad behavior? At least once a week, the entire classroom gets punished because clustered together, these boys play off each other and everything gets escalated. It's just a really horrible situation for all the other kids all because everything has to center around this one group of kids and they're not allowed to be punished because they have an IEP or 504.


The bolded is not true. Also, not all ADHD kids are hyperactive or disturbing to others. Again, you are stereotyping, and I hope your kid will experience the same.


Came to say the same thing. My DD has ADHD, but is not hyper...she just can't focus. But we are aware of another child in 5th grade who had ADHD and is hyper, but I think that is just a coincidence they are in class together.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:They tend to group IEP/504 kids in one class so the special Ed teacher can stay in there most of the day. It sucks.


I hope someone discriminates against your kids, too.


Who is discriminating against whom in this situation, PP? The school discriminating against special education children? Me discriminating against them because I'm pissed that my child is suffering the consequences of their bad behavior? At least once a week, the entire classroom gets punished because clustered together, these boys play off each other and everything gets escalated. It's just a really horrible situation for all the other kids all because everything has to center around this one group of kids and they're not allowed to be punished because they have an IEP or 504.


The bolded is not true. Also, not all ADHD kids are hyperactive or disturbing to others. Again, you are stereotyping, and I hope your kid will experience the same.


From the prior pp - not allowed to be punished because they have an IEP or 504

NP. My ASD and ADHD kid was definitely a disturbance in early elementary. I am here to confirm that he was indeed punished, suspended, humiliated, etc. I feel for all sides--the teacher, the classmates, and the student themselves. Those truly afflicted are not seeking to be bad.
Anonymous
It’s been our experience that the bad behaved kids are known and equally distributed across the classes because one teacher can’t be saddled with all the bad behavior kids. But bad behaved kids extends far beyond some subset of ADHD kids. The meanness across the board is sad.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:It’s been our experience that the bad behaved kids are known and equally distributed across the classes because one teacher can’t be saddled with all the bad behavior kids. But bad behaved kids extends far beyond some subset of ADHD kids. The meanness across the board is sad.



Teacher here. Literally every classroom has a handful of ADHD kids. This is not new.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:What a disaster. My kid's 504 plan stipulates that he'll get preferential seating next to high-achieving kids. Seating him next to other ADHD kids would be a nightmare.


Whoa. That’s wild.

I have drafted many, many 504s and would never agree to that. “Away from distractions” or “close to point of instruction” or “facing forward in table group” or “isolated desk” or “apart from friends”, but to build in another child to a 504 seems crazy and I can’t believe any school signed off on that!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What a disaster. My kid's 504 plan stipulates that he'll get preferential seating next to high-achieving kids. Seating him next to other ADHD kids would be a nightmare.


Whoa. That’s wild.

I have drafted many, many 504s and would never agree to that. “Away from distractions” or “close to point of instruction” or “facing forward in table group” or “isolated desk” or “apart from friends”, but to build in another child to a 504 seems crazy and I can’t believe any school signed off on that!


I thought the same thing. I was a teacher and cannot imagine agreeing to that.

And, as a parent, I sure would not want my child to be the "designated high achieving" student. Certainly, as a teacher, I tried to spread the trouble makers around, but to have it in a 504 plan? Creepy. And, anyway, "high achieving students" can also be troublemakers.
Anonymous
It’s not that the kids have adhd, but that they have an inexperienced teacher and most likely parents who do not have consequences and are checked out of parenting.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:They tend to group IEP/504 kids in one class so the special Ed teacher can stay in there most of the day. It sucks.


I hope someone discriminates against your kids, too.


You are sick. What are you talking about, discrimination? I’m the one who wrote this comment. My child has a 504 and is grouped in this class. It is awful to put all kids with IEPs/504s in one class. I don’t agree with it.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:What a disaster. My kid's 504 plan stipulates that he'll get preferential seating next to high-achieving kids. Seating him next to other ADHD kids would be a nightmare.


That’s a wild accommodation. I’m a teacher and it’s not acceptable to make the preferential seating near a specifically high achieving (quiet, on task) kid for your distraction kid. Preferential seating can be near me/source of instruction, away from certain people who instigate, or away from something like a window, but I don’t know who let you put in your 504 that a high achieving kid is responsible for keeping yours on track. That sucks so unbelievably bad for those kids who now have to someone distracting in their classes.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:What a disaster. My kid's 504 plan stipulates that he'll get preferential seating next to high-achieving kids. Seating him next to other ADHD kids would be a nightmare.


Wait, what??? Come back to that accommodation: preferential seating next to high achieving kids.

I do not believe this. How could you enforce this without revealing protected information about another student? Let’s say you go to the school to say the 504 is not being followed because your little Pierpont has been seated next to Larlo who you think is not very bright. Are you expecting the school to prove that Larlo really is high achieving to defend themselves against your accusation of not following the 504???

Preferential seating near the teacher is an accommodation. But preferential seating near a particular student? Yeah, no.
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