MCPS and ADHD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My seven-year-old son is showing signs of ADHD, and we are in the process of having him evaluated. I am concerned about how the school will accommodate him once we share the test results. I want to ensure he receives the appropriate support to succeed, but I also worry that he might receive accommodations without being encouraged to put in effort himself. I would appreciate any insights or experiences with MCPS schools regarding this balance.

Thank you

Been down this road with my son who was diagnosed around the same age. Not sure what kind of evaluation you are doing. There are two ways to go with that:
1. Expensive likely partially or fully out of pocket evaluation
2. Vanderbilt scales and take to pediatrician
First option will give you a lot more insight into your kids issues. Second option is enough to get accommodations and yes (horrors) medication. My son has been on Adderall since third grade and it was life changing. Did it solve everything, no. But he went from 70 to 80% on testing to 99%. Told me it made his mind quiet so he could concentrate. Please don't understand the damage that constantly being in trouble for not sitting and/or paying attention can do to your kids self esteem.

On accommodations... research what the options are ahead of any school meeting and make sure everything is specific. For example, if there is extra time, how much... who is responsible for doing what... that kind of thing. Accommodations won't discourage your kid from trying their best. Sadly most teachers are stretched so thin that meeting accommodations is difficult and does not happen more often than it does. The accommodations are helpful though since when there is an issue you can point to them.

Good luck. It's not an easy road. In our case hyperactivity turned into more of inattention and inability to turn in work in MS/HS.

Thank you we are going with the first option and he is having his evaluation done in few weeks. However I was told today from the Neuropsychologist that he is been seeing lately MCPS not accepting a lot of accommodations due to lack of resources so we might have another issue if the school ends up not accommodating us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My seven-year-old son is showing signs of ADHD, and we are in the process of having him evaluated. I am concerned about how the school will accommodate him once we share the test results. I want to ensure he receives the appropriate support to succeed, but I also worry that he might receive accommodations without being encouraged to put in effort himself. I would appreciate any insights or experiences with MCPS schools regarding this balance.

Thank you

Been down this road with my son who was diagnosed around the same age. Not sure what kind of evaluation you are doing. There are two ways to go with that:
1. Expensive likely partially or fully out of pocket evaluation
2. Vanderbilt scales and take to pediatrician
First option will give you a lot more insight into your kids issues. Second option is enough to get accommodations and yes (horrors) medication. My son has been on Adderall since third grade and it was life changing. Did it solve everything, no. But he went from 70 to 80% on testing to 99%. Told me it made his mind quiet so he could concentrate. Please don't understand the damage that constantly being in trouble for not sitting and/or paying attention can do to your kids self esteem.

On accommodations... research what the options are ahead of any school meeting and make sure everything is specific. For example, if there is extra time, how much... who is responsible for doing what... that kind of thing. Accommodations won't discourage your kid from trying their best. Sadly most teachers are stretched so thin that meeting accommodations is difficult and does not happen more often than it does. The accommodations are helpful though since when there is an issue you can point to them.

Good luck. It's not an easy road. In our case hyperactivity turned into more of inattention and inability to turn in work in MS/HS.

Thank you we are going with the first option and he is having his evaluation done in few weeks. However I was told today from the Neuropsychologist that he is been seeing lately MCPS not accepting a lot of accommodations due to lack of resources so we might have another issue if the school ends up not accommodating us.

Is his teacher onboard? In my sons case we had documented years of emails about not being able to sit or concentrate on schoolwork. Even though he was on grade level we were able to easily get accommodations. Unfortunately not a magic fix but does help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My seven-year-old son is showing signs of ADHD, and we are in the process of having him evaluated. I am concerned about how the school will accommodate him once we share the test results. I want to ensure he receives the appropriate support to succeed, but I also worry that he might receive accommodations without being encouraged to put in effort himself. I would appreciate any insights or experiences with MCPS schools regarding this balance.

Thank you

They don’t do a good job with ADHD. It’s not due to a lack of desire. It’s a resources game. Speciality private schools are the best option if you can swing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My seven-year-old son is showing signs of ADHD, and we are in the process of having him evaluated. I am concerned about how the school will accommodate him once we share the test results. I want to ensure he receives the appropriate support to succeed, but I also worry that he might receive accommodations without being encouraged to put in effort himself. I would appreciate any insights or experiences with MCPS schools regarding this balance.

Thank you

They don’t do a good job with ADHD. It’s not due to a lack of desire. It’s a resources game. Speciality private schools are the best option if you can swing it.

What kinds of ADHD accomodations do they deny due to lack of resources? Most of the ones I can think of don't seem very resource-intensive but maybe I'm missing things?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have some say in the accommodations and services (if he gets services). Don’t accept those that you think won’t promote growth.

Personally my least favorite was extended time for assignments. Tests, fine. Chunking assignments, excellent. But extra time for assignments, no. I felt like it prevented growth in the area of time management and led to a backup of too much stuff due at the end. So we worked on time management at Home.

Also if my kids are any indication, there are a lot of study and life skills you will need to work on at home in addition to the support you get in school.

I could have written this post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My seven-year-old son is showing signs of ADHD, and we are in the process of having him evaluated. I am concerned about how the school will accommodate him once we share the test results. I want to ensure he receives the appropriate support to succeed, but I also worry that he might receive accommodations without being encouraged to put in effort himself. I would appreciate any insights or experiences with MCPS schools regarding this balance.

Thank you

They don’t do a good job with ADHD. It’s not due to a lack of desire. It’s a resources game. Speciality private schools are the best option if you can swing it.

What kinds of ADHD accomodations do they deny due to lack of resources? Most of the ones I can think of don't seem very resource-intensive but maybe I'm missing things?

In my experience no accommodations are denied because of resources. They may not be consistently implementated. We looked at specialty private schools for my kid but decided against it. Mcps has been frustrating at times but in the end my kid learned to face their issues head on and got a good education

[Anonymous]

We hold twice a year reviews of my son’s 504. The teachers provide input about what works and what doesn’t work. For my ADHD-I kid, 1) he’s on Concerta, 2) he gets preferential seating (typical close to a teacher so they can remind him to pay attention), 3) extended time for assignments and testing (think 15 days to turn in work vs the 10 in the policy, though I’ve asked both of my kids with extended time to not abuse that one), and 4) movement breaks (because sometimes he needs to be able to fidget a bit outside of his chair, even though he’s not hyperactive).

I’m very comfortable approaching teachers and counselors. The middle school transition has been mostly seamless (though they forgot to pull him for MAP). This is what is working today. It may not work in the future, but having good relationships at the school helps when we need to change things up.

[Anonymous]

We live in a society dominated by normalized drugs and normalized diseases that did not exist prior to the 20thcentury. I think it's a big pharma business and kids are suppose to be challenged not actively trying to be labeled as mentally challenged for some drugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have some say in the accommodations and services (if he gets services). Don’t accept those that you think won’t promote growth.

Personally my least favorite was extended time for assignments. Tests, fine. Chunking assignments, excellent. But extra time for assignments, no. I felt like it prevented growth in the area of time management and led to a backup of too much stuff due at the end. So we worked on time management at
Home.

Also if my kids are any indication, there are a lot of study and life skills you will need to work on at home in addition to the support you get in school.

+ 1 million