Supports for an ADD boy who is "doing well" in school?

[Anonymous]

This is OP: Exactly, 15:09 - It scares me that my son will say things like "I hate myself" when he gets so frustrated about forgetting things. Fortunately I married someone highly organized, so he does spend time trying to help our son, but it is a constant battle. I was not familiar with ASDEC, so thanks for that resource - I will check it out.

[Anonymous]

I would have your son evaluated. My son was doing OK academically in everything but writing (and impulsivity in class). I'm so glad we did a private evaluation. He has a 504 plan. He takes standardized tests privately now and gets to type in his class- those are his main accomodations. They have made a big difference for him. The only way we got a 504 was because his teacher was very, very supportive.

My son has a very high verbal IQ. To have a very smart kid who is 7 struggle to write a sentence is very hard for him and for us, his parents. Most of his teachers and the special ed team thought that was fine.

[Anonymous]

NP here. similar issue. DC is all As, with a few Bs, only in organizational skills, actually, and recently diagnosed with LD. I requested a meeting for an evaluation and school said no need to do an evaluation, as DC is fine and above average. My concern is that DC will at some point, not be fine or above average, and then what do we do? I am not really asking for services, but for an IEP (as it is an LD) to get accommodations. Frustrating that because DC is bright, the LD is not addressed by school. Was told DC has to be two grades below grade level to be considered for an evaluation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. similar issue. DC is all As, with a few Bs, only in organizational skills, actually, and recently diagnosed with LD. I requested a meeting for an evaluation and school said no need to do an evaluation, as DC is fine and above average. My concern is that DC will at some point, not be fine or above average, and then what do we do? I am not really asking for services, but for an IEP (as it is an LD) to get accommodations. Frustrating that because DC is bright, the LD is not addressed by school. Was told DC has to be two grades below grade level to be considered for an evaluation.

If you only need accomodations, then you need a 504 plan. An IEP is for a child that needs a specific goal to attain. Both can include accomodations.

[Anonymous]

I was told that for a 504 I need a medical diagnosis (ADD, ADHD, etc) and an LD is not that, this is what I was told.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is like yours, so we went private. So far, so good.

Ditto for us. DS is in private b/c our neighborhood school refused services (b/c DS is not behind academically). They even stated that DS has no speech issues (even after I showed them our private eval with expressive speech delay, auditory processing delay etc...).

[Anonymous]

what school system? just wondering if it's the same - FCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um . . . parents who didn't go to college expect their sons and daughters to do well. yes, your posts sounds obnoxious.

I have a child with ADHD who is a top student and has no accommodations not even extended time. He takes medication and thats sufficient.

I'm not sure what your point is -- that because he has super-de-dooper smart parents, he should be doing even better?

I am not OP. But. When you son was diagnosed with ADHD did the psycologist ask you what your level of education was? Did he has your career?

For us he did and it was an important factor in determining his diagnosis.

Again, I am not speaking for OP but when my son was "doing well" by MoCo standards it basically meant that he worked 4 hours a night and cried himself to sleep and was being seen by a psycologist for possible depression. MoCo require him to fail before they would...

provide study sheets, let him sit up front, provide a quiet place for tests, allow him to ask questions during the test, allow him to circle the answer, provide essay tests instead of matching, do 1/2 his math problems, etc.

And from another pp,

What a lot of people don't understand is that for every success story there are 10 more that are not successes. Our children commit suicide, are drug addicts, etc at a much higher rate, so just waiting and seeing is a little bit like playing Russian Roulette.


Couldn't agree more with both of these points.
OP, please don't wait, let things shake out, etc. Make your move.
Get an advocate or attorney if necessary (it was in our case as school wanted to "wait until failure." DS was "winging it" on pure intelligence in those early years.)

--Signed, parent of high IQ ADHD/AS child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was told that for a 504 I need a medical diagnosis (ADD, ADHD, etc) and an LD is not that, this is what I was told.

I suggest reading wrightslaw.com. They have excellent information.

[Anonymous]

GT kids have different "rules" than non-GT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GT kids have different "rules" than non-GT.

What do you mean by that?

[Anonymous]

The only advice I can give you is to not expect him to magically develop executive functioning overnight, or even over years. Resign yourself to being the "helicopter parent". THIS IS NOT A BAD THING WHEN YOUR CHILD REALLY NEEDS IT!! Brownose, beg, and wheedle the teacher to put any home work in a separate zippered folder for him, along with a copy of tasks to be completed. Do not expect him to be able to be able write down his own homework. Continue to make him do so, but don't let his success depend on it- get secondary verification. Email the teacher every Friday and ask after missing assignments so they can be completed over the weekend. Do NOT ever let your child be in sole possession of loose papers- zippered folders are miracles of God when used correctly! You need to be your child's forebrain, and don't let anyone tell you differently.

This does not mean you shouldn't try teach your kid organizational skills. Tutor him, strategize with him, show him what to do, but don't take the training wheels off or he'll just fall behind in his work again. You cannot teach these kids executive functioning via "sink or swim".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. similar issue. DC is all As, with a few Bs, only in organizational skills, actually, and recently diagnosed with LD. I requested a meeting for an evaluation and school said no need to do an evaluation, as DC is fine and above average. My concern is that DC will at some point, not be fine or above average, and then what do we do? I am not really asking for services, but for an IEP (as it is an LD) to get accommodations. Frustrating that because DC is bright, the LD is not addressed by school. Was told DC has to be two grades below grade level to be considered for an evaluation.

16:58 - This is OP. Sounds like we have similar concerns! Are you in MoCo as well? Or another DC or DC area district?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um . . . parents who didn't go to college expect their sons and daughters to do well. yes, your posts sounds obnoxious.

I have a child with ADHD who is a top student and has no accommodations not even extended time. He takes medication and thats sufficient.

I'm not sure what your point is -- that because he has super-de-dooper smart parents, he should be doing even better?

I am not OP. But. When you son was diagnosed with ADHD did the psycologist ask you what your level of education was? Did he has your career?

For us he did and it was an important factor in determining his diagnosis.

Again, I am not speaking for OP but when my son was "doing well" by MoCo standards it basically meant that he worked 4 hours a night and cried himself to sleep and was being seen by a psycologist for possible depression. MoCo require him to fail before they would...

provide study sheets, let him sit up front, provide a quiet place for tests, allow him to ask questions during the test, allow him to circle the answer, provide essay tests instead of matching, do 1/2 his math problems, etc.

And from another pp,

What a lot of people don't understand is that for every success story there are 10 more that are not successes. Our children commit suicide, are drug addicts, etc at a much higher rate, so just waiting and seeing is a little bit like playing Russian Roulette.


Couldn't agree more with both of these points.
OP, please don't wait, let things shake out, etc. Make your move.
Get an advocate or attorney if necessary (it was in our case as school wanted to "wait until failure." DS was "winging it" on pure intelligence in those early years.)

--Signed, parent of high IQ ADHD/AS child.

This is OP - thank you, 17:29. Can you provide any guidance? Where do you start? With the counselor? We are not going to be able to get an advocate, but I'm pretty determined when I need to be - so I could do the research and follow-up. Do you have any resources you would recommend? Thanks so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GT kids have different "rules" than non-GT.

What do you mean by that?

Here is a short explanation. American's with disabilities act includes GT kids, which means GT kids must be in AP and honors classes, if they have an LD schools are legally required to provide accommodations. So if you child has an IQ of 120 you will get accommodations.

If you are not GT then you are not expected to be able to perform in AP or honors classes. So you will not get accommodation for an AP class you are basically told that your child is not smart enough and should take regular classes.

So if a kid has a 110 IQ, which is not GT they are expected to take the same classes as everybody else. That means that a kid with an IQ of 80 and a kid with an IQ of 110 are considered exactly the same.

The 110 kid can handle the higher level of work with accommodations but MoCo is not legally required to provide that education for them. So, you can't even hire a lawyer or advocate for these kids. The expectation is that if these kids have C's in a regular class and a D here and there that is passing, that is about right for them.