ADHD + Honors/AP Classes

[Anonymous]

I am so glad to have found this thread. My DD also suffers from the trifecta. She’s in 11th grade and taking 2 AP classes and 2 honors classes and is starting to fall apart. She’s super high achieving and knows she can do the work but is falling behind due to poor time management and inability to get started so the comment above about it all falling apart come November rigs very true. Why don’t you try having him take just one honors/AP class this year and see how he does then plan accordingly in subsequent years.

[Anonymous]

Thing is OP, people do this to push for better colleges. Why would you subject yourself kid to a more difficult college if you worry about their ability to handle high school? Where does this end?

Take he regular path and maybe community college and transfer if he can manage it. That’s my suggestion.

Your kid has a disability. He may not be ABLE to do these things. Why set him up to fail?

[Anonymous]

OP here. I want to answer a couple of questions: he is medicated and I am not sure if he wants advanced classes. He has seen older siblings take AP/Honors classes so he’s aware that it’s done and he is academically motivated to do well. He’s also heard the college-related conversations had for older siblings so I think he thinks that everything that applies to older siblings will be his future, too. I don’t see community college in his future because he goes to a regular school and (for now) doesn’t require any accommodations.

I like the suggestions for the executive functioning coach and just 1 AP class/semester or year. Striking the right balance between keeping him intellectually challenged without getting overwhelmed is what I’m shooting for.

[Anonymous]

Start off with one in 9th grade and go from there.

[Anonymous]

I'm an AP teacher and have 2 ADHD kids at home. I would advise your student to take AP in courses they already have strong interest or skill set in. AP Human Geography and AP Gov are good classes that have lighter loads, but they may have no interest. Maybe even reach out to the counselor about course demands as they often are very well aware of study time required for each course.

[Anonymous]

My son w ADHD and anxiety took several AP classes in high school and did well. He is on medication and his disabilities are well managed.

AP classes for him were more smaller and more interesting, which made it easier to maintain attention.

[Anonymous]

My DS with ASD and ADHD, who has an IEP, typically performs better in honors/AP classes in which he has an interest. He still needs frequent reminders and prompts to turn in homework, but he usually performs well on tests and quizzes. It’s the slow pace and “boring” repetition of many “regular” classes that he really dislikes. In his case, it’s not so much about boosting his college application, but selecting the classes that will engage him the most.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes parents load their kid up with AP classes, and then when the kid has a very poor gpa, the parent thinks it's an indication that they aren't college material. So sad, since if their schedule had just been lighter with "regular" classes (that are still college-prep), the student's prospects would have been much better.

[Anonymous]

It worked for my DS, but he was highly motivated. The organizational piece was hard for him and the workload, as he takes so long to do what takes other kids less time. But in his interest areas, he took advanced classes and did well.

[Anonymous]

I have 2 2e ADHD kids.

Kid 1 graduated from TJ a couple of years ago. It was not pretty the first two years in terms of managing the workload. But by junior year, he had a handle on the workload and was able to go into the technology track which was amazing. He was able to have two hands on classes in his schedule, plus play an instrument at a high level. And he could opt into the math and physics he loved and stop at three years of a foreign language.

I have mixed feelings about TJ in general and TJ for my kid. But he loved it, even when he was struggling. It got so much better. And, he’s now at a great college, doing something he loves, managing his time well and getting good grades.

Kid 2 is a junior at a good base school. She has also played an instrument every year. She started with honors in all 4 core subjects freshman year. But, she is much stronger in humanities than STEM. 10th grade, she dropped down to standard Algebra II from honors geometry, took HN English and Chemistry, and did AP World Civ.

She managed the load well on the humanities side, but we saw distance learning coming and her weak spot was Chemistry. So, she took standard physics over the summer and started a second foreign language. So, this year, she is talking APUSH, AP English Lang and AP European, foreign language 3, foreign language 1, standard pre-Calc.

Next year, she will probably take 4-5 APs: Foreign Language, Comparative Gov (2 exams), Econ, and English Lit. I have no idea on math, but we will follow the teachers reps. She has an A- in standard PE-Calc. And she will take her second foreign language instead of a 4th lab science.

She’s applying to SLACs and her first ACT was a 36 Eng, 34 reading and 28 average in STEM. She’s applying international relations. It is what it is, and I don’t see how dragging through an AP science does anything but make her miserable.

TL;DR: lessons learned.

Challenge your kids in their areas of strength and don’t make them do the highest level of everything.

Summer school is your friend. If your kid is struggling in a subject, but they really should take physics or Us history, they can bear down for 4 weeks and get it done. And they only have that to focus on. Then, the open up a spot for an elective or something in an area of strength.

Re-evalutate each year. If it’s really bad, evaluate mid-year. My younger kid started in HN Algebra II. Was in over her head and dropped down to standard A2 second semester. Added benefit: they wiped out her C- and she got to start fresh.

For many kids, using their hands in some classes or as an EC is helpful. Music, art, drama set building, tech classes. All good breaks in the day.

Get a good psychiatrist you trust and medicate.

Get a 504 that is very clear about hints like extended time and credit for late work. It turns out that getting an extra week to turn in late work is worthless if the teacher starts the clock the day the assignment was due but doesn’t post grades so your kid realizes it was missing for 3 weeks. And keep an eye on thing. But, teach your kid to self advocate. Only step in if they have made a good attempt to resolve an issue.

Et an executive functioning coach! I can’t stress this enough. These are skills ADHD kids have to be taught. And mom and dad doing the teaching is a bad dynamic with teens.