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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a 7th grade girl.  She is in all honors and her grades are fine.

It seems pretty clear to me that she has an attention issue, likely ADHD.

I do not think we would medicate her unless she started failing (no judgement, personal choice).

So my questions is, is it worth the testing and hoop jumping to get her privately identified as ADHD?  What types of accommodations would they give her that won't just make "real life" harder?

For example:
Longer time on projects - won't work when she has a job
Give more slack for disorganization - she needs to learn to be organized.

Thanks for any feedback!  She is my oldest and I am just trying to figure things out.
[/quote]

I'm an adult with ADHD who is fantastically successful in my professional career—I didn't plan it out, and it's only recently as I've grappled with my own son's diagnosis that I've considered it. I realize now that my ADHD actually makes me extremely well-suited for certain types of jobs—I'm not organized, and I struggle to turn in projects on tight deadlines... but I'm very creative and I think very differently—I can't go into the field, but I've had some very, very big successes in my field and they've come because I've figured out something that others looked at and missed the importance of, or I was able to apply a context others hadn't thought of. It's because my brain is always thinking on at least one other track—extremely frustrating for trying to do many things in life, but perfect for my chosen career. Additionally, I'm extremely curious, I collect information across many, many disciplines and so can discuss, with a decent amount of expertise, things far beyond my specific duties, meaning that I can be extremely flexible. And whlie I don't work well on your schedule, I also rarely stop working—my brain is whirring 24 hours a day, and (especially when I was in my 20s) I had a drive and an appetite for work that probably was not healthy but my bosses loved and helped make me the successful person I am today.

Medication also helps me pull my shit together enough to make enough deadlines and keep my shit enough organized that I don't have any problems, but no one would accuse me of being on time or orderly. Basically, I do great enough work people don't mind the bad stuff.

The accommodations aren't giving her a soft way out that she'll pay for later, it's helping her get through the academic system so she can still enjoy and be good at learning so she can find a career that suits her skills.[/quote]

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