Reply to WDYD -- the struggle with math?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So why would my 4th grader on full medication support for ADHD struggle with math? She started out strong, easily working the abbacus and large numbers / regrouping when she was still in PreK, but since starting school, each year was worse than the one before. We're both engineers, and provide her with plenty support at home. School has been absent from the math equation until this year, because she's been the proverbial "forgotten child'. Starting so strong, she has had plenty time to get bored and fall behind.

This established pattern has been one of the reasons we decided on private school this year -- the small class, the additional math specialist in the classroom every day. Yet frankly, this has really been her worst year. I just don;t get it. None of it is rocket science, and she has plenty repetition and support. But at random times, she becomes completely disoriented and gives up. Then we all (teachers, extended care teacher, parents) swoop in to help her break things down. At that point, all is lost -- she has to re-learn everything from scratch. And later on, it happens again. Her teacher reports that she only learns new concepts through 1:1 sessions, rather than from the classroom explanations -- something we suspected before. Why?

How do we turn this around?

Her test scores placed her at the upper limit of the high average IQ, and her strenghts are fluid reasoning and memory (both long and short term). This would reasonably mean a certain ease in basic math... but that's not what I see... Instead she's focused on reading and writing, social studies (as long as it's her project -- again, little retained from the classroom teacher) and more recently, science. I realize that not everyone becomes a math wiz, but we're talking 4th grade here, not a career in math...

Help?![/quote]

I don't think you have enough testing to properly understand your daughter's issues.  It sounds like you only have had an IQ test done.  Was it the WPPSIII or the WISC?  The former is given to younger kids and may not reveal specific memory and slow processing issues that often are revealed at an older age with the WISC.

In any case, IQ testing is not specific enough to understand the different kinds of learning issues that your daughter has.  It sounds to me like her ADHD is impacting her ability to learn in certain areas OR she may have a "specific learning disability" comorbid with her ADHD.  This is VERY common -- many kids with SLDs also have ADHD.  If this is the case (dual SLD/ADHD diagnosis) then medication alone might not be enough to "fix" the problem.  Your child may need an IEP with "specialized instruction" in her areas of weakness.

Additional testing should be done by a neuropsychologist and should include testing for ADHD and executive functioning issues beyond just the "checklist" diagnosis on a Connors or Vanderbilt form.  Tower of London and some of the computerized attention tests like IVA should be used.

You will also want "achievement testing" in the specific areas where you are seeing trouble -- this would be using the WJ-III achievement tests in areas like math reasoning, math fluency, math calculation, etc.)

Many things can contribute to math problems despite high IQ.  A certain level of rapid recall and memorization of math facts becomes necessary after about 3rd grade.  Some students, due to learning disabilities or other "disorders" like ADHD, don't have this rapid naming/recall ability or it is weak, slow or variable.  Another problem is memory -- math requires the memorization of formulas and procedures.  Some kids have trouble with this and need to focus on specific memorization techniques that work for them (more repetition, different strategies like relying on verbal/auditory memory vs. written/visual).  Another problem is executive function -- math requires the ability to organize information and apply a basic set of procedures to problems.  Kids with executive function may "know" the math in the sense of understanding it but have difficulty picking out relevant information and applying relevant processes/formulas.

I should also add, that after all this testing, it may turn out that the issue is "just" ADHD.  ADHD is a disorder of attention regulation, and it is often the case that kids with ADHD have a hard time focusing on stuff that is boring to them, but they can and do focus on stuff that is more interesting to them.  But, as a parent, I would never "assume" that the problems you describe are due to boredom or just the ADHD, I would want to assess further.

Do you have an IEP or just a 504?  What school system are you in?  Have they done testing?  It sounds like it is time to ask for an IEP and to have the school do more testing (or pay privately if necessary).  The school has to provide testing whether you are in private or public school, if you file for an IEP, it's part of their "child find" obligation.  What the public school system has to do for you after that testing is different depending on your private school.   
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