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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, any chance you are in a language immersion school?[/quote]

Good god, people!! why would ANYONE put a child with moderate to severe ADHD in a language immersion school. Are you crazy?? Ask your doctor if he/she thinks that's a sound idea.....and when they stop laughing, ask for a rec for ANY other school than a language immersion school.[/quote]

No, this actually is not crazy.  DS, 8, with ADHD, anxiety, and an IEP is in a dual-immersion school.  There are a number of other kids with ADHD in his grade, and several with IEPs as well.

The comment above drives me crazy.  Doctors, therapists and others are likely to discourage immersion school but they very rarely have the background in bilingualism to make any sense on this issue at all.  Their advice is well-meaning, "Oh, the extra challenge is too much" but taking away the second language isn't going to magically remedy learning or behavioral issues, or lead to any better outcome.  The approach to give up on bilingualism and/or immersion schools is a very American approach that reflects our society's relatively low regard for foreign language learning and the belief that it is just incredibly difficult for any child, much less a child with any special needs.  However, all over the world, special needs kids often grow up bilingually and manage just fine.

All that said, I "get" why many people think this is too hard.  The reason why it does not add much, if any burden, for a child is because immersion education tends to be hands-on and intuitive. You don't learn a language through it the way most of us remember learning a foreign language in upper grades.

In our particular case, DS started immersion school with a strong background in the target language thanks to daycare.  He holds his own in both languages (it's a dual-immersion program).  I will say that, because of the social anxiety factor, if he hadn't started school with a strong background in the target foreign language, it might not have worked for him -- but not because of the ADHD.  He struggles with several learning issues but has learned to read in both and can write in both -- but his level/performance reflects his learning challenges (although actually, he is at grade level in reading the target foreign language because the reading curriculum is a year behind the actual grade kids are in).

Apologies for chiming in strongly on this particular issue but the commenter above simply is off-base.[/quote]

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