My 9 yr old, now in the 4th grade, has had academic problems since KG. The schools tested him twice since then and both times he did not qualify for any special program. In the meantime, I have paid high price for tutors for 3 years, send him to summer school, spend my weekends trying to teach him myself, but I have not seen much development in him. He has been diagnosed with ADHD and is on Ritalin with lots of side effects like eye & nose twiching, fumbling with his hands, etc. This year, I finally went and showed my concern to the principal and had him tested once again. After a few months of the whole process, they have finally put him in a special class for math and english comprehension, where they just have a few students and he goes to his own class for other subjects. They have labeled him under the “mentally retarded” group so he could qualify to go to the small class group. My concern is that he is now learning math at a grade 2 level and he is still the same! He hates to read, write, do homework, or anything to do with school! He knows exactly what to do but he just does’nt want to do it. I have tried the chart system, reward system, giving allowance, bribing him with stuff, but I am now very tired and frustated. He looses his homework, very misorganized, just does’nt take interest in any school work. The doctor just changes his medecine or increases his dose but I dont think medecines can make you study. Can some one give me some advice how to handle this situation?
Re: Need help with 9 yr old
I could understand why your son might not like his new classroom. But a question would be -what does he like to do? It would help to know that. Does he have any acitivites on the outside of school that he enjoys?
Do you read outloud to him and what’s his response to that?
A little more information about these things could be helpful to make some suggestions.
Is homeschooling a possibility?
Typically, when a child loses interest like this, it is because his educational environment does not meet his needs.
Mary
Re: Need help with 9 yr old
H probably has some other issues going on . Is there a learning disability specialist in your area. I would shy away from a class for emotionally disturbed. The label will be with him and he may eventually act out like those in his class. Try to get private testing done such as Central Auditory Processing,by an Audiologist, check visual(by a Behavioral Optometrist),read, read, read , talk talk talk and get informed about what is available for your son. Don’t stop until he gets help. You are his only advocate. Let him know you love him and believe in him. A lot of the testing( outside of the school system ) may be covered by you insurance company as a “medical condition” to justify payment
Medicine, after proper diagnosis and appropriate dosage, can certainly help a child focus better to read and study. Your child’s symptoms may indicate his medication needs adjustment. Have you spoken with his doctor?
Disorganization is a very common characteristic of both ADHD and some LD children. Low motivation may be due to his many years of undiagnosed learning issues.
Your child being suddenly labelled mentally handicapped in fourth grade sounds awfully suspicious to me. If you want more feedback, though, I imagine you will have to post more specific information regarding all his test scores.
Janis C.