My bright, creative 9 year old son is in third grade and his teacher has been having more trouble lately keeping him on task— he talks excessively and tries to draw instead of doing his work. He was diagnosed with ADHD last year, although I had the evaluation done privately and it is not yet on file at the school. He goes through periods of functioning fairly well in the classroom and then starts to fall back into problems with focussing, restlesssness, impulsivity, and disorganization—all the classic ADHD symptoms. In spite of this, his grades are usually A’s and B’s, but he brings home lots of unfinished work and is beginning to have no life outside of this homework. He was tried last year on Ritalin and Concerta and did not respond, except with side effects. Some accommodations have been tried within the classroom, but for the most part the teachers expect him to fit in and he is penalized for late or lost papers and difficulty with written assignments and timed tests.
I met with the teacher and school counselor last week and they asked me to consider having him go to an LD resource room for a few hours a week. They would try to have him classified “other health impaired” and the LD teacher would work with him on organizational skills and learning strategies. It sounds good, but I was wondering what others’ experiences have been with resource rooms for this type of child. Can this approach be helpful and can there be some disadvantages or things to watch out for with regard to this type of placement? The resource room teacher is brand new and the other teachers cannot tell me much about him. Any ideas or suggestions would really be appreciated.
Re: LD resource room for ADHD
I agree that id depends on they type of RR it is (and classroom, etc).
My dd, who is medicated has RR under OHI. She is also tutored privately for reading and writing. The combination of a structured classroom environment with a compassionate teacher, the small group instruction in RR and the one on one from the tutoring is great for her.
In RR, they are teaching her organization and study strategies (e.g., how to locate info. in text books, how to make your own study sheets). The organization issue is tied into the ADHD so it is great that it is being specifically taught to her. I have heard that ADHD kids do much better with small group instruction and one on one. I feel very lucky this year and dd is doing very well with this strategy.
Re: LD resource room for ADHD
Thanks so much for your ideas. I am just feeling discouraged right now, since we have put so much energy into helping him already and he is so bright but still struggling. I know it could be a great thing if the resource room teacher is good, but, as I said before, the teacher is just starting and I have no idea what he is like. I will definitely have to ask to observe and talk to him before we decide. I have already been looking for a tutor for him because he responds really well to lots of individual attention, especially from someone besides Mom and Dad, who have to be the “bad guys” a lot of the time. Any ideas on finding a tutor? He had some very low intensity tutoring last summer in reading, but it was not enough.
On the social issue, the teachers assured me that children do not get teased who leave class to go to the resource room, but who knows what happens on the playground. My son handles teasing by getting upset and verbally aggressive, so that would be another tough issue for him.
It *could* be good— or they could be getting this kiddo out of the classroom to give the teacher a break and he’ll go be disorganized and chatty in the resource room. The big question: how organized is the resource room teacher? If she can show you a well-organized *plan* for teaching him those skills and strategies, where they’ll figure out goals & teach skills and monitor them, fine. If she’s going to “work with him on things as they happen” —well, most kids who are already disorganized aren’t going to be helped much by this. ON the Other Hand, though, if the resouirce room is a place the kiddo can go where it’s just easier for him to stay out of trouble and he can relax and bond with that teacher, that would be a good thing too. I would want to observe the class and see if it’s that kind of place (it can also be a dumping ground for behavior problems that aren’t classified as such, so your kid could learn all kinds of wonderful new behaviors). I’d want to see what the social ramifications were for being sent to the resource room — some school environments have that under control and in some places it can be a pretty nasty experience with lots of name-calling, and usually it’s somewhere in the middle but it’s best to prepare the kid for what to do and think if somebody says something like “oh, you’re gong to the retard room.”