MY son was diagnosed with ADD at age 12. He wasn’t organized, his grades were poor, he’d forget everything. I can’t tell you you how many trips we made back to the school for books he’d forgotten. This year started off well B avearage first progress report (tutor 1 day a week) and then wham the report card, two F’s. He’s been on Concerta. Last year he took 18mg. This year 36mg. The teachers say he’s a great kid, he wants to do well. He doesn’t act out in class, he loses his assignments, or just forgets to do them. How can I fix this. Please tell me whats not connecting with him. There has to be a switch, and I can’t find it. I can’t let him get lost next year in high school it only gets harder. Please give me any advice you can. I’d greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
Re: concerta? concerns whats not connecting?????
I agree with Jen’s post
The schools offer programs they dont always communicate well to parents and our kids dont always tell us about(either with forgetfulness or full intention)
Look for something on organization skills or perhaps more in school tutoring
Has your child been tested for LDs? If not I would do so immediately. If everything comes out great, fantastic. But I would hate to see that piece of the puzzle hanging.
Teachers do not always know-please do not assume the teachers words mean that he is LD free!
In my sons case, he was never the worst in the class so he was never seen as a problem academically. One teacher out and out told me there were kids in her class who needed special ed more than he did-well, then, someone needed to look out for THEM-I was looking out for my child and he qualified by the numbers!!!!
Its puberty time-he could need a new dosage or a new type of med
But….did Concerta EVER help? I guess Im not clear on this time frame-last year went well? Was that 7th gr and now hes in 8th and there are issues?
Could it be good ole teenage rebellion? I have 3 boys(13, 16, and 19) and ds1 did this type thing in 7th grade, ds2 in 10th, and Im still waiting on ds3 ;).
My 7th grader gets weekly grade reports-this is schoolwide for us, but could you have the teachers do this? An IEP or 504 would help. That way you IMMEDIATELY know if assignments arent turned in and can get them turned in even if its only partial credit because its late(this is what ds3’s teachers are doing it for) Makes a pretty powerful statement if you ask me-you WILL do and I dont care if you lost 30 points for being late!!
Good luck
One of my daughters was diagnosed last year at age 12 as well. She was always an A student until she hit middle school. In researching the difficulty that my younger daughter was having I recognized my older daughter’s symptoms of adhd. Last year she almost failed the 6th grade because of math. Our district does not have summer school for middle school so if the kids fail math or english they have to repeat the year. It came down to some testing at the end of the school year to determine her status! She was on 36 mg Concerta starting last April and it seemed to help but she still was having difficulty. Starting in September she was increased to 45 mg. I cannot begin to tell you the difference this year! It’s amazing! It could be maturity combined with the meds but this kid is now earing top grades and doing great. It could also be a special program she is in at school called AVID. They actually TEACH organization skills and provide more of a coaching environment to help the kids learn to succeed. It’s aimed towards kids who could kind of go either way and attempts to prepare them for college. It’s the first time her agenda is organized ever. I think this is the same sort of thing that ADHD coaches do but I wouldn’t even know where to find one around here anyway. But, maybe that’s something you could look into?
I guess what I’m trying to say is that there are probably a few things that would help. Don’t get me wrong. My daughter is not perfect. She still forgets things from time to time but I don’t feel like she would forget her head if it wasn’t attached. Trust me when I say she used to give forgetful a whole new meaning! It could be an increase or change in meds would help. I’m sure it’s something that will come up with a check up with the dr. You can always call the dr and explain how you are feeling. It might be that they have you come in for an appointment earlier and try to make some changes.
The other thing that I would recommend is looking at some way to teach those organization skills. Would there be anything at the school like my daughter’s school? Admittedly, I am not the one to teach those skills myself so I do need somebody to help when it comes to that! Maybe that’s something your tutor could work on in maybe a second night a week? One session for academic tutoring and one for organization skills?
Good luck and hang in there!