Looking for teachers with ADHD or LD

I was much like you. I hated school………I failed many subjects, and always
seemed to be a step or two behind everyone else. My mother always kept
encouraging me, and telling I was smart. However, my grades did not show it
in spite of my best efforts, and my classmates ridiculed me for it. At one point,
they even referred to me as the “class ***hole”, sometimes throwing snow and
ice balls at me at recess and other abusive behaviors.

Somehow………I always had a gut feeling that I was smarter than I was. I
guess the problem was that my birthday is in August, so I barely made the
cut for entrance into school at 5 years old. In retrospect, my parents probably
would have done better to hold me back a year……..but we didn’t know as
much about learning back then as we do now I guess!

In the latter stages of high school, I finally started to “get it”, and in college,
where everyone is on more of a level playing field, so to speak, I really
blossomed and did well. My second year of college, I decided to become a
teacher……….to reach out to those kids like me…….kids who are smart….
who have the potential…………but need someone who has been there and
understands to help draw out that potential.

I hope this helps!

Read my e-mail address! I am a former sp. ed. teacher and principal- 30 years of that! I too worked with extreme behavioral problems and psychiatric disorders. I also am a parent of 2 ADHD kids- I’d love to help!

Linda

I am not a teacher but a parent. My 14 year old son who has struggled with school up to this point has decided he might want to be a teacher when he grows up. When I asked him why he said so that maybe he could help a student like himself, someone who is smart but has difficulty showing it. In sixth grade we were told this child needed SERIOUS pscych couseling to be put on meds and my hubby and I needed assistance learning how to deal with him. Sixth grade was a disaster, now here we are 3 years later trying to figure out how we can send him to college to live his dream. He says it is teachers who had the patience and understanding to work with him who inspired him to become a teacher. The nice part is he includes his mom and dad as the teachers who helped to inspire him. I think part of his drive is he does not want another student to experience what he did in the 6th grade maybe you all became teachers for a similar reason.

Hi! I’m a Special Needs teacher, also. I’ve primarily worked with the severe/profound population, but have just started teaching a group of students 1st-4th grade who are self-contained. these children have severe ADHD and behavoir problems. I have also been diagnosed with severe ADHD…as an adult, I lost much of the H. I would love to hear your coping strategies. I’m on Adderall EX, but am still having tremendous organizational, distractibility and mis-perception problems. When school started back, my doctor had to increase my dose and I’m doing better, but would love to know how you organize taks, things, paperwork, etc in your classroom to were they don’t over-whelm and frustrate you. Thanks!!! Feel free to email me privately. Paige

Not a teacher, but parent of a middle school student with ADD. You have all brought tears to my eyes because I was wondering if my bright, wonderful, gentle, kindhearted boy had a future. He struggles so hard in the mainstream amoung mostly non-informed faculty, although I believe there were 2 enlightened teachers last year, but only one was in an academic subject. Most teachers are too busy to really notice my child’s pain. He just wants to learn like everybody else, and often seems to be doing wrong because he does not fit the school mold. He is seldom acknowledged at school for the things he gets right. He is, yet, persistant, and has not given up (my worst fear), contrary to what happens to many struggling students with LDs and ADD/ADHD. Your stories have comforted me as a parent. Continue to be so dedicated to your students, it is such a valuable, noble profession when done properly. I sincerely appreciate the few wonderful, gifted teachers that I had, and that my son has had.

Ct. Parent,
Please feel free to have your son contact me at any time. I feel that the shortage of special education teachers can be solved if we show these students that disabilities are true gifts if harnessed and honed. I also invite you to visit my program’s website so you can see what students with ADHD, LD, and behavior issues can do. I find they will rise to the level of excellence if someone truly loves and cares about them.
Regards,
Katherine Nell McNeil, M.Ed., PRSE
Special Education Teacher
Behavioral Specialist
Doctoral student
ADHD (severe) and LD
and would not ever want it any different!

www.seanet.com/~kmcneil/JAG

Your story sounds familiar! I am a second grade teacher (age 37!) recently diagnosed with ADHD. Now everything makes sense! It all just came together for me..Now I pride myself in helping my students with attention problems realize that there’s nothing wrong with them, that they just learn differently. I am teaching them strategies that I wish I had known when I was a child. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one. Any other ADHD teachers have any classroom management tips on staying organized? Uh, I am in a small portable classroom with very little shelving. Thanks!!!

Hi Debi,
As you can see there are more of us than we think! I never dreamed there could be another teacher who had severe ADHD and Learning Disabilities. Somehow I thought I was the only person who could possibly have gone through this - but I was so wrong!. I am glad things make more sense now. They did to me too. People wonder why I don’t have monumental problems with the students in my program. Other teachers expect the students with keep acting out when they are sent to my program. Well in most cases they don’t and if they do it is short lived. My students believe in me and my staff. They learn to trust. They are truly gifts to me. I always tell them they will teach me more than I will ever teach them.

Organization is something that must be designed to work for the individual. I learned by the trial and error method. I keep an 8 1/2 by 11 dayplanner. I take it to meetings etc. It has all my students phone #, birthdates, parent info, IEP info, etc. I have my calander in it and any important meeting, etc. is penciled in. If I don’t have the time to do it them I will attach a post it or the email to remind me.

Ok, your classroom. I keep my organized by using many different sizes of plastic boxes. plastic carts with drawers, etc. Organization can be our downfall if it becomes overwhelming or we put it off.

If you get a chance you can see what my classroom looks like by going to my program website. Then click on Classroom

www.seanet.com/~kmcneil/JAG

Take care
Katherine

Shelving — check out Home Depot/Lowe’s/Canadian Tire for snap-together heavy-duty shelving, now available in sturdy off-white plastic. NOTE — if you store books or anything with any weight *at all*, you mUST attach the shelf unit to the wall — any handyman can do this for you with screws that leave very little mark.
And if you go to a new class next year, just unscrew from the wall and take them with you.

Katherine - I totally agree with Ct. Parent and also thank you for your dedication to this field. Your website shows how JAG lovingly provides the opportunity to persue curiousity.

My question (as the parent of a 6 year old ADHD son who just entered 1st grade in the public school) What are the warning signs that I should look for before transitioning my son into a private specialized setting?

He absolutely loves first grade. And so far all good reports from the teacher. But he is “edison trait” by character with an IQ 124 prior to meds and I know his brain would just flurish with the private setting. He loves experimenting, turning trash to treasure and asks questions like “Why doesn’t the zipper on my clothes rust from when they are in the washer?” Currently we are strongly working with social skills and agreed to the public school to meet more neighborhood children and strenghten this area.

I so want all his school years to be positive. (and I worry about middle/high school) Can you tell me what behaviors to look for that will tell me a change is necessary? Thank you for your input.

Hi Jean,
Sorry it took all day to get this posted but I was fixing up my classroom all day and in meetings. We start school the day after Labor Day. I am glad to see that you are thinking in a proactive way instead of reactive. What usually triggers behaviors is when the individual experiences repeated failure socially and academically. Whether it is a child or an adult with the failure and the pain that goes with it becomes so great survival instincts take over and that is when the behaviors are created to deal with them. Some behaviors may take represent ‘flight’ and those would be used to excape the problem. Others may represent ‘fight’ and those would be used when the need for survival is great. What that said observe your sons social skills. ADHD causes great issues with social skills and the reading of human behaviors. See how he tries to gain approval and his needs for attention. Positive attention is better than negative attention however, negative attention is better than no attention. If he has difficulty with his social skills in the classroom and they bring negative reactions from teachers behaviors with rise accordingly. This is also true of academic problems. Personally, in my case meds have been a life saving intervention in my life. I tell people that my life started at 40, when I started on meds and behavior training. I use the same methodology with my students. Kids can’t modify their behavior unless they understand what triggers it, why they use the behavior, and a replacement behavior once they understand the cycle. This can be done in young children also. We don’t condone inappropriate behavior but we help them understand why they use those behaviors and the need to learn behaviors that will help them not only in school but at home and the community. I hope this helps some.
Katherine

Possibly because we have the heart to make a difference? We also have been on the other side of the fence, so why not become something, or someone that
truly understands the needs of other’s. What was that saying? “If you walk a mile in my shoes then you’ll fully understand my differences?” My mother used to say, ” Don’t ever say to anyone that you understand how they feel, or what their going through, unless you truly have experienced their issues.”
Mom’s, ya gotta love em’.

Take Care,
Sandi

I am a future Special Educator who was diagnosed w/ ADHD when I was in college. As a child I was (and at times still am) extremely hyper, but somehow I slipped through the cracks. I always had problems in school and would get frustrated when people thought that I was not trying. I used to think that I got A’s or F’s depending on whether or not I liked the teacher, now I realize what a difference it made when teachers truly cared and used a variety of learning styles to make the learning come alive. What a difference it made in my life to learn more about who I am. In HS, I didn’t know if I would graduate from HS until they day before graduation, and now I have a 3.67 GPA.

Last summer I had my first teaching job, where I had the opportunity to teach a Kindergarten class for children with Severe Disorders of Language. I have also worked was an instructional assistant in an SH Preschool, and as a camp counselor at a camp for children and adults with disabilities. I will graduate in May with a BA in Liberal Studies and a minor in Special Education, and next fall I will enter a credential program where I will earn teaching credentials in both general and special education, as well as a supplement in Music.

I viewed the website for your program, and the video for teacher of the year, what an amazing program you have set up. Congratulations on your success. I would love to talk to you or any other teachers with ADHD and share experiences.

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