Hi all,
My older son in 8th grade who is inattentive adhd and sp.ed qualified just brought home his progress report and terra nova report. Things look really good right now, even a C in math that has been a huge struggle all year.
The biggest change I saw is in his terra nova report. This is a kid whose Stanford 9 in 4th grade had a 14 as the highest score and the rest in single digits.
6th grade 7th grade 8th grade
reading 16 28 29
language 15 15 46
math 37 28 34
science 60 38 67
social studies 35 46 78
I was totally amazed at the changes in lang. arts and social studies scores, he is finally in the average range on a school wide test, with an above average score in ss. Finally he scores at what his sp.ed testing showed him to be able to do. There is still a disconnect between his abilities and what he actually does on a daily basis but I am still working on figuring this out. He has never had a teacher say he was doing less than 100% so I know it isn’t lack of effort on his part.
I am just having a bit of tentative hope that high school won’t be as tough as I have always worried about. We will get through these next 4 yrs as well. Just wanted to let you all know how he has progressed these past few years.
Thanks for all the support of ldonline posters, you all have been my lifesaver since we began our ride on the sp.ed rollercoaster back in 99.
Amyf
High School is the mystery
Some go in to high school as fair students with a strong desire to learn and come out top students. Unfortunately, other students go into highschool as fine students and end up drug adicts. I think the main thing is just to stay positive and encourage your child’s strengths. If he is strong in SS and enjoys it then he should use any elective he might have to take SS oriented classes and such. I think your hope is reasonable and if he puts in “100%” like you say then he will go far in life regardless of what obstacles he faces. The only thing I worry about is him running out of gas. I hope that you have fun activities for him to do in the summer. High school is a marathon not a dash.
the challenge of high school
To my own surprise, we found high school less of a problem that was middle school. The difference was that in high school my son with severe learning differences had greater freedom to choose his own course - even take a reduced course load. My son took more math and science and less history and foreign language where his issues lie.
We also found high school teachers to be more willing to give accomodations and generally more sophisticated about disability rights law than middle school teachers.
Good luck to you and your son.
Hope keeps us sane in an insane world!! Good Luck!!