My grandson turned 6 in May & is in 1st grade. He has been diagnosed with ADD. The first time ADD was mentioned to his Mom & Dad was when he was in Pre- K. Carter is a very bright boy and always has been. He did very well in Pre- K and was actually one of the kids at the head of the class. His teacher even said that he thought Carter might be “gifted” But that he did see a small indication that he might be slightly ADD. Not with hyperactivity…just ADD. This information was written on his Pre K record.
When he began Kindergarten he was still at the top of the class and did very well. Carter frequently had strep throat and had his tonsils removed last October and missed 2 weeks of school. He did keep up with his assignments at home. After Christmas break was when his trouble began….His teacher called for a conference w/ mom & dad and said that he was having difficulty focusing & was very distracted. They talked & decided to move Carter to the front of the room. This was ( jan- Feb) Along March the teacher stated that he had not improved & that he was also falling behind on the dolch sight words…they had to know 100 words to go to 1st grade & he knew 70.
They worked more at home with him on that & he did learn all 100 words.
Around April after spring break The teacher wrote daily in his folder that he still had difficulty focusing. In May They administered a test that the child has to pass in order to go to 1st grade and Carter scored borderline on it. The teacher advised medication & wrote a letter to the Doctor. The Dr made the diagnosis of ADD based solely on what his teacher wrote in the letter.
Carter was placed on Focalin XR 5mg daily. After 3 days on medication the teacher stated that he was vastly improved and re administered the test. he scored much, much higher.
This was all in the last week of Kindergarten.
The Dr thought it could all be maturity related & said not to medicate over the summer & to withhold medication when 1st grade started that Carter could outgrow it over the summer.
We started 1st grade around August 15 or so………For the first 3 - 4 weeks of school NOTHING ( my daughter discussed last years problems w/ the teacher at open house 2 days before school began…discussed the ADD situation, medication, etc) Then a note comes home….. please call for a conference to discuss Carters progress. They go in for the conference and it’s like the teacher thinks he’s the class dummy literally. She says he doesn’t focus, follow instructions,if she tells him something it’s just a blank look she that she gets from him . She says that there was only one other child she’s had in 20 years of teaching that had problems this severe & the only difference in that child & carter is that child would not talk or communicate & carter does talk very well & has excellent verbal skills.
He has an extension teacher that teaches 2 or 3 of his subjects & Carter has NO problems in her class. She has seen no problems at all.
Carter also does very well in Math. His problem is in reading, phonics, sight words.
Carter Resumes medication………..after a week there is no change (according to his teacher)……
This was VERY disturbing news to say the least. And might I say this is NOT the child we see at home. At home this is a child who watches an episode of spongebob once & can tell you the whole episode beginning to end without leaving off a detail. This is a child that learns multiple bible verses at church in 30 minutes a week & wins awards for achievement there.
Back to the Dr they go…….He’s gained a few pounds The Dr says that he probably just needs a medication increase…so they go up to 10 mg Focalin XR daily.
In the mean time Carter Begins crying in morning not wanting to go to school & makes remarks like the teacher thinks I’m so stupid. (Carter’s problems are never discussed in his presence at home) then earlier this week he had an accident in his pants at school while on the way to lunch…..(something he hasn’t done since he was 3!) They call his mom at work, she calls me to take care of it. I’m on the way……. I live 5 minutes from school. The school was informed of this. My daughter also informed them to keep him in the office. I get there & they have sent him in to eat lunch w/ the WHOLE 1st grade & his clothes are SO WET. It was a big accident. I get him & we go to change his pants. He is so upset, he says all my friends think I’m weird…they saw I had an accident. I tell him no they don’t everyone has an accident like that at some point. He’s really upset & his stomach is upset too so I am going to check him out….he literally runs past the lunchroom & I ask him why he’s running. He says I don’t want those kids to see me. They think I’m weird. They will laugh at me.
What can we do to help him? This is our family’s 1st experience with ADD. The school has not offered any help, the teacher is not doing much (if anything at all) would he be better in a home school environment? He’s learning the majority of what he learns at home w/ mom & dad anyway.
The school is LITERALLY no help. His Mom ask for tutoring & it took 2 weeks & repeated requests for the teacher to set that up. (and then he only gets 30 minutes once a week). The teacher said there was a morning program (where they would put him with a star student) and she would set that up for him but it’s been 3 weeks & we still haven’t heard from that. His mom sends several notes a week. She hasn’t talked to the principal…..would that be the next step?
We welcome any advice !
[Modified by: Bel on September 27, 2007 03:21 PM]
Long post ...Sorry......ADD newly diagnosed.
I would tell his parents to request a 504 plan to help him. I would also request educational testing, vision testing and auditory testing to see if he has an LD that is effecting his ability to learn in the classroom environment.
They may also want to check into any gifted programs offered by the district as some gifted kids present with “ADD symptoms” in a regular class but they are really just bored.
Re: Long post ...Sorry......ADD newly diagnosed.
Thank you for your replies. I also wondered if this teacher was not a good match for my grandson. His mom & dad actually went to the school & talked to his teacher about his being sent to the lunch room with wet pants (his dad wanted to get him assigned to another teacher) but my grandson said that he did not want to go to another room. So they are “playing it by ear” to see what transpires in the next couple of weeks. I do know that the teacher is older than the rest of the first grade teachers….she may be the oldest teacher in the entire school- Which teaches Pre K - 5th grade. Not that her age should matter, but I do think that older people (teachers) have less patience than younger ones do with small children. His teacher is in her 50’s.
I actually did read a bit about the 501 yesterday & told my daughter about it so hopefully she will get that in place. I don’t know if he has an IEP or not. The teacher did give my daughter a paper at the conference with what they planned to do to help him.
Maybe that is it? Also, I do think the teacher might be a yeller…..my grandson has come home on a few occasions and said she “yelled” at him. She yelled at him once this week as a matter of a fact because he closed classroom door when they came back from lunch.
He is a sensitive child and his feelings are easily hurt. I really think the teacher intimidates him. I don’t know if it’s intentional or not & his mom has made mention of it to the teacher so we will see what happens I guess. Wish us luck….It appears we will need it.
I know there are people here that can give better advice than I can. My oldest was diagnosed with ADD a year ago but is not on med’s. She is in the 4th grade so much older than your grandson.
Is there a possibility that your grandson is not doing so well because the teacher is not a good match for him. I strongly believe that some kids do better with certain teachers over others. For the past 2 years my dd has had very upbeat, organized, and understanding teachers these past 2 years and it makes a huge difference. If she was with someone who was unpredictable and was more of a yeller she would not do as well. We had that problem with her 1st grade teacher. When her 1st grade teacher gave out instructions to the class it was several instructions at a time which was very hard on my daughter. She felt lost when she could not get her math book out to page 25 as fast as the other children. Then she would get into trouble if she could not keep up. It was very hard on her emotionally and she cried at school.
Does he have a IEP?
And to send him to lunch with wet pants…that just breaks my heart. Poor little guy.
I wish I could help more. I’m sure someone will give you some more guidance.