Hi all, I’m new here. Am concerned because my son is on Concerta, but still has major problems with his impulsiveness. He cannot sit still, doesn’t listen to directions, has absolutely no sense of his affect on those around him.
Beyond that, he will enter 4th grade in fall and is reading at 2nd grade level. It is very hard for him to sit still; homework is an endurance test for both of us. But I want him to READ. I want him to LEARN. I say this to his teachers during his IEP, and they continue to set his reading goals at 60% of grade level (a step up from last year’s 50%). I wonder if there is an additional disability that has not been diagnosed; they refuse to deal with it. But maybe I have to request it in a very formal way, instead of just during the IEP?
I have several questions. Is limiting expectations in the classroom okay for a school to do? I am educating myself about his ADHD, and have learned there are diagnostic tests for learning disabilities, and then particular strategies that can be effective ways to compensate. Does his school have to pay to have him evaluated? Or is that my responsibility?
I also don’t agree with some of the homework they send — they just have him copy answers, he doesn’t have to try to reason things out himself. There are few, if any adaptations for him (eg, books on tape, a double set of books) and his progress in the general program remains slow. He has few friends and is not involved in any extracurricular activities.
I worry about how he will succeed in life. If he can’t read and doesn’t like to sit still now, what does that mean down the road? He can hyperfocus on activities he enjoyes (legos!) but when it comes to schoolwork or anything he doesn’t enjoy, he will resist to the ends of the earth!
Our state (IL) was recently cited by the US Dep of Educ because it was not complying to IDEA and the ADA.
Any info is appreciated!
Anne
NEW - READING FOR CHILD WITH ADHD
Mayleng, out of curiosity - what type of tutoring and how much of it is your son getting this summer? I too have a 7 yr old who is getting a variant of LIPS 3 hrs a week. The ESY offered was more of the same old, and 4 1/2 hrs a day.
Re: New -- Reading for Child with ADHD
Amy,
you basicly answered your own questions. Yes,there is a huge possiblity that your son could also have a learning disability along with ADHD 1 in 3 kids do. I have two boys both have ADHD and LD.
If they have an IEP for your son they are required by law to have evaluated him. They could have placed him on an IEP and claimed “Other Health Impaired” classification ,because he is ADHD,but under IDEA they must consider all aspects of his learning. If they wrote a goal for reading they must know where he started and this would require a reading assessment. Not only is this technically a violation it is poor educational practice.
You have the right to request an evaluation on your son whenver you want. They do not have to do it but every three years,if you don’t. Yes,request it formally.If for some reason you disagree with what the schools eval found or you feel they reached the wrong conclusion then you have the right to request an evaluation to be done privately at the district’s expense.
http://www.cesa7.k12.wi.us/sped/Parents/plainlanguageindex.htm
is a great link,it is a very clear and simple way to explain your rights,might be of help.
Tutoring
Anne, I did not have the option of Lindamood Bell around here where I live, although I have heard great things about it. So I managed to find a teacher who also tutors. She uses the ABeka phonics system - The Christian school uses it alot as well as Homeschooling people. My son does not have a problem with Phonemic awareness. He goes for 1 hour 3 times a week, and the tutor has me sit in on the sessions so that I know how she is teaching him and “the reading rules” so that I can reinforce it with him at home when he does the homework she gives him. I am very impressed with the system. She teaches him sounds of long vowels and short vowels, the various rules, the blends - he has to memorize these blends so he can spell as well. He has to physically mark what is a long vowel, a silent vowel, a short vowel, blends, sight words etc. He does this as homework and then when he goes he reads her the books, and she questions him on the stories to test his comprehension. They go through more blends, then she gives him a topic, and he is to write 5 sentences (no more than 5 words each sentence) . This way he practices his penmanship, spelling (he spells the words out first and we help if he gets stuck) and creative writing. I had her start at the Kindergarten level of ABEKA (but from what I have seen so far, it looks more like 1st grade level reading in his public school).
By him marking the books it actually slows him down so that he processes and remember it better. Part of his problem with his ADD according to the school psych is that he is processing the info so fast, he is not retaining them.
He was supposed to attend Summer school, but this one on one is so much better, and because it is 3 times a week plus homework, I didn’t want to overload him, so I didn’t put him in summer school.
I will tell you, that without the meds, no matter how much time is spent on remediation, he would still not have been able to focus and would still be struggling. I have had him off meds on days he has to go for the Neuropsych evaluations, and when he is at tutoring he is all over the place (not hyper) but fidgits and lots of squirming and asking questions that have nothing to do with what he is he was learning, any noise and he would be off task. Homework that would take 1/2 an hour would take 3 hours to do.
I also signed him up for Tae kwon Do with much trepidation. He is not into physical activities , but with the meds, the boy is not as clumsy. He used to get so frustrated learning to ride a bike or shoot basketball, but now with the focus he is able to do alot of things that were difficult for him before. When he was playing soccer, the kids would be running after the ball, he would be picking dandelions. At T-ball, he would be facing the other way and stooping when they were fielding. He loves Tae Kwon Do and the teachers there are so good with ADD/ADHD kids. It builds up his self-esteem, and also teaches him focus. He is excelling in it. The added bonus is that he gets the exercise any kid needs to keep fit.
I hope this helps
Good luck
Thanks!
Thank you all for taking time to share your expertise. Some states are so far ahead of Illinois in how they work with special ed. So very helpful, I can only hope that our state gets on board soon.
The tutoring and reading system sound great mayleng. I am going to investigate to see if they offer around here. Also the tae kwando. It is so good for the self-esteem and focus to have an activity that develops esteem and agility.
Am going to pursue a new eval, with specific requests for testing on his learning disability (which I know he has, even if the school doesn’t agree).
Glad I found you all!
Anne
Tutoring
Anne, I have heard alot of kids do well on Phonograhix (Reading Reflex). You might be able to find tutors that do this. Lindamood Bell is good but very expensive. To see if you can find a tutor near you, check with the people on the Teaching Reading Board and Parenting LD boards too. They might be able to direct you to a PG tutor or might even have a PG tutor on the boards who is in your area.
When you have the evaluations done, you might want to post the results on www.Schwablearning.org. The moms there are very good at explaining what it all means. I am there alot too. If you have questions on medication, you can also go to www. ADHD.com on the medication boards - they are very knowledgeable about Strattera (non stimulant meds for ADHD).
If I can help with anymore questions, you can pretty much find me on these 3 sites.
Good Luck
Mayleng
OK, I have got to step up for IL
We moved to IL last June after 10 yrs in IN. The special ed services my son receives here are far superior to what he was getting in IN.
In general, I dont think any schools are doing much of what you hear talked about here. These are programs families are pursuing on their own time and at their own expense.
The resource teachers my son had in IN did special ed to get hired-as soon as a regular ed postion opened, they pounced on it Their knowledge and experience was a weakness.
Here, we were thrilled to get a veteran who had wonderful insights into my son. They completed any and all testing I requested and furnished me with complete reports and verbal explanations. (In IN, I couldnt even get subtest scores)
Im sure there are weak school here in IL and strong ones in IN-its probably more ‘luck of the draw” than anything having to do with states as a whole
I work in Early Intervention and at one training it was mentioned that one of the national guidelines for Ei came from a lawsuit by a family in IL against the system at that time. The speaker asked-“so does that mean IL had the weakest EI system at the time? No, it means thats where the lawsuit happened.”
I thought that was pretty insightful. Im a native IL gal(can you tell) and the hardest part of moving to IN was their insistence on keeping things as they have been-they dont have daylight savings time because they didnt have it 100 yrs ago and they dont need it now, by golly. If a little league coach showed up falling over drunk, that was fine, because he was a drunk just like his daddy and grand-daddy before him. In the areas I had lived in in IL, that would not have been tolerated so yes, there would have been a lawsuit or a court battle.
Dont assume that IL being taken to task over IDEA means they are less compliant that other states. It may very well mean that folks here are just willing to take them to task to strive and make things better
Ok, off my soapbox :wink:
Anne, I suggest you go to www.concordspedpac.org, they will tell you what evaluations you need to request for from the school and and how to request them. There are different types of evaluations and they give you a description of what each one is. You could also have private evaluation done by a Neuropsychologist - which you have to pay for yourself. Also go to www.Wrightslaw.com and www.Reedmartin.com to learn about your rights and your child’s rights. Also if you disagree with their evaluations you could request they do an outside evaluation at the school’s cost.
If concerta is not effective for your son, you should check with the doctor to either increase the dose or change it to some other meds ie. Adderall XR, or something that will work better. Some meds work better on some kids than others. Unfortunately, to find out what works best is all trial and error.
My 7 year old started on 10 mgs Adderall Xr, the attention was great, but he had sleep issues and he got more emotional. He is now on Concerta 18 mgs, and it works well also on his attention, he still has sleep issues but the emotional part is OK. I am considering trying Stattera in August.
He has been evaluated by the school and it has shown he has an Ld, currently, he is also being evaluated by a Neuropsychologist because I wanted to know if it is really ADD/In and what Ld if any. School could not tell me if it was an LD or it was ADD intefering with Learning. He is also being tutored 3 times a week this summer, and has improved on his reading by leaps and bounds.
Check out those sites, you will find lots of info you need. Also if you need more help, the Moms on www.Shwablearning.org are very good at LDs.
Good Luck
Mayleng