ADD is NOT a learning disability?

Your son needs to mature and take responsibility for his actions…I have 2 sons who battle with ADHD. One refuses to take meds and in high school after he got into the college he wanted his grades just plummeted his last semester he got 4 - D’s and he could care less….My other son is marred and more mature and he knows how the meds help him to do better in school so he takes them.

Your son will only rise to the level that he feels he is motivated to reach and he has to learn to light his own internal fire to “master his commander or brain. The sooner he learns to do this the sooner he will make it…in life. He has learned to use his ADHD as an excuse to get by with mediocrity and he will find doors closed to his future opportunities because of his constant immature behavior. Perhaps if he was moved to a new high school where he had a fresh start he would be more motivated?

The special ed teacher may think that, because of your son’s intelligence and ability as well as his history of having been able to catch up, he would respond to the challenge of academically demanding classes and would use that ability productively instead of in fooling around. When a teacher honestly says that his class is too easy and a student needs more of a challenge, that is a good thing. Perhaps you could talk to the teacher about how a good transition could be made.

Though it may sound weird, bright children with LD or ADHD can have as many difficulties with a curriculum that is too easy as one that is too hard. Kids with ADHD are easily bored and what is more boring than sitting in a class where you already know everything? I have two children with ADHD who also are extremely intelligent. One has a learning disability as well. The best thing we ever did for them was to put them into gifted classes with appropriate support. My youngest, who has the LD, thought of school as unmitigated pain and boredom until he got a taste of accellerated classes. Now he is an excellent student and gets excited about the things he is learning. Even though he is in 8th grade and in the throws of adolescence, he still will say that he loves his school. Mind you, his LD remains and so does his ADHD, which we treat with medication, but they are not so important when he is motivated to achieve. His older brother was the classic underachieving kid until this school. Now he is a national merit semifinalist. Believe me, the right placement can make a big difference. We had to turn to a private school to find the right fit.

Well, you’ve all given me something to consider.

I do believe my son is bored, but I’m not sure it’s because he knows the material. He doesn’t test well unless verbally, i.e., he can do algebraic equations in his head, as long as they aren’t too complex, but, when asked to do so on paper, can’t or won’t. He chooses not to do homework, not because it’s too difficult, but because he’d rather “have fun.” There is difinitely an immaturity issue here.

And, there is also a motivational issue, but we have no idea how to light that fire for him. Hopefully, when the maturity kicks in a bit, that will work itself out.

I guess I’m mainly worried that the pressure of non-spec-ed classes will overwhelm him. But, maybe you all are right, and it will be the challenge he may need to jumpstart him. He was somewhat depressed when he first learned he was going into spec ed. I remember the meeting and seeing his eyes full of tears— he very rarely allows himself to cry, particularly around others…

[quote:e5f47e2603=”CAMom”]Well, you’ve all given me something to consider.

I do believe my son is bored, but I’m not sure it’s because he knows the material. He doesn’t test well unless verbally, i.e., he can do algebraic equations in his head, as long as they aren’t too complex, but, when asked to do so on paper, can’t or won’t. He chooses not to do homework, not because it’s too difficult, but because he’d rather “have fun.” There is difinitely an immaturity issue here.

And, there is also a motivational issue, but we have no idea how to light that fire for him. Hopefully, when the maturity kicks in a bit, that will work itself out.
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This is SO descriptive of ADHD. Maturity may be a part of it, but ADHD really makes it difficult for those who have it to do thigs that are hard or boring or take too long or aren’t fun, etc. ADHD kids also often have reading and writing issues. know your son does not want to take medication and you are right to respect his wishes. Even without medication he may be helped by something like Interactive Metronome or neurofeedback. These alternative treatments do not yet have a lot of research support, but they do have some. At least it might be worth a shot, if he would consider trying them.

Hi,
I have a 15 and a half yr old son with adhd also, dxed at age 6, on an IEP since 5th grade. He is currently taking all regular classes, although one is a collaborative/inclusion GEO class that is double blocked. Last yr he took Alg 1 the same way and has really done very well. He still has the IEP, mostly for support/accommodations. He has a study skills class too that is almost a study hall for credit, he can use this time to get extra help if he needs it. This type of arrangement might be a better idea for your son, I know mine reacted the same way about sp.ed when he first qualified. Anyway, he takes reg. Eng, World His, Intro to Engineering, classes just like any other high schooler. I don’t know how his IQ would be counted now but the one done in 2nd grade showed him to be solidly average.
Maybe his/our experience can help?
best wishes,
Amyf

Thanks Amy and others.

We have a meeting today to see what we can do to help him. I think our best bet might be cutting back on one of his classes to fit in some sort of study hall period where he can get his homework done with help.

We’ll see what they have to offer.

By the way, I spoke with his old spec ed teacher who feels that my son has a couple of minor behavioral issues but that his short attention span and reluctance to tackle difficult tasks makes spec ed classes a must.

I’ve read the other posts on this subject, and while I agree that it might be just boredom, I’m wondering about the other possibilities also. Whenever someone says about an LD/ADD child “He is just lazy” I think of the brain studies that show how our brains, when they compensate for a weak area, tend to use much MORE energy, and in more different areas, than they would if the optimal area was working correctly. In other words, there might be a REASON why the child gets tired more quickly, not just a lack of motivation for learning.

A lot of it has to do with the way learning is approached, also, as the mom who put her kids in gifted classes discovered. Learning that is more hands-on, real-life oriented is going to be more interesting for any kid, but ESPECIALLY for AD/HD kids, so that would be something to look for. The other thing to remember, though, is that there are other ways to approach and work on ADD besides just medication, for instance nutrition, so why not try some of those other things and see if they work for him? If he or you are dead set against medication, which does make a remarkable difference for some kids, then there are positive alternatives. There is a great website, www.ADD-Plus.com from Dr. John Taylor, which talks about some of these other alternatives to working with ADD kids, and Dr. Taylor also talks about the nutritional angle with a lot of authority.

Technically ADD is not a learning disability, it is a health condition that often impacts learning, hence many of these kids qualify under OHI (Other Health Impaired) category instead of LD. However, it’s been my experience that many ADD kids also have LDs; they just seem to overlap A LOT! So don’t assume that he doesn’t have other LDs just because the school didn’t find it when he was first tested. You might want to get more in-depth private testing to look at that possibility, like a neuropsychological eval, for instance, or you can get a less in-depth but still helpful (and less expensive) evaluation at many local learning centers.

There are also some new therapies out there, for instance you may want to check into Play Attention, at www.playattention.com or Samonas, at www.Samonas.com which are having some good results for kids with ADD. Play Attention is based on neurofeedback training, but can be done in the home setting. The PACE program (see www.learningrx.com ), which has been around for awhile now, also works on Attention/Focus along with other processing weaknesses, and most PACE providers do a very low-cost or free screening to assess these areas. I guess you could just assume that the only thing out there is in your public school, but I think that would be very short-sighted. The schools are way behind on “what works” but there’s lots of good stuff out there if you’re willing to check it out…

As a teacher I have seen students - for whatever reason - be placed in inclusion or pull out settings for special services. Sometimes extremely bright students will not want to appear as such in a group of students who may have less ability. At the middle-school level in particular, students feel a real need to fit in, and being the smart kid in class might mean being the teacher’s pet, for example. So rather than standing out for something that we as teachers and parents would consider postive - a student had rather appear less intelligent and be “just one of the group.”

This is a very negative thing for some students to deal with. Rather than be set apart by their classmates for being the smart one - they had rather blend in, act up, answer incorrectly, or not participate at all - depending on how sure/unsure a student feels about himself.

Not doing or not completing assignments is certainly a part of this behavior. Goofing off and deliberatly setting onesself up to be reprimaned is another. Some students fall into behavior patterns that might never have been seen prior to being placed in a special services setting.

More than being just actions in the classrooms, I beleive these behaviors are reactions to the environment - one in which many students do not believe they belong.

ADHD not being LD is absolutely true… in the technical sense. They’re separate categories.

ADHD *is* a health condition that can make a student eligible for an IEP and special education, though.

And it’s danged near impossible in teenagers to draw a firm line where attention issues end and attitude begins. My general approach is to try to assume the student *does* want to succeed and give him the structure so taht it’s possible to do so with attention problems and being bored. (E.g. chunk things into little bites and find a way to make ‘em interesting to the student… neither of which is always possibvle with some teachers’ assignemnts! )