Follow up on the voice loss & the meeting | ADHD Information
I know, Auntie! LOL! I should just start a topic there with a link to this topic here!
Lillian, thank you! I'm writing down what you said and will show it to the school. :o)
On a VERY positive note, my voice is getting MUCH better, and I can soon resume yelling at the kids!
I hope I can get the same for my girl once we have her meeting. I am glad for you.Sounds good, Leigh - Keep us posted.First of all, my throat is on FIRE from having to squeak out words for 90 minutes this morning during the meeting. It was decided that my son would be put in "small group" for all of his major classes. He was already in small group for Reading/Language Arts. This decision was made because, due to the ADHD, he just zones out in a large class and has no ability to stay on task. His grades in the large classes have been quite bad. The teachers will be signing daily planners to ensure I know what his homework is. I was also given an extra set of all of his books to keep at home due to the fact that he forgets them ALL the time. They also agreed to allow him to type in class if he wants to since writing is still an issue at times. He'll be given the study guides I requested for all tests, and they will allow him extra time to complete tests and possibly take them orally if that's necessary to prove he knows the subject matter. He's seeing a naturopathic doctor now, and I have no idea how it will work, but four years of side effects to more medications than I care to think about have left me with nothing else to do. So! There ya go! That's the end result of the meeting today.
Thanks for the "hot toddy" (or is it totty) suggestions. I had one last night for the first time, and it was the most disgusting thing I've ever had. LOL!!!!! It did seem to help, though. Yesterday I could only whisper. Today I can squeak out my words! Woo Hoo!
yea...glad you were able to talk and get your son the help he needs.
they are quit nasty, but they work.
Hot toddies (totties?) rock! Glad you were able to squeak out some words. We are seeing an ND as well and have lots of hope! Sounds like you made some great mods!Leigh, it sounds like your school is great, so they probably have clearly excluded the chance of a language disability, but if you question it at all, one of the things you can do is look at the matrix reasoning section of the WISC-IV. If this score is very high in comparison to your son's other scores, this is a sign of a language disability. The reason for this is that this section of the test is nonverbal--does not use any language to complete. Just a thought. I hope I'm not sounding pushy, but I've had the feeling you've been pretty stressed about your son's academics recently, and I'm just trying to throw some ideas to you. I can relate to the stress, confusion, and uncertainty. My, oh, my, I can relate!!![QUOTE=lillian]So, what's up with your son's writing, Leigh? How's his reading? Can he read for a sustained period of time and answer questions about what he has read?[/QUOTE]
He has always hated to write. His writing has usually been messy and all over the place unless he's reminded it has to be neat. He refuses to slow down. He just hates to write. As for reading, he was VERY behind in first and second grade. Couldn't comprehend SQUAT! Third grade was better toward the end of the school year, but still it was an issue. He's on grade level now, but the teacher can't even CONSIDER giving him a book with a lot of pages because he just loses ALL the information. He can stay on task with very short stories and that's about it. That's a big improvement, though, compared to previous years. His focus is just GONE. He zones out, the teacher asks him if he knows what he's supposed to do (a minute after telling the class), and he just looks at her and says "I forgot." And THIS comes from his current small group teacher (Reading and Language Arts). The large group "general" teachers have all reported that he can barely stay on task for more than a couple of minutes at a time. They constantly have to redirect him. With the HUGE amount of reading that is now required for math (word problems) and science and social studies, he's just been lost. I pray small group, all around, will be the answer. I debated with myself over this for quite a while. Today, at the meeting, I was convinced it was the best decision.
[QUOTE=Leigh_GA_66]Thanks laurapalmer! It sounded squeaky, but at least I didn't have to use my small dry erase board! LOL!!!
Lillian, he was tested for a bunch of things in the spring. They did find that he has Visual Motor Integration problems that are pretty severe compared to other kids. I definitely don't think we're dealing with dyslexia, but it's definitely something. Funny thing is when he's taught one on one by a tutor, the problems are barely noticeable. Wish I had the power of a tutor with him. He gives me all sorts of hell when it's time to do homework. Kids!!!!
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Why don't you think you are dealing with dyslexia? When he's taught one on one, is the person reading to him or with him?
Well, my mom was a teacher for dyslexic children for years. I guess it could be a milder version of what she's dealt with regarding other children. I don't know. There's never been any confusion with letters or anything like that. With the one on one thing/tutoring, he is always the one reading. Dysgraphia is when they have sloppy handwriting, right.............Funny, I just looked this up this afternoon. My daughter writes sloppy too. But she doesn't have any learning difficulties that I know of yet.Look at his scores from his previous testing. Wasn't he tested last year? Did he take the WISC-IV? If he did, check some things--visual/spatial and processing speed. If these are both low, you may be dealing with dyslexia/dysgraphia.Glad your voice came back for your meeting..........
Thanks laurapalmer! It sounded squeaky, but at least I didn't have to use my small dry erase board! LOL!!!
Lillian, he was tested for a bunch of things in the spring. They did find that he has Visual Motor Integration problems that are pretty severe compared to other kids. I definitely don't think we're dealing with dyslexia, but it's definitely something. Funny thing is when he's taught one on one by a tutor, the problems are barely noticeable. Wish I had the power of a tutor with him. He gives me all sorts of hell when it's time to do homework. Kids!!!!
Thanks guys. What a road this has been. Lillian, instead of hot water, I made it hot tea (with all the rest of the stuff you mentioned). I think the thing is I'm just not a liquor person. I love wine and champagne and certain types of beer (the types John Cleese referred to as "near-frozen gnats urine" )..... LOL!
Stepmom2Maddy, you know what? She wasn't there, which leads me to wonder if, by chance she was talking about an extremely similar child to mine OR she had to cancel. I don't know. Of course she COULD have had to meet with the staff and talk to THEM before they met with ME. So who knows? At any rate, I'm just so darn glad it's over. Now comes the part where I have to deal with my son not liking the changes. Ack! One day he'll understand it was all to help him. :o)
Oh, the time for changes. Isn't that always fun! Duct tape is a good motivator!
Great modifications! Congrats!!!
About the Hot Totty (I think it's T, but I don't know), did you use southern whiskey, lemon, and honey with hot water? I think they taste pretty good.
Sounds like a very productive meeting for your son, but not your voice. 
BTW, was the woman you overheard in the copy room there?
Too bad this is in the basement. Turned into interesting topic for upstairs.
Well, I woke up this morning and thought, why didn't I tell Leigh this??? I know that's pathetic, a possible sign of OCD, but here's something else. My son also scored very low in visual/motor. He then was given two additional tests to decipher if it was a visual or a motor issue. He was found to have superb motor skills but very, very weak visual. It was through this additional testing that my son could actually be dx with an LD of written expression based on a cognitive defecit in visual/spatial organization. O.K., I'll shut up now, but I swear Leigh, you're raising a younger version of my son. All the difficulties your son is having in school are the same difficulties my son had at your son's age.