The truth about public education | ADHD Information

OK, oldtimer. you obviously want to blame every one for "failing" your son. If you are that concerned about what the school's are or are not doing, you are the parent. You should go and sit in the classroom and stay with him for a few months. I don't believe that you have this much negativity when it comes to schools. You are the parent. You are the one that has the final say, not the teachers. If the IEP is not working, get up off the chair and do something about it. you are entitled to your opinion, but you need to make it an educated opinion. If you don't know exactly what is going on in the class room, or how the teacher is teaching your child, it's a public school district, go up there and make sure they give your child the education he needs, not what you want him to skin by carelessly w/o challenges for mental growth. The are supposed to be there to teach your child. If your child is not challenged in school, where would you suggest him be challenged? Part of education is to prepare him for the real world. When he grows up, do you plan on him having a job, getting married or having children? If so, you need to focus on the big picture. The big picture is challenge the children to learn and be educated and ready for life as an adult. So, once you read this, think about it. Your job is to ensure that he is ready for adulthood. If you are dis-satisfied, do some thing about it. I have sat in my son's class room. i watched his teachers. Have you ever done that? If so, for how long? You better not just say a day, or two. You need to advocate for him, not against him growing up and being self sufficient, and not relying on you paying his bills and living in your home until he is 45.

And one last thing. Why is this posted in the Medications Board???

Oldtimer,

Decoding can be taught with a good Orton-Gillingham reading program. As far as a parent helping a child, statitistics continually show that children who have parents who help them with their studies do better in school. Period. It has always been this way, and it always will be.

You don't want your child to do homework, you don't think you should have to help your child outside of school, and you think your child can learn as much with games as with textbooks? Are you serious??? I mean, really, are you serious?

[QUOTE=oldtimer]

The daily work to us tells it all! You really don't get SE kids then! Some don't care if they learn anything. Daniel doesn't. He said can I just quit! Some SE are also wrongly DX also. We keep him there only to get what he should be getting anyhow.

Oldtimer, I'm sorry I get frustrated by your posts. I wish I could just snatch your whole family and put Daniel in the same school I put my G-niece in. They are wonderful with ADHD kids that have LD's.

Obviously I do not know your son but I doubt he doesn't care. He is probably so frustrated, his self-esteem is probably shot and basically he has given up. If you have ever seen him finally "get something" and his face lights up you have a kid that cares.

And there are some kids who have such severe learning disabilities they may never get it no matter what teaching technique is used. I have no idea if this may be your son.

He has decodeing problems!

Here is a great link that will help you help your son.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/readingstrats.htm l

If a parent has to help a kid out that much than why send them there at all.

Oldtimer, I raised my two stepsons. They are both very sucessful adults now. My eldest didn't require a lot of help. My youngest did. I probably spent an hour every evening with him when he did his homework and reviewing what the teacher taught that day so I was SURE he got it! Honestly, I didn't give it a second thought, I just thought that is what a parent is for. No I wasn't exactly happy with the school, no I didn't feel like doing it, no I sometimes got so frustrated and often I'd just give up for the day. It isn't easy.

Later I got custody of my niece. She is ADD with LD's and was an abused child. Thank God for a school that knew what they were doing because it was indeed the most frustrating time of my life. I know what you are going though.

I urge you Oldtimer to do everything in your power to help your son. You may NEVER get results from your school district and your child cannot afford to be in limbo while you fight that battle. If you don't feel you have the time or the energy then hire a tutor. Sell the boat if you have to. I know your school district isn't doing the right thing by your son but unless they have a change of heart overnight you need to take it into your own hands to help him before he truly does just give up.

Text book learning doesn't work for all. RN hated this way! Games can teach the same way textbooks can! If it's not taught in a easy way we don't get it. Homework is to much these days also.

I think the real thruth is noone whiches to give us the proper DX!

Have you seen a neuro-psych for a proper DX? If you feel his DX is wrong this is the first step before anything else. Forget what I said about selling the boat to hire a tutor. Sell the boat to get a proper DX.

Daniel has all the same therapies used in ASD kids!

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Kids in SE here with IEP's don't take the provincial testing. The kids in Brandon's SE class only had to take the classroom tests.

Lillian thank you for expressing what I have felt all along. Your words in my opinion are right on target.

Oldtimer... on another note(please don't take this wrong) I have to wonder what your own school experience was. I sometimes get the feeling that you are fighting your own battles from childhood and living it through your son. I know that you care for and love your child, but please take a moment to read some of your posts and see if there are other ways you can help him. Lillian is right, there are programs out there that help children with reading problems such as you have mentioned. Please take Auntie's and Lillian's words to heart. I think they have hit it on the nail.

I am a third grade teacher and a mother of a 7 year old boy with ADHD. My son was recently diagnosed with ADHD and has had many problems in his short educational career. I have been learning about this disability for some time now and know many of the heartaches and joys that go into raising a son with ADHD. I am still learning. What I also have learned is that teachers are not educated or taught on how to deal with these children in their classrooms. Education is needed and patience as these children learn very differently and have unique needs. I also have compassion for teachers as it is difficult to teach special needs children, regular ed, and gifted children in the classroom at the sametime. The school I work at is an all inclusion school-last year was my first year teaching-I had 1/3 of my class in special ed and had no extra training and very limited assistance from a "special ed" teacher. I learned by researching so I could help all my students suceed. It is not an easy task and politics play a great role in what can be taught and how it can be taught in the classroom. As a teacher, I feel that my regular ed and gifted students lost a great deal of learning time as I had to constantly keep the special needs students on track. Please see this message as incite into a teachers positioon. I also know as a parent of a child with ADHD, that I need to be my son's advocate and inform and educate his teachers on methods to help him. Teachers need training and support from families and communities, not confrontations and put downs . If you are unhappy with the educational system, give your time and help in a classroom. Talk to the teachers and share your knowledge of ADHD with them. Help them find solutions. Most teachers want to have their students succeed.In my experience with the school system it is challenging to get anyone to understand the special needs of a child with ADHD. These kids are bright, energetic children who need teachers who understand not all children learn in the same ways. While an IEP did help my dtr become successful in high school it unfortunately also labeled her....I don't think the teachers expected much from her and like most kids she performed to that level. My 2 kids with ADHD learn much differently than my 2 without it.

Your opinion means less and less oldtimer. I already spoke on this where you ranted at the posting "FDA Warning about Stratterra" but need to get this off my chest.

You knock the school system for forcing children who are unprepared to do work that you claim is just to "learn to do tests". The school system is trying hard to make children into prepared adults ready to take society when it is their time. If they cannot do the math, english and understand the social information they are given they should be kept back as it is essential if we are to have the next generation of teachers, scientists and leaders. To undereducate for the few special students in each class does harm to the general population of kids trying to get their education too.

Glen, Holding back please. I disagree teach it differently so all kids can benefit. They should change the system to work for all kids. More kids are needing help more than before. The requirements today are rediculous. Retaining Daniel would do nothing for him. He has to be taught it all the easy way. A person who get's 70's is bairly getting buy. This is Daniel. He would quit if we allowed him to. He hates anything that reminds him of school work. Ld school taught me more than any public school did. The system is set up for the majority that's it. Not all kids get it with the same curriculum either. Daniel has to be taught different than how main stream kids learn. He will meltdown and just give up and quit if not done this way.

Public education trys to force people who learn best one way in to a method that doesn't work for that person. It is all about test scores and that's it. Sorry for those who disagree. A iep is nothing put pushing a child to do work they really are not ready for yet. This is just our opinion.

Glen here in Ontario it is rare for them to hold a child back. It doesn't seem to matter how much time they miss or if they really know the material. I know adults who can't read. I'm not sure how it is in Alberta.I will add that these adults have a grade 12.I doubt it. I think the school system just passes them along. I know you asked Oldtimer this IMac but my son has an IEP and doesn't get letter marks. Mind you he is also in a learning and Life Skills class..IMac38943.6510069444.IMac38943.6512962963

Yes, he gets letter grades. He does poor on daily work. His iep's haven't worked well. He still reads at a 2 grade reading level. Se kids are not required to pass state tests either. Daniel bairly passed his reading this year.

He has not gotten enough phonics training either. Sight reading will not help cause then you can't sound out words you don't know. Sadly the stuff he will get in his new class I got in first grade.

[QUOTE=oldtimer]

I think the real thruth is noone whiches to give us the proper DX!

Daniel has all the same therapies used in ASD kids!

[/QUOTE]

Oldtimer, Autism Spectrum is under the umbrella of Pervasive Developmental Disorder which is a pretty general catergory and probably the best they can do without better technology.

In the old days, kids were labelled mentally retarded which probably covered a lot of things which had nothing to do with being mentally slow.

Oldtimer,

An IEP is not designed to force children to do work they are not academically able to do. An IEP is the opposite. The work is "modified," meaning it is brought down to the child's academic, not grade, level, or the instruction in specialized, meaning the child is in smaller classes or gets individualized instruction. For the child with LD's, the idea is that this is done while the child is remediated for his academic difficulties, with the hope that the remediation will bring the child to grade level and the child can exit Special Education. Of course, this most certainly will not be true of all LD kids, but it is the hope. In many ways, the IEP is designed to give the LD child time.

If your son is reading at a second grade level and he is twelve, then he has not received the proper remediation for his academic difficulties. He needs specialized instruction in reading. I hope the new placement you are putting him in will give him this because if it does not, then I doubt it will work either.

Lillian, thanks for the detailed explanation about the purpose of an IEP.

Oldtimer, we also need to remember that remediation does not help every student and we have to accept that.

Lovemyboy, my province does not issue letter grades in core courses for kids with an IEP, either, but I guess they do where Oldtimer lives??

[QUOTE=oldtimer]

[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=oldtimer]Glen, Holding back please. I disagree teach it differently so all kids can benefit. They should change the system to work for all kids. More kids are needing help more than before. The requirements today are rediculous. Retaining Daniel would do nothing for him. He has to be taught it all the easy way. A person who get's 70's is bairly getting buy. This is Daniel. He would quit if we allowed him to. He hates anything that reminds him of school work. Ld school taught me more than any public school did. The system is set up for the majority that's it. Not all kids get it with the same curriculum either. Daniel has to be taught different than how main stream kids learn. He will meltdown and just give up and quit if not done this way. [/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=oldtimer]

He has not gotten enough phonics training either. Sight reading will not help cause then you can't sound out words you don't know. Sadly the stuff he will get in his new class I got in first grade.

[/QUOTE]

I'm confused. In the first post you said "it is all about test scores". And then you said "Se kids are not required to pass state tests". Are you saying there shouldn't be tests or should be tests? How else can you evaluate how a kid is doing with out tests? Of course it is all about test scores.

One thing you have to understand is some kids learn more quickly how to read by using the "sight" method and can devote more time on understanding the entire meaning if a sentence. Other kids need the phonics. (Personally, I don't especially like "sight" reading but that is my opinion) You can't stop a whole class from moving forward while others catch up.

So if you knew your son needs additional phonics why haven't you been including phonics in his daily homework? Or why didn't you buy the "Hooked on Phonics" program? And it isn't too late, you know.

You said to teach it differently so all kids can benefit. What is this "differently" you are talking about???

Although I have not seen a well rounded reading development program in the regular classrooms in the public schools which my children have attended, I think that I did provide that when I taught SE (DHH). I also used that for ds (ADHD/LD) when I tutored him. A combination approach should meet needs of a variety of learning styles.
If I saw that public ed was not providing what my kids needed at the elementary level, whether that was remediation or enhancement of the curriculum, I added at home whatever I could do to improve their education and develop the thirst for knowledge. If you really want the best for your children, it cannot be left entirely up to public education. (I work for a school district) By trying to meet my kid's needs in the lower grades, I realize that they have grown up with the expectation of receiving a good education.

It is rewarding now, to see them advocating for themselves to get what they want within educational systems.

He has decodeing problems!

If a parent has to help a kid out that much than why send them there at all.

Text book learning doesn't work for all. RN hated this way! Games can teach the same way textbooks can! If it's not taught in a easy way we don't get it. Homework is to much these days also.

I think the real thruth is noone whiches to give us the proper DX!

Daniel has all the same therapies used in ASD kids!

Daniel moves on even if he fails his state tests is the point! Se kids are not required to pass! The only kids who have to pass are not SE kids! Disability kids can attend school until age 22. oldtimer38903.5214814815

[QUOTE=Auntie]And one last thing. Why is this posted in the Medications Board??? [/QUOTE]

good question. maybe the school isn't the big problem here.

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