how to know if meds work in school | ADHD Information

Thanks, I am annoyed as I have sent a letter each time we changed the meds. Asking if we could be notified about any changes. We will get better communication next week when he starts the IEP and gets a new home room. I have learned and will do more follow through with the teachers. I will look into getting the evaluation forms from the dr. he sees weekly. He has suggested that.

I'm new to the board.  My daughter is on Ritalin and is in  second grade.  Luckily, she always has had wonderful teachers who try to bring out the best in her.

Last year, her teacher made her sit right in front of her which made a huge difference.  The teacher also would make her in charge of different things in the room and a lot of times she would send her on different errands for her.  The teacher she has now is doing the same thing.  The first grade teacher had my permission to tell the second grade teacher all about her so she prepared as to how to do things differently with my daughter.  The second grade teacher also does 10 minutes of Tai Chi every morning which is a great thing for kids with ADHD.  Try suggesting things to the teacher that will help you son.  Don't settle for whatever the teacher says about your son.  When I first went to my daughters first IEP meeting I wouldn't say a word, but the staff encouraged any ideas I had to help her.

 

 

We have a very open dialogue with M's teacher, and have talked to her quite frequently since the beginning of the school year.

She does a daily chart for him - she has five sections, where he will get either a "thumbs up" or a "thumbs down" based on criteria which she has specified on the chart.  She will put a little smiley face by areas he did well, and a frown where he struggled, possibly with an explanation of what happened.

I still find it is most helpful to speak directly - like on Fri, she told me specifically that his focus and attention are better, but that his body doesn't seem to be able to stop moving.  Hard to say that on a chart!

Just a word of caution about email - she told me that she would not converse with me via email.  She said that if it is written (ie: email) that a copy has to go in his cumulative file, and that we may not want everything in there.  Not sure if this is something that varies by state, or by school district?

Hi.  In our case, when we are adjusting meds, her dr gives us a questionnaire for the teacher to fill out 2 weeks after the dosage change.  Based on that feedback, we may adjust the dosage again.We had our IEP meeting for DS today, he his going to split his time 70% in special needs class and 30% in a regular 1st grade. We are fine with this. But, his current teacher was there. So we asked how his attention has been. Her reply was not real good, he is fine when she is right infront of him. But, during rug time etc.. he sits in the back and messes around.. then doesn't know what to do back at his desk. So we have been thinking the strattera has been helping at school. But, now we find out it is not.. However, he is doing better at home.. She also found no difference when he was on Ritalin verses the Strattera. Also that he has no impulse control.. Like kidding.. we are working on that.

Sorry to ramble.. but, how do you all know if things are really working in school?? I was very sad when we left as I thought he was doing better.. But, am happy he is going to be getting the extra reading help etc... wmtmann39015.3244328704

My daughter's teacher is very cooperative and sends home a daily chart with morning, lunch, and afternoon behaviors on it.  That way I notice when there is or isn't a pattern.  It has helped me tremendously!  Can his teacher help you with that??

we started off with keeping a daily spiral notebook.  the teacher would write any thing significant in it.  Then we went to email.  After that, it's the same as the rest of the class.  Thank Goodness!!!!My daughter's psychiatrist gave us a modified connors form for the teacher to fill out every couple of weeks. This did however not work for us because this form had mostly hyperactive indicators on it and my daughter is mostly inattentive in class. We now get reports from the teacher every other week by e-mail. The special ed teacher also gives us feedback (my daughter takes some tests in the quieter SE room).