entering kdg- disclose adhd? | ADHD Information

I am a kindergarten teacher and I would notify the teacher.  I have to admit, I do treat ADHD kids differently.  I know with them that I have to pick my battles. 

When one of my ADHD kids is starting to get "squirrly," I try to redirect and maybe have them go get something from the office or from another teacher.

I can honestly say, that most of my favorite students have been the ones with ADHD.

If you are still unsure as to whether to disclose it or not, ask to observe and meet all of the kindergarten teachers in the building.  Try to get the one with the best "fit" for your child.

Good luck!

[QUOTE=LonerGirl]

Wow, I shouldn't seemed so surprised to hear this about teachers treating children with ADHD differently...But, I am surprised. I think it just validates what I already felt about mass produced education. If I could stay home and homeschool I would. [/QUOTE]  After diagnosis last year I told my son's school about ADHD and his teacher definitely began to treat him differently. Seems to me he got blamed for everything that went wrong in the class.  This year's teacher has been MUCH nicer. BUt I'm with you, if I could homeschool I would.  It seems such a strain waiting with bated breath to see which teacher you're going to get each year, and since I still have 12 years of teachers to go .... !

Yes, this is the problem. Once labeled at school with ADHD, the finger gets pointed at your child much more often. Things that would have slid by without mention before are now called attention to. To me it's only worth it to reveal if you want to get an IEP in place--and I don't mean a piece of paper that says IEP at the top. I mean an IEP with services to help your child. As for me I would take the wait and see approach.  You are using meds and hopefully his behavior will be fine during the honeymoon phase.  At that point you should have a relationship with her.  You should also be the one who brings in extra glue and glitter.  (Kindertgarten should be all about glitter.)  Be the one who asks the teacher how her days are going.  Really listen to her.  Be sympathetic and approachable.  Bring cool paper in reams. Tell her your son really likes her... Make a splash with the teacher so she can talk with you without feeling she has to confront you.  If you can send e-mails keep her abreast of your sons moods and progress.  I find it is huge help if the teacher likes you.  Then when you finally have the "talk" she will know you are kind and involved.  She won't dread your child because she won't mind dealing with him because she likes you and she won't feel alone with his problems.  My 14 year old was very gifted and his behavior was soooo adhd like since 1st grade.  This method really worked and I followed up with my two ADHD'ers. Only last year did I find a teacher so cool she would not be my friend.  We made it through the year....  Now on to next year!!

I think it is important to disclose at least to the principal so he/she can hand pick the teacher that is the best for your child.  Some teachers are better at dealing with ADHD than others.  

  good luck

I am a Kindergarten teacher and the mom of a boy with ad/hd who happens to be entering Kindergarten this year. As a teacher, it helps me to know that a child is ad/hd. I would recognize it anyway but I would like to know upfront. I had a Mom tell me last year on the first week of school that her son had ad/hd and it was helpful to me when I saw him exhibiting certain behaviors in the classroom. I could talk openly to his Mom everyday after school about the behaviors that I was seeing and we could work together on targeting certain ones. If she had kept this from me I wouldn't have been able to talk with her so openly about her son. She had questions about his meds and how they affected him at school and b/c I knew upfront I was able to work with her. He went through 3 med changes in Kindergarten with me that year and his Mom and I talked daily about it. I did share with my son's school that he is ad/hd and is on adderral xr.

As a teacher though, I believe I had more patience with this student because I knew there were reasons why he yelled out answers, interrupted me all of the time, ran everywhere we went, was impulsive with friends, rushed through his assignments, etc. I also knew what his Mom was going through because I was going through the same thing with my own son. Just my two cents worth! Hope this helps!Oh for a teacher who has her own ADHD'er at home!! I can attest! My DD's had one  teacher that was an ADHD Mom, it was our best year ever.I am thankful that I discussed with ds's teacher about ADHD. Again, we have different circumstances with having just adopted him and within 2 weeks he started at a new school. His behavior was pretty distracting in the beginning but with the open communication I had with his teacher helped a lot.

She was the one who informed me 3 weeks after I started him in the O3 and Amino Acid that he was a completely different kid and whatever I was doing at home was working.

We had daily emails that would inform me of his progress. I can't say every teacher would be this helpful but it was the best thing I did in order to really see his progress.

On the flipside I do think he got in trouble sometimes b/c they may have looked for it but sometimes his teacher would give him more warnings than the other kids b/c she was aware of our situation.
BL Moretti- I think having my own AD/HD child makes me a more understanding teacher. After 10 of teaching, the jokes on me now!

Good luck in your journey!

CJ'sMom,

If only the other teachers could learn from you. I don't believe that they need to have their own ADHD'er at home to show some compassion.

I agree with the other posters in regards to being labeled. My son went through it, and still goes through it. It is just THEIR misfortune that he turned out to be an A student and exceeding their expectations, that is another way they grade in addition to letter grades.

If they had their way, they would still be blaming him for things.

And, I hate to sound so doom and gloom, but they STILL try!

Every student who has you, CJ'sMom, as their teacher, is a lucky child! You do make a difference!

BETHANN39293.0057291667A school eval may get him OT for sensory integration through school. Whats your OT like?

Thanks to everyone who has responded.

usually you cannot get OT without a primary disability (i.e., speech, learning disability), and the OT is attached to the IEP as a related service.  OT is not usually provided on it's own, as technically it's not a disability and an IEP is formulated around one of the 13 disabilities identified under the ADA and IDEA.  (sorry, that's the sped tchr in me talking- I have seen many kids who truly needed OT for sensory, and they were turned down by my dist.  since they had no identifiable disabilities present.)  But I can certainly contact the school's case manager once my son starts school in the fall.  His psychiatrist wants to meet again middle of sept. to see how my son is doing, and if in fact, we do need to add modifications and/or services to his treatment plan.

has anyone had their child receive OT for sensory integration?  if so, what were the results?

 

sr524239288.6823148148

I've had a student receive OT for sensory integration.  The OT worked wonders with the student.   Unfortunately, OT's through schools are few and in between.  An outside source might be able to provide more services and more frequent.

If the sensory issues are severe enough my district will classify as other health impaired and will provide services.  But, yes as sr5242 says, it is very difficult.

I did, but they discontinued them as they did not feel it was helping. However, you are correct, I was already working with the OT for a fine motor delay, I asked her as an aside if we could do this, and she did. Unfortunately beacuse od my older DD and now my younger who had fine motor delay, I know the OT for our town well . A child in my daughters class did receive OT for sensory integration though. This was his only service. He was a "transfer" from Early intervention though, so that gave them some "pull" I guess. I didnt realize you couldnt get OT. My daughter did recieve only Ot for over a year, but it was for tool graspp. He fine motor skills were ok excpet tool grasp, writing tools, scissors, eating utensils.

Are you going to be looking for modifications for him? If so they need to know. Will he need extra help, even if it means not sitting at circle time? I would hope that a diagnosis in a child's file isnt really "dangerous info".

what I mean by dangerous is that almost 100% of the reg ed tchrs I work with hear adhd and automatically they treat that child different, they expect problems.  I am sure not all teachers do that, but the ones I work with do.  it's unfortunate, but it's true.  11 yrs I've taught and so I have been around a while.

so far in school his prek teachers have never had problems with him at all.  he is a sweet child, empathetic, cooperative with other children.  he just gets overexcited and has trouble regulating his feelings at times (can have extreme reactions both happy and sad).  psychiatrist feels he may have sensory integration needs as well, but our insurance only covers rehab for ot, and only for conditions that will improve within 2 mos.

thanks for the reply.

sr524239288.6647222222

I too am a teacher and have a son entering kinder this year.  I opted to share with the school that my son had ad/hd.   I sat down and shared his history and how much he had improved.  They also are aware that I'm an involved parent and that I won't sit back and make excuses for my son.  We, the school and I have plans to keep communication going. 

Unless the paper work goes in the cum folder it most likely won't be permanent.  The nurse in most cases keeps track of health records.  Or at least this is the way it is handled in our district.   In most cases ad/hd would only be in the files if you and a committe (ARD or 504) classify the ad/hd as other health impaired.  This however can be removed if you go back to the committe at the annual review. 

I have to agree with sr5242 about some teachers.  Until we educate the public more of ad/hd human perception will be hard to change.  That is why I am going to share with as many people that I can about ad/hd.  We have to educate the public. We can't hide from the truth.  And our children deserve respect.

4myson39288.6848842593

my 5 yr old is entering kdg this fall.  he has a tentative dx of adhd.  his psychiatrist feels it may eventually be bipolar, but at this point there isn't enough to call it that.

we have been trying several meds, finally settling on daytrana as having the most positives and fewest negatives.

he has his kdg physical saturday.  I am afraid if I tell his pediatrician about the daytrana, it will be put on his physical, and thus permanently in his school file.  this could just be a phase and he may outgrow it.  as a special ed tchr I know how dangerous info such as this can be in a child's file.

please help with any experiences with this.

Thank you!

sr524239288.6545486111

Wow, I shouldn't seemed so surprised to hear this about teachers treating children with ADHD differently...But, I am surprised. I think it just validates what I already felt about mass produced education. If I could stay home and homeschool I would. My son is going to have it hard. He's going to have the same teacher he had last year. And frankly, she seems burned out, not fit for teaching children with disabilities at all.

Another thought...Teachers won't wait for you to tell them your son has ADHD. I didn't tell my sons teachers in kindergarten or 1st grade...But they called me ON THE FIRST DAY to discuss his behaviour. So they will know, you won't have to tell them.

kindergarten physical?? Sheesh, I'd skip that. No, I would not disclose unless and until doing so would clearly benefit your child. Otherwise they label, put your child under a microscope and treat him differently. I know what you mean about information placed in a child's file. The school psychologist wrote a totally off-target report that read like a fairly tale that now has a place in my child's file. I've spent lots of money trying to bury that piece of rubbish under the reports of legitmate doctors who know what they are talking about!!I feel the more information to help the teachers understand the childs needs the more benifit your child will recieve.  I know as a daycare provider of 11 years and a school aide in the resouce room for 3,  If there is a reason a child acts a certain way you can find a different way to reach them and have a better understanding for their needs than if you think the child is "a trouble maker" "lazy", "just not trying".  I used all of these phrases with my adhd daughter through her 10 years of life.  THe teachers will to if they don't know the circumstances.  In the school that I work in the child needs to be two years behind in their education before they will recive any assistance from the recourse room.  THe only way I could get my daughter the help she needed to keep her from failing those two years, was to have her tested and get the help she needs.  This fall she enters the fifth grade and her teacher is a hard but good teacher this would be the year that will make or break her.  I feel by letting the teacher and aides know what is going on with great communication between both of us, will benifit her more than worrying about lableing the child. They can't help when they don't know what they are working with.