Help for a teacher with adhd student | ADHD Information

i have a adhd child who is in meds and doing great!!   However I work in the school and in her class she has a child that is severe undiagnosed adhd and the parents refuse to discuss med use.  I have suggested what I tried with my daughter and I am wondering what other advise I cam give her.

 

How do you know it is ADHD, severe or undiagnosed? Only a Medical professional can diagnose ADHD. ( a psychiatrist preferably)

The school/teacher cannot suggest meds. They can however suggest an evaluation for Ld's, and if Child Find actually worked they would have already. The school can also do an evaluation for learning disabilities if the parents request it and give their permission.

If the parents do not want to medicate, or have an evaluation then there really isn't anything you can do.

edbson39358.4277314815It is extremely inappropriate for you to be discussing meds use with a parent. At most you should raise the question of testing, and then let the parents take it from there. If you need to do more, your administration should handle it. You are crossing a line by advocating med use and putting yourself in line for trouble. What if they did it and something went wrong?

This is the problem. The decision to medicate is a parental one. All you can do is suggest an evaluation. I might suggest that you get your school counslor invovled if he or she is good. Sometimes parents will take it better from the counselor than a teacher or the principal. Shame perhaps but that is the was it often works.  May be worth a try.

Dizfriz

 

I can relate to your experience at school. Our son is also ADHD and doing great on meds, and we see a couple other boys in his class that seem to have problems.

Our hearts go out to these boys and their families, and my wife and I talk about how we would like to help them. But as the others posters have stated, we cannot provide advise as to what they should do. We can only give advise when asked. And if we are asked, we still need to be very cautious. We can only say what our experience has been and what has worked for our son.

If this child you are talking about is truly ADHD (it could be something else), then I would think they will evenually find out (hopefully) and decide to get their child tested. Just keep them in your prayers and be open to talking to them WHEN and IF they ask for your opinion.

I remember when Jacob (our dx son) was in kindergarten. His teacher suggested that we get him tested, but she never said anything about meds. For 8 months we disagreed with her and thought SHE was the problem and not our son. We refused to get him tested until we started to see MAJOR problems at school, at home, and at church (like when he bit a kid on the ear, or when he hit a teacher.) It was then we cried and cried, and decided that something needed to be done. Then we got him tested and the doctor put us on the road to recovery. Now Jacob is doing very good. And we have thanked his kindergarten teacher over and over again how much we appreciated her help. But it took a little time for us to accept that fact that we had a problem.

Give this family some time to understand how to handle their son. I'm sure they'll come around, but give them some space.

Just curious...you said that you work at the school. What position (job) do you have at the school?Dad in Akron39359.3144791667Also to add until someone is ready to accept help no one can help them. Perhaps you should ask the parent to come and observe the child in class for an hour. I would only discuss behavior issues and learning issues directed to what happens in the classroom with the child's teacher so they can in turn discuss that with the parents. It is not your class nor your call to say anything to the parents. I would be outraged if my son's teacher or anyone else at their school suggested a dx and/or medication directly to me.

Meds do not cure all and can be detrimental. Also, since you are not a medical professional you can't suggest it. Yes, you may have a child that has been dx but hopefully after extensive tests and evaluations. And that was your decision.

Only discuss the child's learning (progress or lack there of) and make a suggestion to your principal to talk with the parents to help their child learn and behave appropriately if the in classroom behavior is unacceptable and there appears to be no change.

Sorry but that's it and your hands are tied otherwise.
oh we have a student at my son's school just like this. the parents were requested to have an evaluation done and the parents refused.  I feel so bad for this boy. He is so much like my son and we did the evaluation and my son went from F's and in principals' office every week to A+ on papers and has tons of good friends.  they are both in second grade and it hurts to see the lack of confidence, out of control behaviors, losing friends due to impulsiveness of this child. He is a very sweet boy and it hurts to know he is going through these emotions as my son did.  I don't know what you can do to help.

I am in the recourse room.  I see the shildren and what they go through and I agree that the parent is the only one who can make this call but it has to be frustrating for the child and evetually he gives up and goes with what comes easy,  getting the attention that is negative and therefore gets in trouble and labled a "bad" kid.  My heart goes out for him and other kids in the same boat, I would love to help them as much as possible.