To make a long story short - This morning my son missed his morning dose of Adderall. My fault. I didn't recall if I gave it to him or not. When I asked him he said yes. I took his word, but I had my doubts.
Well, today I got a note from the teacher saying J has made bad choices all day and he repeatedly wouldn't do his assignments, blah, blah blah. And now he isn't allowed to go on the field trip in the middle of May. It's weeks away! Of course, I was angry. It was my mistake he didn't have his meds and now he's paying for it. I e-mailed the teacher but I have not heard back.
This teacher is a total b****. I have tried to work with her all year, but I know she thinks he's just a bad kid with bad parents. She even told me once she thought his problem was that he had been allowed to do whatever he wanted for too long and this was the result. I was fuming. Oh, and when she told me that she was calling to tell me he couldn't go on the last field trip they had.
She plays it up like she has it under control, but his daily behavior chart says otherwise. When I requested school testing we had a meeting and she just played the 'Good teacher - Bad mom' bit the whole time. I would say I had trouble with him doing such and such and she would counter it by saying she didn't have those problems in HER CLASSROOM. She claims he bahaves because she expects him too. Insert huge eyeroll here!
So anyway, truth be told I know she was just looking for a way not to include him on the feild trip. She did this the last time. Every teacher he has ever had has done this to him. The last time the kid went on a feild trip was in Kindy. I guess what I am asking from you guys is...When you have done everything in your power to help your child and you still come up against teachers that just won't accept that a child has ADHD. How do you handle the anger? I just want to punch her lights out. I'm sick of her snotty holier than thou attitude. Also, I'm wondering how you guys would handle this situation? Should I go to the pincipal?
If I thought it wouldn't affect my son I would send him to school everday without meds just to piss her off! Ugh.
LonerGirl39933.6093981481I went of the deep end when my son was excluded from a field trip.I agree with the suggestion about having a personal chaperone. Making him miss the field trip is way too harsh. How old is your son? What is up with missing all of the field trips? Is he being singled out? Is there an IEP in place? My third grader is on his third school (finally a great fit) and I wouldn't tolerate the stuff you have had thrown at you. I emphasize to his teachers at each conference (just had another one Monday) that we are a team, working together to make his school life a success. That he wants to do his best and please his teachers, his behavior does not mean that he wants to be bad. Hard to believe in this day and age that educators may still be in the stone ages about adhd.
The teacher does NOT have the final say in this matter.
Thanks for responding everyone! I am just pissed beyond belief this time. The last school function wasn't a field trip per se but a slumber party in the classroom. My son had been so excited he talked incessantly about it for two weeks!
The day of the slumber party the teacher called me and told me my son wouldn't be able to attend because during computer lab class instead of doing his math work he chose to play a game instead. Well, duh, he has impulse issues. So I argues with her and she told me he wasn't like any other student she'd ever taught in her 25 years of teaching and that all her other ADHD students did perfectly fine on medication. I was fuming! We had a conference and she played like he was doing just fine.
Second conference got heated and she agreed to talk to the principal and FINALLY a meeting was set up for an IEP. They told me however it wouldn't be done until the end of the school year. That's where we are at present. I should mention that the teacher played it up like he did fine in her classroom in spite of all the problems. It really makes little sense to me, but I feel like my hands are tied. The principal never even showed up at the meeting and the counselor took notes on the computer the hwole time while I felt attacked by this teacher. It was awful!
So anyway, here is what I wrote to her:
Hi Mrs. ********, I just wanted to let you know I received your letter about Julian's behavior today. The thing is he missed his morning dose of medication which was completely my fault. I really hate to see Julian unable to go on his field trip on account of my mistake. The field trip is couple of weeks away and I hope you will reconsider your decision. It would seem unfair to punish him for one day of misbehavior.