"Falling Behind" Academically | ADHD Information

In another thread, Jessica N wrote:
"ADHD kids tend to fall behind peers academically slowly year after year, and this has a cumulative effect. Academic slips are very hard to recover from."

I'm wondering where this information comes from. Are there studies showing this that I could read?

We homeschool our son with ADHD, and have been doing it 3 years. So far I do not see him behind his peers, although I think he would be if he had to sit in a regular classroom all day.

Anyway, I was curious what this was based on, and whether there are things we should be doing as homeschoolers to prevent a slide.

Thanks.

< =text/>_popupControl(); We have seen no slide in our son, who will be entering middle school this fall. He continues to grow in reading (now reading at a college level) and is above grade level in math.  I think that, just like height and weight, academic performance is an individual thing. Not all adults in the world are at the same level intellectually, so you could argue that everyone "falls behind" according to their natural ability. I know that without intervention and strong advocacy adhd kids could have a difficult time meeting their potential, but it's not the same for all adhd children, nor for non-adhd children for that matter. My son does under produce at school but he is in gifted program with all A's and B's He has never fallen behind except in P.E. because his meds are wearing off and he can't run too many laps so they down grade him! Idiots.My source is an article called Dr Russell Barkley on ADHD, Excerpts from his lecture in San Francisco, CA on June 17, 2000. I found it on schwablearning.org.

Here's the quote:

"School performance problems in a vast majority of them tends to be under-productivity. Their achievement skills start to fall because they’re not learning as much as other kids in school. Their IQ will start to fall by about seven to ten points by the time they reach high school, and that is because they’re not keeping pace with their peers in the acquisition of knowledge."I actually think they might have a point depending upon how kids are
educated. I think most schools have a policy of building upon previous
knowledge, and most probably constantly reiterate what they've already
learned while they learn new materials. I think ADHD kids will do fine in
that type of environment.

But when I was in school they said something once and if you missed it
that was it. I didn't know what a "sentence" was in reference to math
until I took calculus in college because I missed the lesson where they
defined it and then never went over it again. Don't ask me how I made it
through high school math. If that's the type of schooling the child is in,
then ADHD kids would have a severe limitation.

And about IQ tests - they are geared to age, and the older a tester is the
more language specific and general knowledge based the test becomes.
If a kid has missed a point in their education and they're trying to cover
for it, then they'll have less time to learn new stuff, so they'll learn less
overall, and score lower on IQ tests based on knowledge.

In case you're assuming the schools don't still do the second education
scenario I described, sorry to break your bubble, but my son was taught
to read that way. Or, should I say, not taught to read and then rode hard
by his teacher because of it. I had a fit and he started working with a
reading specialist. When the teacher got his attention and he actually
learned how to read he had the best improvement the specialist had ever
seen and now reads entire chapter books in one night.

I think IQ numbers are useless. But teaching methods are extremely key.
So find out what's going on in the classroom and keep in touch with the
teacher to see if there are any problems.

Sorry I got a bit preachy! Kind of hit a nerve...I'm with you on that Corrina. IQ scores are just a knowledge assessment.