Posted by Dorothy

In Reply to: School insists on treating bright girl with ADHD as lazy instead of disabled posted by Jackie M. Botala

I work for a one of the highest rated middle schools in the state.
I also have a 9 year old daughter with ADHD. I have had the same
frustration levels as you all in the elementary school. It is by law,
the school's responsibility to help the child. However, most of what
I have seen is parents trying to take advantage of the system for
1on 1 aides for their child who does NOT have ADD/ADHD. It leaves
those of us that truly do have needy children with a system that is
frustrated by parents who have children who are beyond the scope
of ADD/ADHD. I have seen extremely bright children where the problem
is not their ADD/ADHD, but how the parent treats the child and deals
with their temper tamtrums. I have seen a few kids that just needed
love and their parents want the label on them so that they get the
attention they are not getting at home.
So, I believe it is important to keep an eye on your child's progress
and make sure that they do not have unnecessary pressure put upon
them in the school environment. I also believe that if it is truly bad
enough, they should be put on medication. If your child does is still feeling
inadequate, you can request additional help for your child. If that fails, you can
also request a private school (at the districts expense). I would only consider
this in extreme circumstances. I have worked at a private school and
I truly believe that the public school is the better education in most circumstances.
The bottom line is that you need to listen to what your child say's and
build a relationship with the teacher and they will help you as much as they can -
once they realize that you have a serious issue.

Good luck!

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