School Attitude and ADHD

How do you feel about your child’s teacher? Do you like them? Do you think they’re doing a good job and that they truly understand your child?

I hope that all of your answers were positive ones, but I have my doubts. So many times, I get emails from parents who tell me stories of how their children are treated in school, and it makes me angry and it breaks my heart.

I’ve been to parent-teacher conferences and asked pointed, detailed questions about my child’s performance, only to be met with blank stares. I’ve had teachers tell me that they’re “too busy” to modify their teaching style to help a child who learns differently, and I’ve had others complain to me that they resent giving kids with Attention Deficit Disorder or other learning disabilities “special treatment”.

I happen to have a niece who’s graduating from college this month with a degree in education. I’m not sure what kind of teacher she’ll be, especially for the kids who have difficulty learning, because she’s never had any trouble in school. She was a “gifted” child, who had praise and accolades heaped on her all throughout her school years. How can she possibly understand what it’s like to struggle with things that come so easily to her?

I thnk that the majority of people who go into educaton are like my niece; school was a positive experience for them, and learning was a joy, not a struggle. I think that they find it very hard to understand what people with learning disabilities go through.

I suppose that we can’t blame them for not being able to understand what it’s like to have AD/HD; after all, isn’t it just the other side of the coin? We sometimes have trouble understanding what they’re teaching, and they have trouble understanding why we don’t get it.

What I do blame them for is their attitude. When there is a lack of compassion, or willingness to work with us, or a complete dismissal of us as though we are unimportant, then I have a problem. To be fair, not all teachers and schools are like this; there are a lot of very dedicated educators out there who could teach the others a thing or two.

I wish there was a way that we could somehow get together and make the changes so desperately needed in many schools, and I wish that I had an answer for the parents I meet who are so frustrated with the way their child is treated.

For now, the best I can offer is this: do what you can to change what you can, and do everything in your power to build and strengthen your child’s self-image and self-confidence. A child who emerges from high school feeling secure in their abilities and who they are is far better off than the one who got all A’s.

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Chores and ADHD

As you can see, I have added a player to the site to make it easier to listen to any audio files I add.

This Tuesday Ten Minute Tip is about helping your ADD child remember to do their chores and to do them properly.

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