ADD Student

Posts Tagged ‘School’

Kindall Nelson, a reporter for the Chicago Special Education Examiner, has put together a list she calls Summer Reading for Parents of Special Needs Students.

One of my favorites, The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal by Jonathan Mooney, is on the list. Also included are some great handbooks for both parents and teachers.

The Wrightslaw books are excellent resources for parents, taking complicated issues and making them easier to understand.

How to Reach and Teach Children with ADD/ADHD: Practical Techniques, Strategies and Interventions by Sandra F. Rief, MA is aimed at teachers, but might be helpful for parents as well. You can use these ideas at home for homework and share them with your child’s teachers, too.

See Kindall’s post for the full list and her comments.

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My son Andy is at school right now (Indiana University), and he really seems to be enjoying it. I know that he’s putting more effort into it than he usually has and he’s been really good about doing his homework, too.

Andy is 24 and you know he has ADHD. He’s also extremely intelligent and quick witted, but he never applied himself in school, most of the time because he didn’t need to in order to get by.

Like a lot of kids with ADHD, Andy went to a community college right out of high school. He completely blew it off and failed most of his classes that first year.

ADHD kids and their parents often don’t like the idea of a community college, especially since most kids head off to a university somewhere. It somehow seems to reinforce that whole idea that the kid with ADHD isn’t so bright.

Sending an 18 year old kid with ADHD away from home and expecting him to suddenly shape up, take care of himself and remember things he never has before is often trouble waiting to happen. Remember, until they are in their mid-twenties, kids with ADHD are 3-5 years younger emotionally than their real age.

After a year pretty much failing at community college, Andy got a full time job. And then, when we moved to Indiana, he tried community college again. Once again, he failed to apply himself. And to be fair, it was a difficult time for all of us.

I see a much different person now than I did a few years ago. I think that a few years spent in the real world, working at the kind of jobs you can get when all you have is a high school education was the best education of all.

My son has matured and he knows first hand the quality of a good education. He’s determined to do well this time and I think he will succeed.

It’s hard as a parent to put off your child’s education, whether it’s done intentionally or not. But sometimes, in the end, it can be worth it.

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Mabel Fox does not have ADHD, but she does have 2 sons who do. That makes her an ADD Mom in my book.

I first found out about Ms. Fox through an article in the Detroit Free Press when they published an article about her on Mother’s Day.

One of the most important things in life to Ms. Fox is family. She made a vow to herself that if she wasn’t married by the time she was 40, she would adopt children and “make a family”.

Now her family includes 2 sons: Malik, 13 and Mikal, 10. Both boys have Attention Deficit Disorder. Both boys are in special education and both passed the Michigan Educational Assessment Program tests this year. (The MEAP is a standardized test that measures performance in core subjects such as reading, science and math.)

Ms. Fox understands that her sons function better within a structured environment and she makes sure that they are rewarded for completing their list of chores with extra TV or game time.

She also credits the school system’s approach to education because her boys have a great deal of support people within the school environment. The school and it’s teachers, however, give just as much credit to Ms. Fox, calling her “…a gift from heaven for these two boys.”

Ms. Fox learned the values of family, hard work, and education from her own parents, and gives them credit for encouraging her to pursue her own education.

Ms. Fox has recently started a new company, The Achievement Group, which offers educational products that focus on cognitive therapy in education. According to her website, people with ADHD, Autism, those learning the English language, and people with reading difficulties or delays can benefit from the products and services she offers. Her company also works with school systems.

I found Mabel Fox’s story to be so inspirational; you can check out the entire article here, and visit her website here.

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