CX-Post from Special Needs Board -- HELP for Homeschooling w/ADD. Questions.

[LisaK in VA]

I've asked this on the Special Needs board, but am cross-posting here, just in case you have additional insights.


I have a friend whose 7yo daughter has ADD. They tried medication, but even 1/2 a patch seemed too much (daugher seemed to "come down" off of medication, very emotional, didn't handle the transition well).

Anyhow, she is no longer medicated and there are concerns at school about her progressing to the 3rd grade.

1. Handwriting. Friend's been told that w/o the medication there is nothing that can be done regarding dd handwriting. It will be messy. They are concerned that the 3rd grade teachers won't be patient with dd's writing issues and simply mark everything wrong. Typing isn't considered an option in this school (wasn't part of the IEP meeting).

2. Speech & Spelling. DD spells how she hears/says it. So Rabbit is Wabbit, and tooth is toof, saw is sall, etc. Reccommendation is Speech Therapy (which I don't disagree with), with the expectation that this will correct the spelling issues.

3. Reading Comprehension. DD can read, but is so focused upon reading the words that she doesn't seem to comprehend what she's read.

I get the feeling the DD is a bright girl, but her ADD (and not seeming to be able to use the medication) is holding her back.

The dd has asked to be homeschooled... I'll be showing my friend what we do, but I also would like to make sound reccomendations for her dd based upon the needs of an ADD child. They haven't committed to homeschooling, but the mother is very torn up about what she should do.

Some friends are saying "hold her back." My friend isn't convinced that's the way to go (dd is already one of the older children, has friends, etc. -- isn't "dumb" -- just struggles due to her ADD). I'm definitely not convinced holding her back will "fix" things -- and could wind up creating self-esteem issues very quickly, causing her to think she's "dumb" and perhaps giving up on herself.

Looking for any advice & suggestions -- curriculum and otherwise for my friend and her daughter. I think she'd make a wonderful homeschooling mom, and that she'd really enjoy it -- even if it was just for the elementary school years.

Thank you in advance!

Lisa
__________________

[Jean in Newcastle]

no advice on the school situation but if she does homeschool here are some suggestions:

1. narrate most "essay" type things to her mom/teacher. It allows her to concentrate on the rhythm of the language and the content without being worried about the mechanics of handwriting.

For handwriting practice do a small amount of copywork/dictation (increase as you go). Some children find cursive easier than printing. You or your friend might want to experiment with this.

Start to learn typing.

2. Speech therapy sounds good. My dd6 has speech issues. She will violently disagree with my pronunciation of words until I show her the written word.

3. Read alouds are good and are not a cop-out. She will learn vocabulary and how to get the sense of a passage without worrying about the decoding. Keep working on reading on her own too.

Homeschooling can allow her to learn in short bursts with breaks for movement etc. in between. Some children bounce on a ball while they school or walk up and down steps while doing school. Homeschooling allows flexibility and experimentation without it being written into an IEP!

[myfunnybunch]

. Handwriting. Friend's been told that w/o the medication there is nothing that can be done regarding dd handwriting. It will be messy. They are concerned that the 3rd grade teachers won't be patient with dd's writing issues and simply mark everything wrong. Typing isn't considered an option in this school (wasn't part of the IEP meeting).
__________________

Just in case this child's family does decide to keep her in school please ask them to consult an advocate. Legally, a child on an IEP cannot be denied necessary services and accomodations simply because a school does not consider those accomodations an option. Services to children with disabilities are needs-driven. Teachers, classrooms, schools are mandated to provide reasonable accomodations, and allowing keyboarding is certainly far more reasonable than marking a child wrong simply because they do not have the ability to write neatly. It would be ridiculous and wrong to fail a child in a wheelchair for not running across the gym in PE; it is just as ridiculous and wrong to fail a child who cannot write clearly for not writing clearly. This a child crying out for occupational therapy to address her fine motor deficits, and accomodations (keyboarding, dictation) to help her continue to learn and progress in spite of her disability.

And it's unethical to try to coerce, threaten, frighten parents into medicating their children. Third grade teachers are, for the most part, men and women who want good things for their students, not ogres.

Sorry. Can you see the steam shooting out my ears? I know that doesn't really answer the question you asked, but situations like this make me want to go to these meetings and ask the staff, "Are you kidding?"

Working with a school system this inflexible would really reinforce my desire to homeschool.

I agree with Jean's suggestions and would add that repetition helped my special needs dd with reading comprehension. Reading and re-reading a passage, sometimes 2-3 days in a row before any discussion or comprehension questions, helped.

Speech therapy is a good idea, and I would suggest occupational therapy too. A consultation with a decent occupational therapist can offer a wealth of information and exercises to help deal with fine motor challenges. Our piano teacher, also an OT, recommends Handwriting Without Tears for most of her elementary students, as it offers concrete visual cues to help students form their letters properly.

Cat

[Violet]

Just in case this child's family does decide to keep her in school please ask them to consult an advocate. Legally, a child on an IEP cannot be denied necessary services and accomodations simply because a school does not consider those accomodations an option. Services to children with disabilities are needs-driven. Teachers, classrooms, schools are mandated to provide reasonable accomodations, and allowing keyboarding is certainly far more reasonable than marking a child wrong simply because they do not have the ability to write neatly. It would be ridiculous and wrong to fail a child in a wheelchair for not running across the gym in PE; it is just as ridiculous and wrong to fail a child who cannot write clearly for not writing clearly. This a child crying out for occupational therapy to address her fine motor deficits, and accomodations (keyboarding, dictation) to help her continue to learn and progress in spite of her disability.

And it's unethical to try to coerce, threaten, frighten parents into medicating their children. Third grade teachers are, for the most part, men and women who want good things for their students, not ogres.

Sorry. Can you see the steam shooting out my ears? I know that doesn't really answer the question you asked, but situations like this make me want to go to these meetings and ask the staff, "Are you kidding?"

:iagree: I'm heading out, so I just want to give a few quick comments. My dd had a lot of these kinds of issues in school. She'll be nine this month. She has come a long way without any meds. She has been homeschooled two years now. I was told she'd never be able to write and would need keyboarding and that she would have problems reading on grade level. She's doing well with HWT, and she is reading beyond grade level. Frankly, a lot of this sounds like stuff that needs to be addressed through accomodations, not necessarily meds IMHO. It may not even be ADD that this child has. It could be a host of other things that may just take lots of patience and therapy to address. OT, speech, etc. I truly believe lots of very young kids with no disabilities other than developmentally not being ready are being pushed beyond their capabilities unfairly. I'm not saying that this child doesn't have LD's, but I'm saying, even kids without LD's IMHO are often pushed too hard too fast in school. I'm so sorry that this family has to struggle like this.

Anita

[Violet]

One more thing I wanted to mention is with re: to reading comprehension. Perhaps this little girl needs some very specific phonics instruction. Once she is able to read better, comp will go up I think.

Anita

[Tracey in TX]

1. Handwriting. Friend's been told that w/o the medication there is nothing that can be done regarding dd handwriting. It will be messy. They are concerned that the 3rd grade teachers won't be patient with dd's writing issues and simply mark everything wrong. Typing isn't considered an option in this school (wasn't part of the IEP meeting).

2. Speech & Spelling. DD spells how she hears/says it. So Rabbit is Wabbit, and tooth is toof, saw is sall, etc. Reccommendation is Speech Therapy (which I don't disagree with), with the expectation that this will correct the spelling issues.

3. Reading Comprehension. DD can read, but is so focused upon reading the words that she doesn't seem to comprehend what she's read.

I get the feeling the DD is a bright girl, but her ADD (and not seeming to be able to use the medication) is holding her back.

___

There are two distinct issues: one is academics and the other is ADD. The two aren't necessarily the same. Having three ADD/ADHD kiddos, it takes time to find the right course of treatment. It's a vast improvement in both academics and behavior since we found the best meds.

Handwriting: cursive is recommended for children who don't print well. Quite frankly, I've never understood why we teach our DCs to print. There is D'Nealian (sp?) style, which is an inbetween cursive and print, and the standard cursive. DS has ADD and dyslexia. His printing was illegible (and still is), yet his handwriting is flawless. Typing is also an important skill.

Reading: have DC read aloud to verify she knows the words. Just because she's reading doesn't mean she processes the words in her mind. That will require training herself to understand as she's saying the words. Maybe parents can read the story back to her as she listens, ask questions to determine that she comprehends.

Spelling: good readers normally become good spellers. Work on the reading and begin a strong phonics program.

IMO, I would NOT hold her back b/c her confidence will suffer unless it's DCs idea. Maybe use a curriculum that transitions easily from 2nd to 3rd grade. Also, if she returns to ps, she may not want the stigma of being held back (some kids care, others don't).

Homeschool sounds like a good course of action for her. Hopefully parents are willing to consider at least until she's where she's academically capable of being.

[Rich with Kids]

I ran across this a while back and thought it was very interesting. It's an exercise ball chair (http://theergochair.com/content/view/31/52/). I've always wanted one, but I've read they really work. It's worth looking into the research. HTH!

[swellmomma]

I homeschool 2 kids with ADHD and I myself have it. One child is medicated because he is so severe, my dd is not medicated. A couple things, first before even worrying about the school work itself, suggest to her supplimenting with Omega 3-6-9 and using melatonin to aid sleep. My dd is extremely bright, but her adhd means she does not get a proper sleep which leave her difficult to deal with and unable to learn anything. Melatonin is a natural substance your body creates but often with adhd kids they do not create enough so a supp is necessary.

On to the other questions, My kids had/have handwriting issues, not to mention mine has always been messy. I do alot of copywork and penmanship practice with them, right now focused only on printing not cursive. My son suddenly 3 weeks ago started having immaculate printing consistently so now I am moving him onto cursive. My dd with continue with printing. I do not allow them to type their work because they will not be carrying around a keyboard everywhere, they need to know how to print/write legibly. I still do not use cursive because it is so messy, I print everything. So a suggestion would be to give her lots and lots of practice at home doing copywork and penmanship even if she stays in ps.

2. spelling/speaking. I agree speech therapy is needed. As for spelling, if she is going to homeschool suggest sequential spelling rather than a phonics based one. This break the habit of "sounding it out" and instead teaches the word family patterns. Even if she wanted to do it afterschool, each day only take 5-10 minutes to complete. THis is the program I use with my kids with great success. Phonetically my dd still makes many many spelling errors but using the words she learned in this program no problem.

3. Reading comprehension. My son has issues with this. We do books on tape, or read alouds often because he does better if he hears it as opposed to focusing on reading it. I built up his comprehension using narrations, so I would have him read a simple preschool book then tell me what it was about in summary fashion, we built up to his current reading level. I have him read in small sections, like 2-3 pages then narrate to me what is going on to make sure the comprehension is there. Also I have bought some language arts workbooks that have a story they read then they answer a couple pages of questions based on that story. His comprehension has really blossomed since starting this.

I agree with the above poster about the exercise ball. They are wonderful for kids who can not stay focused in class, as it requires concentration to stay upright on the ball so then they are more focus on the full surrounding rather than daydreaming.

3.

[LisaK in VA]

Thank you everyone -- I've sent all of the replies to my friend, because I think she'll find some encouragement in knowing that she's not alone, and that there are things she can do with her daughter.

I don't have a lot of experience with ADD -- so haven't had to worry about it. I just didn't want to offer a ton of advice without that kind of background (kwim?)

Anyhow, I think the answers here will give her a lot to think about -- and some things she can try now.

Thank you again!