Maybe this is more of a vent than an actual question! But does anyone else find that most of their kids teachers imply that ADHD behavior is a 'choice?' For example every single teacher from K - 3rd have talked about my son's 'choices' even though they all know he's medically diagnosed as ADHD. Last year the teacher said among other things that my son was 'choosing' not to get his work done. What exactly do you say to that? If you say that it's not his choice then you are implying that your kid has no control over what they say or do but if you go along and confirm that yes, my son makes bad choices then you are negating the condition itself. Even my son's friend who has autism is told he makes 'bad choices' all day long! So frusterating.

weez

I think teachers can make all the difference. But some just simply are not so good at it!. That's why maybe they should just do their job of teaching as best as they were trained to do, while realizing they are not psychologists nor psychics and should only offer helpful advice to parents in regards to making the most of their childs' education, not judge their child nor them.

I have a unique perspective because I was a child who was diagnosed with ADD and now I am a teacher. Most teachers were not trained in special ed. Typically they've had maybe 2 classes on it. And it was not narrowed down to disabilities, emotional disabilities, neurosis, etc. So they simply do not fully understand the in's and out's of a specific condition like ADD.

There is a fine line between what we can expect from teachers and what teachers can expect from children. It is probably hard for his teacher to tell which actions are choices and which ones are poor self control with no ill intent.

As a parent with a child who has a special need, it unfortunately falls on you (unless he is in special education classes) to provide the teacher with ideas and tools that help him. I mean it would be great if schools were a little more full service. I have seen schools that were and they were a total asset to the entire community.

Please don't let me insult you. If you've already done this I apologize. If you could send him with a fidget toy that is somewhat bland, serves only the purpose of keeping hands busy when he's reading or something I think that would help. Also, since ADD involves underfocosing as well as overfocusing, putting noise blocking headphones on can really aid an child with attention issues by helping them to overfocus on their work. Which is a good thing. A rocking chair in the room is a great place for a child to read as he can rythmically rock during reading time and get that sensory input he needs. He should also be able to run a lap every half hour around the school or the hall in order to reduce the amount of issues that hyper behavior brings. That is such a good antecedent exercise. And then also some understanding on your part as far as acknowledging that your child can be tough to handle. Lastly, when any of the students in my class have any medical issues, the parents usually give me an easy to read sort of pamphlet. It bullets things they'd like me to be aware of when handling their child as well as a list of things I could do throughout the day to prevent or redirect any troublesome situations.

I really do apologize if you've already been through this and I am wasting my breath. If so...well then darn! This teacher needs to figure out what works for your son!!

Wow, emilyfriend, great post! I wish my son could have had you for a teacher.

Yes, very good and also you bring up exercise. I believe there is simply not enough of that in school and kids have way too much energy in general, ADD or not! Remember the movie "Kindergarten Cop"? He had them in "training", which included lots of exercise. Working them out might exhaust some of that energy and it's also good for them.

Good quality protein is actually what creates many neurotransmitters in our brain from the amino acids in it. Neurotransmitters are what makes our brains function better. Hey, they won't create a genius out of someone who is not but will help the brain work and concentrate better. Good point.

in the teacher's defense, ADHD is WAY overdiagnosed these days, and it does get hard for a teacher to know which kids are really ADHD and which ones simply have some serious lack of discipline at home. i think this is where a lot of teachers' negative attitudes come from.

too many parents misunderstand ADHD to be a disease where their precious child just has no control over his/her actions and therefore cannot be held responsible for anything they do! this enables those ADHD kids to be out of control little pains in the rearend, and it makes it extremely hard for teachers to have a functioning classroom! FORTUNATELY for your son, you do not seem to be one of those parents! but these days, parents like you seem to be few and far between!

having ADHD means that it is harder to do certain things, it does not mean that it is impossible. i believe this is what most teachers base their "bad choices" speeches on, and they're not really wrong. it is especially hard for a teacher to know how to treat an ADHD child who is taking ADHD medication, because isn't the medication supposed to eliminate ADHD symptoms? so the teacher thinks, "This 'ADHD' child is taking medicine for ADHD, so why is he still acting out and not finishing his work and disrupting my classroom??? He must just be choosing to do this because he wants attention, or lacks discipline, or whatever..."

so i'm just hoping to present things from the teachers' perspective so you might better understand where they are coming from. i am a former teacher who also has ADD/ADHD (depending on the doctor, but since adderall works great for me, it doesn't really matter!). i think what EMILYFRIEND said about communicating and letting the teacher know your tricks for dealing with your son's problem is an EXCELLENT idea! and i love the fidget toy idea too! but if you decide to use the fidget toy idea, definitely make sure you let the teacher know what it is and what it is for! and seriously, don't rely on your son delivering a note to the teacher, go and talk to the teacher face to face. that way, the teacher knows that you as a parent take an active interest in your son's schooling (it might surprise you how many parents don't!), and then if the teacher has some issues with your son, they can be addressed in person so that there can't be any miscommunication between you. hope that made sense!

anyway, here's me rambling on and on... sorry about that... guess my adderall wore off! :)

it is especially hard for a teacher to know how to treat an ADHD child who is taking ADHD medication, because isn't the medication supposed to eliminate ADHD symptoms?

If that's what teachers are thinking, then there-in is the problem.

The likelihood of one prescription eliminating all of a child's (or adult's, for that matter) symptoms and continuing to be effective at that dose are practically nil. It's highly unlikely that the first medication at the first dose is going to be effective. And, even when we do get it right, eliminating all the symptoms doesn't happen either. A reduction is symptoms is usually the best we get.

If it were as easy as giving our ADHD kids (or ourselves) a pill, there wouldn't be a need for a board like this. We'd all be off happily living our lives.

If that's what teachers are thinking, then there-in is the problem.

The likelihood of one prescription eliminating all of a child's (or adult's, for that matter) symptoms and continuing to be effective at that dose are practically nil. It's highly unlikely that the first medication at the first dose is going to be effective. And, even when we do get it right, eliminating all the symptoms doesn't happen either. A reduction is symptoms is usually the best we get.

If it were as easy as giving our ADHD kids (or ourselves) a pill, there wouldn't be a need for a board like this. We'd all be off happily living our lives.

yeah, sorry.... i worded that wrong. "eliminate" was definitely not the right word! change that to REDUCE.... sorry! either way, most teachers do not understand that it takes time to find the right medicine for each individual, and that is where it is so important for parents to communicate with their child's teachers (as EMILYFRIEND had mentioned).

as far as the continuing to be effective at the same dose though, i've been on the same-ish dose for 10 years now. i say same-ish because when i was single with no kids, i started adderall at 20mgs in the morning and 10mgs in the afternoon (after playing around with the dose, this is what worked best for me). after i had kids, i upped it to 20mgs twice a day. now that my kids are a little older (3 1/2 and 20 months), i'm getting ready to lower it back to 20 and 10. obviously it's not the same for everybody, but it does happen!

a lot of things affect ADHD and how well the medicine works for you. a healthy diet, a simple exercise routine (even just a 20 minute stroll outside three times a week will help!), good sleep, reducing stress, and a positive attitude can make all the difference in the world! ADHD isn't a handicap, it's a part of who you are. your brain may be wired slightly differently than other people, but it will only hold you back if you let it!

one last thing about teachers (and this is certainly not the same for all teachers, and might not even go for this particular teacher that weez mentioned...)..... sometimes our children's teachers can see in our children abilities that we as parents cannot see (if you are honest with yourself you'll admit that as parents we ALL tend to underestimate our children at times!). those teachers push our children to do better because they know our children CAN do better, inspite of having ADHD. not ALL teachers are this way, but get to know your child's teacher before making snap judgements based on teachers your child had in the past (just as she needs to get to know your child before making snap judgements based on ADHD kids she's known in the past!). and i'm rambling again... :)

I have to apologize if I've sounded anti-teacher. I'm not.

We've had some incredibly wonderful teachers along the way. The vast majority have bent over backwards to "accomodate" my son when it was explained to them what he needed. Some were even gifted enough that they had him "nailed" within the first couple of weeks and didn't need a paltry list of Accomodations. They were already making them. Some have said "I make accomodations for every student in my class" and God Bless Them, they do. But others.... Well, no need to go there.

I have to apologize if I've sounded anti-teacher. I'm not.

you certainly haven't sounded anti-teacher at all! you sound like a parent who loves her kids and doesn't want to see them get hurt! i was just afraid i may have offended you with my comments... i do that sometimes... what can i say, i have ADD! :)

Thank you everyone!

It's been particularly enlightening for me to read the perspectives of the teachers. It never actually occurred to me that they might not believe that my son has ADHD. We've had him diagnosed at two top medical centers by teams of professionals. The school/teachers are aware of this. According to most professionals ADHD has been quite underdiagnosed and under-treated as a whole and our jails are full of undiagnosed ADHDers. But that's another debate. I guess it never really occurred to me that teachers would think of themselves are more expert in this area than doctors. Also, how exactly would a teacher KNOW that some ADHD is due to poor parenting etc? But from my perspective (and I'm not trying to be difficult - really), it's none of their business to agree or disagree with a medical diagnosis - that's simply not their expertise. None of these teachers have been in my home and have no idea how we are raising our kids - so how would they really know if we are bad parents? If I came to them with a child with bi-polar or schizophrenia, would they try to not acknowledge it? Actually the answer to that is YES, based on the kids with autism and Downs at our school. They are making bad choices all the time also.

Frankly I bend over backwards to give the teachers ideas, to help in the classroom, go along on field trips to make sure my kid isn't a pain. Now I'm quitting my job. I also apologize weekly if not several times weekly for him.

Unfortunately my son won't do ANYTHING that makes him look different than the other kids. So he can't have a squeeze ball etc. unless EVERYONE else did too. He is very self-concious that way.

This has been very interesting for me.

weez