<p>I could use some advice from someone who has survived the adolescence of a child with ADHD. I was spoiled with my first 3 - never had to help with homework or keep them on track after 5th grade and they have ended up top students. My 4th, a daughter, international adoptee, has been on meds since 2nd grade. They help some but she still is very immature and disorganized. Elementary teachers were fairly good about keeping her on task but this year has not gone well in middle school (6th). I don’t know about assignments until they are already late (online gradebook). I just got on her case for the third time about missing assignments that were a month late. The first two times (weeks ago) she claimed #1 the teacher hadn’t graded them yet, #2 the teacher had lost them. Finally today she admitted that she had never done them and so did some of them. Others she claims are in her locker. How successful have you been in getting middle school and high school teachers to take some responsibility in getting students to turn in assignments? Do they ever follow a 504 plan? I’ve asked for teachers to make sure assignments were written in a planner so that I could check them (assigning my daughter a buddy to work with). What can I ask for? What can I do? How am I going to get this child through high school?</p>
<p>Depending on where you live, you may have access to an IEP (individual education plan). If your child needs to be held to task in homework, just make sure it is in that IEP and they will have to find a way of doing it. You will probably have to reassert your “right” to this, but it could help. In CA, I am familiar with how this works a bit, but not sure about midwest.</p>
<p>Middle school can be hard for any kid, ADHD may make it harder. If you have a private school that will work with ADHD kids, then that may be another route. Smaller classes with more individual attention can help.</p>
<p>From my understanding ADHD usually does get worse in the adolescent years and meds may need to be altered. I would also check into that.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Under the IDEA (federal law - Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act), all public schools must provide an IEP. ADHD is a qualified educational disability under the Act. Each state usually has its own set of implementing regulations under your state’s school code. Under an IEP, a student is entitled to specifically defined goals and objectives with objectively measurable and determinable indicia of progress. A student is also entitled to Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) with provides those educational services needed to achieve the IEP benchmarks. Further, a student is entitled to a behavior modification plan (including counseling and psychological services) to address those behaviors that interfere with making educational progress under the IEP.</p>
<p>I strongly recommend that you seek out your local educational law center or other available parent support networks and organizations to assist you in navigating “the system”. The law, regulations and procedures pertaining to IEPs are complicated and often convoluted. Many public school systems try inadequate “band aids” in an effort to limit the costs associated with a properly designed and implemented IEP. Most parents are at a disadvantage; school administrators are trained in the system, most parents are not.</p>
<p>Coping with a child with significant ADHD can be very difficult and draining. It takes time and unrelenting effort to help your child work through it. However, it can be done! For what it’s worth, my son was diagnosed with ADHD in 6th grade. He drove us nuts, even deciding that he was going to graduate from high school with a 2.0 and then doing what he needed to sabotage himself to make sure that was the case. Between our efforts and natural maturation, he ended up graduating from college with a 3.5 gpa and was accepted to 4 very well regarded law schools with significant merit scholarships.</p>
<p>I’m wondering if the child needs to go to a different specialist for a new evaluation and change in meds. She may not be receiving the latest and greatest meds/treatments. </p>
<p>Has she recently been evaluated by a psychiatrist/ADHD specialist? If not, I would make an appt. She may also need counseling.</p>
<p>Getting a current evaluation from the appropriate specialists is very important not only for having the proper treatment plan for ADHD from a medical and psycho-emotional perspective but it is also critical to enabling a parent to be an effective advocate for their child. School districts will normally require the child to be evaluated by their own specialists once a parent provides notice of the child’s ADHD and asserts the desire to have an IEP. You don’t want to be in a position where the school district’s experts are taking positions that you believe, as the parent who knows your kid best, are not in your child’s best interests or making recommendations for a remedial approach that you believe is inadequate. It is important to have your own experts lined up to support your position.</p>
<p>For the medication side of things, you need an MD and often a psychiatrist is appropriate to assist in that regard as well as to provide a diagnosis and treatment plan for any psycho-emotional issues that often accompany ADHD. However, it is also critical that you have your child evaluated by a doctorate level psychologist who is a certified school psychologist to provide the expertise in diagnosing all facets of the educational/learning disabilities that are part and parcel of how the ADHD impacts on your child. The certified school psychologist is also the one who will be your expert resource and advocate when it gets to the point of structuring the specifics of the IEP.</p>