DS might have ADD, and more issues

[beaconlighthero]

Someone else posted a thread like this, so this may be kind of a repeat, but they were referred here (their second board referral) and I dont' see a post from them yet, so I thought I would try.


My ds is 6 and in the first grade. DH and I suspect that he might have Add (like dh has) so we talked to his teacher and she agrees with us that he could possibly have it.

We got a survey from our pediatrician for us to fill out and his teacher to fill out.

Here is part of a letter she sent with the survey.


A lot of what I see in class is that DS has a very hard time focusing and concentrating on our activities. He has a very hard time following through with directions (but I do believe that he understands them). Lately I have had to redirect him approximately every 2-3 minutes when we are working, and have had to repeat directions many times. I think that he also has a hard time remembering things from day to day (like where to put our work when we are finished).

Today I e-mailed her to let her know Ds is going to see the doctor on Dec 1.

She was meaning to e-mail me, so she said I had great timing. Here is what she said.

Thanks for keeping me updated with how
things are going with you. I was going to e-mail you at the end of this
week so your e-mail was great timing! I wanted to let you know that
ds is having increased difficulty getting work done here at
school. He has stayed in from recess more than usual to get his work
done or he has had to work into other subject areas to get work done
(which makes him behind in those other areas). I wanted to ask you if it
would be ok to send some work home for him to finish if he doesn't get
it done here. I don't think it is fair having him miss recess this much
because he needs to get out and play for a while. Would it be ok if I
sent the work that absolutely needs to be finished home so he can finish
it there? Let me know what you think! He had a really tough day today.
It took him 80 min. to complete our writing today which was allotted 30
min. (and he still isn't completely finished). He is more than capeable
of doing the work, he just is too distracted to get it done. He also
didn't get to complete ceters today because he was working on his
writing (That has also happened quite often lately).
Please let me know what you think.



I don't know what to do, and my heart is breaking. Home schooling is not an option. We tell him what a good job he does and that we are proud of him, and also tell him that it is so important that he pays attention and gets his work done, etc... if he wants to be good at whatever he does when he grows up.

I dont' know how to get through to him, Am I giving too much positive reinforcement. Whatever it is he does not want to tell me. I'm wondering if he needs counseling.

I dont' know if he is just slower than the other kids (he does'nt seem to be, he is about average or sometimes I wonder if he is above average). I dont' know if he is just bored or does'nt feel challenged enough. He seems happy, but I could be wrong if he is hiding it, he gets along great with us, other kids. He is respectful of others.

I just don't understand where I went wrong. My heart is broken. I would hate to see him repeat the first grade, when I know he can do this stuff.

I dont' know how to get through to him.


Any advice would be great.

[CarrieMF]

Are there any TA's or parent helpers that help out in the class? In my dd's grade 1 class quite often kids are taken out for a few minutes to practice their spelling, reading or to finish some corrections or work. It happens on a daily basis. If you agree to him bringing work home maybe you can help him focus or learn how to focus on it more. You may also see whether the work is too easy, too hard or if he's having problems in just certain areas. Have the kids been moved in their seating arrangement at all? In T's class they have been moved twice now. The first time was because the kids were used to who they were sitting beside and doing more talking than working. The kids sit in a square shape instead of rows. T's in a split 1/2 class so the 2's are on 1 side of the square and the 1's on the other side.

The reason for the behaviour isn't your fault. There could be other reasons why ds isn't focused.

[beaconlighthero]

The school has and has done all that you have described below, although I am not sure if he is being helped by a teacher helper. I think that is an after school thing. The children sit 4 to a round table.

I really do wonder if the work is too easy for my son. We get homework to do on the weekends and he seems to pick up on it quickly.

Last night we were doing some homework and he played around a lot. We had to glue these squares into the proper columns. He would glue the square and then pound on it 20 times. He said he has to pound on it 20 times. I told him that he needs to put glue on it and then press it down once and it will stick fine and that it takes up a lot of time when he pounds on it 20 times and that is why he runs out of time when doing the work. I had to keep telling him to cut out his squares, he would just start talking about other things. So I see where the teacher is coming from. I really hope that he can get help.