Slow burn

[eurydicebound]

Alisdair and Will started school on Wednesday. Alisdair has a new teacher. Three days in, and I'm already on a slow burn toward her.

See, I met with her before school started to check in, inform her of Alisdair's budding ADHD and how bored he can get, and generally make sure she checked in with the special ed teacher and that his IEP (Individual Education Plan) was put into place. I get some platitudes on how she will, but she's sure it'll be fine. Me, I'm seeing how she's going to have 30 kids in her class this year with no help, and I don't think fine is the word, but I let her know I was available to help whenever if she needed me.

Today, she sends a note home with Alisdair. Basically he has problems listening, problems focusing, problems being off in his own little world and forgetting where he was, and was "shooting off rockets" during Math. See, when he's bored, he pretends his pencils are rockets and makes them fly around above his desk. In this case, he's bored because he's mastered addition and subtraction, and his daddy's teaching him multiplication at home. Meanwhile, here at school, they're covering the basic numbers again for the benefit of the kids who haven't seen a number all summer and forgot. So yeah, he's bored. It was also rainy today, so they had no recess -- no chance for him to run around and work off extra energy.

She said "I hope his behavior improves next week." Well, unless they find a way to put him in a smaller class, let him run around, give him the attention needed to keep him on task, or start covering material he hasn't known for a year now, I personally don't see how it could. We've talked about it. It's just not altogether under his control, and I've not had the money to get him to a doctor to be tested and diagnosed formally for ADHD beyond the assessment the school gave last year. Nor do I want to resort to medicine straight off the bat just to keep him sedate in class. So I'm frustrated and pissed off, and so hoping I get to move in the next month or so, whether Seattle or just to the charter school in Wichita Falls. Anything but putting him through this.

Argh.

Comments

[anidada.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this is what I was thinking. There's no challenge for him, of course he's going to fly rockets and such. Exercising one's imagination sounds a billion times more interesting than sitting through someone droning on about something you already know inside out and backwards (haven't we all had to do that in our adult lives, too? it's why PowerPoint exists!). My heart sank when I read this, and I know it's redundant to say it, but please, "burn" faster if you can, M. I've been him, and it's hell (for everyone). *sigh*

When you do get him tested, make sure they test for underlying LDs -- dealing with those first can often eliminate the ADD without having to go on meds.

*hugs all around* Hang in there. It will get better.

[anaka.livejournal.com]

Well, the determination thus far reads, "he's terribly bright, bored to tears most of the time, and shows mild to moderate ADHD."

As to timing... don't worry. Monday's the absolute latest I'll be stepping this up. We made sure he had an Individual Education Plan for a reason. Legally, they have to use it, and whether she gets that or not, I'm sure as hell not going to let it slide. This counts as a learning disability, is covered under the American Disabilities Act, and they have to accomodate him.

[anidada.livejournal.com]

Thank goodness for that. *sigh* If just reading about this is like a cattle prod poking the mama bear instinct in me, I can't begin to imagine how it must feel for you to be in the thick of it. Alasdair's got a tremendous force on his side, that's for darn sure. *hug*