Continuation of the ADD discussion.

[Ben Davis]

I created the conversation, but I can't add Ben until he follows me; if anyone else wants to join let me know so you can be invited.

I've started following you Forsaken

 

[Forsaken]

Personally I find that I'm very similar to that, it was just that writing was always boring to me and I couldn't focus on it for very long. I struggled in pretty much all of my lessons because everyone was learning slower than I was so I got bored after the first 10 - 20 minutes of the teacher explaining a new formula, reaction, etc. because I had already memorized it and understood it whereas it would take the rest of the class two or three hour long lessons to get their heads round it. In fact on numerous occasions during senior school I would do the equations, in Maths, of the person next to me to pass the time.

Writing isn't much of a problem for me, I mostly just made up crap if I didn't find the topic interesting (Always passed with them too...).

 

 

[Peggy]

I guess my son is one of the blessed ones? I say that because even though his first 2 or 3 years of school were rough (changing doctors, meds, teachers, etc.), when we finally found the right doctors, psychiatrist, psychologist, meds, and therapists, he's blossomed! I has been a long hard road, and I know that it is far from over. There will be a certain amount of struggling for his entire life (and mine), but we are learning the tools that we need to deal with them.

My son goes to a school called Summit Academy, which is a special school for kids who have been diagnosed with AS, ADD/ADHD, and other neurobiological disorders. The student to teacher ratio here is usually 13 to 2 (2 teachers per class). However my boy is in a special class because of his very high propensity to distraction and impulsiveness. In his class there are 2 teachers and 6 students (max). He receives his occupational therapy, physical therapy, music therapy, social therapy, aaaaaaaaand..... therapeutic martial arts! The martial arts program has been an awesome stepping stone for him. He's learning discipline, self-control, meditation, and more, as well as the physical aspects of martial arts. I'm so proud of him!

We have a wonderful family psychologist who is helping me learn techniques to help him calm down when upset, re-direction techniques when he gets distracted or overwhelmed (which happens to him very very easily).

We really have been blessed.

 

[Forsaken]

I guess my son is one of the blessed ones? I say that because even though his first 2 or 3 years of school were rough (changing doctors, meds, teachers, etc.), when we finally found the right doctors, psychiatrist, psychologist, meds, and therapists, he's blossomed! I has been a long hard road, and I know that it is far from over. There will be a certain amount of struggling for his entire life (and mine), but we are learning the tools that we need to deal with them.
 
My son goes to a school called Summit Academy, which is a special school for kids who have been diagnosed with AS, ADD/ADHD, and other neurobiological disorders. The student to teacher ratio here is usually 13 to 2 (2 teachers per class). However my boy is in a special class because of his very high propensity to distraction and impulsiveness. In his class there are 2 teachers and 6 students (max). He receives his occupational therapy, physical therapy, music therapy, social therapy, aaaaaaaaand..... therapeutic martial arts! The martial arts program has been an awesome stepping stone for him. He's learning discipline, self-control, meditation, and more, as well as the physical aspects of martial arts. I'm so proud of him!
 
We have a wonderful family psychologist who is helping me learn techniques to help him calm down when upset, re-direction techniques when he gets distracted or overwhelmed (which happens to him very very easily).
 
We really have been blessed.

I -definitely- found Martial Arts to be helpful, as well as music.
 
I'm actually pretty shocked that a lot of the time people I've met with ADHD haven't had it recommended to them (Tai Chi for sure is an excellent way to deal with ADHD).

Do you want an invite to our conversation Peggy? 

 

[Gill]

Ben, I can't do a private conversation with you. Please give access so I can give info etc.

 

[Peggy]

As I hope you've gathered from my posts on this forum I'm quite clearly able to spell and use grammar properly but when it came to writing it down I completely failed because it was dull, boring and I wasn't able to concentrate on it.

Again, just like my son! He hates to write! He finds it dull, boring, hard to concentrate on, and on top of that, has fine motor skills issues. It took him over a year to be able to hold a pencil in a way that he could write with it. So, he doesn't hold a pncel like everyone else, but his way. And I tell him that as long as he can write holding it that way, then it's the best way for him. I also told his teachers to stop trying to make him hold it the "right" way.

Anyway, back to he hates to write. He can do almost anything in this head - math problems, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimals, fractions, geometry - he can do it in his head and give you the answer in shorter time than it takes to do it on paper. However if you ask him how he reached the answer - ummmm, don't ask him that. That's the part he has a problem with.

 

[Peggy]

I -definitely- found Martial Arts to be helpful, as well as music.

I'm actually pretty shocked that a lot of the time people I've met with ADHD haven't had it recommended to them (Tai Chi for sure is an excellent way to deal with ADHD).

Do you want an invite to our conversation Peggy?

Not at the moment. It's almost time to spend "our time" with my boy. But I'll be back later on.

 

[Forsaken]

Again, just like my son! He hates to write! He finds it dull, boring, hard to concentrate on, and on top of that, has fine motor skills issues. It took him over a year to be able to hold a pencil in a way that he could write with it. So, he doesn't hold a pncel like everyone else, but his way. And I tell him that as long as he can write holding it that way, then it's the best way for him. I also told his teachers to stop trying to make him hold it the "right" way.
 
Anyway, back to he hates to write. He can do almost anything in this head - math problems, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimals, fractions, geometry - he can do it in his head and give you the answer in shorter time than it takes to do it on paper. However if you ask him how he reached the answer - ummmm, don't ask him that. That's the part he has a problem with.

 
I -can- hold my pencil correctly, but it feels uncomfortable to me. I write much differently, which use to bug some of my older teachers. Its really annoying how they try to force -one proper- way on to people.
 
I use to also get in trouble for doing all my math in my head, because supposedly I somehow cheated? Doing it on paper tended to make me confused and I'd have more problems with concentration that way.

Also, the conversation is for later, we were just setting it up now because Gill didn't know how to use the system . 

 

[Reeve of Shinra]

Guys, I want to thank you. I could sit here for hours trying to respond - I want to go away and think. I want to think about what more can we do wherever each of us are to make education more relevant. Your comments have really had an impact on me and I intend to learn from them. It's making me think about what further training needs to go into schools and how that should be delivered. Your experiences are too valuable to lose.

Many of the things described here probably fit me in some form or other. As a kid, I was pretty OCD on some things (still am in quirky fun eccentric ways ) but one thing that always stuck out for me is how the system was structured to cater to the lowest common denominator. The system was adept enough to recognize each students strength's and weaknesses and align the courses accordingly to help them excel FURTHER in their strength and reinforce the areas where they are not as strong.

In a typical pre-college structure that might mean mean more advanced math classes and basic history courses for some.

But I don't want it to stop there. I think, as a society, we need to think more out of the box than that.

I was a terrible student.... Constant C's and D's in classes because I never would do home work and mostly slept through classes but I'd score fairly well on tests and when called on, I pretty much knew the information. For someone else it could be the exact opposite, they know the material and do the classwork but they are just bad test takers. The system needs to be better at recognizing these situations, recognizing potential in general, and adapting to the student rather than forcing them to conform beyond a basic standard.

 

[Peggy]

I could not agree with you more, Reeve.

I fall into the category of 'bad test-takers'. OMG I was horrible at tests, and still have great difficulty coming up with an answer to a question asked of me "on the spot". Even if it's on a subject that I know inside and out.

I graduated with straight A's and an honor diploma from high school. But it was a nightmare to get there. For almost the entire 4 years, I rarely slept, studied all night, and knew the material like I know my own name. I did fine in class. Give me a test and I failed every single time. Finally in my junior year (11th grade), they finally discovered what was up, and we worked things out. I never did go to college. The prospect of more school would send me into panic/anxiety attacks. uggghhh...

 

[Forsaken]

I'm fine with tests and projects/reports, but give me daily work and I probably won't do it, and when I did do it, I rarely turned it in (I was a total rebel yo).

I still got good grades, however it took a lot of effort to keep interested throughout school.

As for college... I did almost all of my courses and everything -during- high school, to finish up all of my courses as quickly as possible, and drop classes I wouldn't need, to take classes I would rather take.