need help with home schooling
--Hi, we have a 9 year old son who was diagnosed ADHD. To me there is much more because he has extrem behavioral problems and mood swings. I am also searching for an experienced Pdoc in the Jacksonville FL area. they all come up with ADHD and a stimmulant prescription that hasnt helped so far.
We have difficulties at school. They call us (maybe once in 2 weeks)to come pick him up because he does not want to finish his tasks or kicks the teacher or runs out of the classroom when told NO.
He is in Regular ED, but they want him in an Emotional Support Classroom(the staff in his new school is not very passionate) which we do not have good experience with. I really do want him in Regular ED, but since it is obviously not possible I decided to home school in 4 th grade.
He was in Regular ED at his old school and it worked well with his teacher who was very understanding (after I went through cillions of IEP meetings and had him put in Regular ED). He was not doing good in the Emotional support classroom where he has been over half a year. Trouble every day. He did not want to be there and complained that they do "Baby work" there. I also think, that in ES class these kids learn from each other, instead of seeing where good behaviour gets them.
I have an IEP meeting coming up soon and dont know what to say and how to react once they come up with ES class for the next school year.
Should I put him there (he is extremly defiant once I mention it), or should I tell them I refuse to let them do it, or should I home school ??? (we had better experience with regular ED where he has little or no trouble, vers. in ES class we had trouble every single day). They try to convince me that it is different in their school. I just do not believe that.
I am helpless and dont know what to do. Iam also not so familiar with this school system and my rights as a parent, since I am german and only have been here for 2 years.
without a doubt,
desperately_hoping
JAX is pretty big, so I would think there would be a decent pedi. pdoc there somewhere. Have you looked in Ponte Vedra area? You could also take him to Shands in G'ville for an eval, and I have heard there are some good pdocs in the Orlando area. At least you could get him adequately evaluated. It sounds like the stims are not helping things, and possibly making them worse.
I have heard others complain of the same thing with the emotionally disturbed classrooms--it's a place to learn bad behaviors. As for the new school they are considering, I would go spend a day there observing the classes before making a decision on it. Another option is to get him into an RTC where he can get a thorough evaluation and hopefully the right treatment. The school may pay for this if your ds fails at every other level of intervention they try.
I homeschooled my ds16 5th grade through 8th. He was terribly unstable then and it was hard to find the right meds for him. But homeschooling worked better than a regular school environment. Every situation is different, so it depends on how well you think you can work with him, and how much time you have to devote to the process. It was very labor intensive for us, but I'm glad we did it.
--
Brenda,51, CABF Parent to Parent Volunteer
Mom to A, 16, BP, Tourette's, OCD, ADHD: Eskalith CR, Trilafon, Lamictal, Seroquel, Cytomel
E, 15, BP,AS: Seroquel, Eskalith CR, inositol
B, 13 & H, 11
Married 17 years to DH, 50
FROM CABF: Do not start, stop, or change medications or other treatments for yourself or your child based on what you read on this Website or elsewhere on the Internet. Information presented here should not replace the considered judgement of a doctor who knows you or your child.
My recommendation is to look at any program or school that your IEP team recommends. If they are any good, they would only recommend programs where your child has a chance of succeeding. I also recommend visiting them with your child, as he will probably be able to tell you whether he feels he belongs there and would feel safe.
I do not believe that children in special schools only teach each other the wrong things. Sometimes seeing a child succeed who is only a few steps ahead can be helpful and motivating. Again, if the staff is any good, that kind of close attention is good for kids. Plus the "bad kids" are in the regular classrooms too -- they're just not getting the extra help they need, so they can often be even worse influences, in my experience. My girls gravitated to the "bad kids" in the regular school (as those were the kids who weren't mean to them) and to the sweet kids in the therapeutic day school.
--
Joan in IL
Co-Moderator of Dual Diagnosis/Substance Abuse group with Becky
Family Response Team Volunteer
Link to my bio: http://www.bpkids.org/user/29354
To support CABF, go to https://www.bpkids.org/donate
Just wanted to suggest that you have him screened for learning disabilities - many kids with mental health issues do have LD and it would help explain his frustration and resultant behavior. If it is the case that he is learning disabled (best to lest him in the summer), he can have pull out support for that class. If his meds aren't straightened out and contribute to his behavior, it wouldn't be fair to place him in another school.
--
Bonnie