Budget buster- tutoring

[sookie]

and take your child to someone who is qualified to diagnose adhd - a doctor or another professional could help you. you can start with your pediatrician.

 

[princessmom29]

Myself and I believe several other PPs would disagree with this statement. Teachers consistently tried to dismiss my child's problems, which unfortunately are very real. Testing showed significant problems. Teachers are not experts on all the different types of learning disabilities - not that I expect them to be - so they can often miss (or dismiss) certain issues. What a parent is seeing during homework and at other times needs to be listened to by the school, and taken as seriously as what the teacher is/isn't reporting.

This is such a sad statement and I think reflects a lack of understanding and a lot of assumptions on the part of parents. I hear so many prents say that teachers dismiss concerns about children, but at least in my experience, it is patently untrue. I teach and I do my best to see that ALL of my students are getting what they need. I know of very few who do not do the same. I cannot unerstand what possible motivation a teacher could have for dismissing a child's difficulty of a parent's concern about their child. It is assumed by many that shools won't listen to parents so information never gets relayed to the school. SWe work hard and recieve massive amounts of training to unerstand how to help all students, regardless of thier challenges and to unerstand learing disabilities. There are a few out there who simply don't care, but by and large teachers do thier best to help the children in their charge. I hear more and more parents report that they are convinced that teachers don't care. It is so hard as a teacher to overcome that misconception. We really are concerned about the well being of your children and as much of an advocate for your child as you are. It would be so much easier to do that if more parents really believed that we are on thier side!

 

[MomToOne]

This is such a sad statement and I think reflects a lack of understanding and a lot of assumptions on the part of parents. I hear so many prents say that teachers dismiss concerns about children, but at least in my experience, it is patently untrue.

I have had several parent teacher conferences (in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades to be precise) where I point blank said "[DD] seems to be struggling with reading and just general understanding of what is being taught, and homework seems to be a much bigger struggle for us than other families. Her background as an international adoptee puts her at MUCH HIGHER RISK for having a LD. I am ready to have her tested if you just say the word - does she need to be tested?" Teachers have basically looked back at me and said "Well, she does seem to be a bit slower at picking things up, but I don't think she needs to be tested for a LD. I'm sure she'll catch up.". Now, I am a single parent with just one child and I bought into the teachers-have-experience-with-a-lot-of-kids-and-know-what's-normal-vs.-a-real-problem philosophy for quite awhile. So I listened to those teachers. For MUCH longer than I should have. My daughter is a very sweet, loving, rule-following child whose LD does not lead her to be disruptive or demanding in the classroom (just the opposite really - she likes to blend into the woodwork because of it), and maybe they just didn't want to believe something could be wrong with her or see her labeled with the evil LD word. Or maybe it was because I worked very hard at home to keep her up to speed with her class and teach her what she wasn't getting during class, so teachers legitimately didn't see it. Or maybe it was because her LD isn't one of the more "common" LDs like ADHD or Dyslexia so the teachers simply weren't aware that her symptoms added up to something. I don't think it was that the teachers didn't care - my daughter's teachers have all been wonderful caring people - but I think they simply out of ignorance dismissed certain issues. But the end result is I shouldn't have given what the teachers were saying more credibility than my own gut feelings and experiences.

 

[fac]

Anyhoo. . .I am all for helping kids succeed, doing assessments early, getting to the bottom of any potential problems and developing a plan of appropriate intervention. BUT I also think it's a disservice to kids to automatically label them ADD/ADHD, when in fact, the problem may not lay with them at all. .

This is true. One reason I think some teachers "wished" to label the kids with ADD/ADHD was that it became the kids' problem.
In the case of DD, for several years, I explained and explained to the teachers that DD worked very hard at home without me asking him. They kept on telling me that she was easily distracted. I told them if she didn't understand (finally diagnosed with APD) how could she pay attention. They never listened. After DD was diagnosed with APD and was given a FM system, the comment quiet down some what, then I got DD a neuropsych eval and neuropsych completely ruled out ADD/ADHD.


Yes, the parents know the kids better.

 

[fac]

I have had several parent teacher conferences (in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades to be precise) where I point blank said "[DD] seems to be struggling with reading and just general understanding of what is being taught, and homework seems to be a much bigger struggle for us than other families. Her background as an international adoptee puts her at MUCH HIGHER RISK for having a LD. I am ready to have her tested if you just say the word - does she need to be tested?" Teachers have basically looked back at me and said "Well, she does seem to be a bit slower at picking things up, but I don't think she needs to be tested for a LD. I'm sure she'll catch up.". Now, I am a single parent with just one child and I bought into the teachers-have-experience-with-a-lot-of-kids-and-know-what's-normal-vs.-a-real-problem philosophy for quite awhile. So I listened to those teachers. For MUCH longer than I should have. My daughter is a very sweet, loving, rule-following child whose LD does not lead her to be disruptive or demanding in the classroom (just the opposite really - she likes to blend into the woodwork because of it), and maybe they just didn't want to believe something could be wrong with her or see her labeled with the evil LD word. Or maybe it was because I worked very hard at home to keep her up to speed with her class and teach her what she wasn't getting during class, so teachers legitimately didn't see it. Or maybe it was because her LD isn't one of the more "common" LDs like ADHD or Dyslexia so the teachers simply weren't aware that her symptoms added up to something. I don't think it was that the teachers didn't care - my daughter's teachers have all been wonderful caring people - but I think they simply out of ignorance dismissed certain issues. But the end result is I shouldn't have given what the teachers were saying more credibility than my own gut feelings and experiences.

Similar case here. I asked and asked, but was told to wait time and again.
Then after she was admitted to special ed, I made another mistake to trust their experience 3 1/2 years too long.
The problem was compounded when the teachers were too sure of themselves. I told them my kid came home not knowing what was taught, and basically I have to study with her, but because DD worked so hard that she memorized the tests. They then told me how good her grades were.

Last year, I asked DD to ask the sped teacher and I made sure the teacher taught her one-on-one, then they realized the problem.

Then when I asked for an independent evaluation, those administrators refused to look into the regulations. I could have filed a complaint, but instead I just kept on escalating until I found someone outside of the district to educate them. In my work life, if someone disagrees with me, I would, at least, look into their side of the argument, but these "educators' didn't even try to find out the process.