Refreshing Perspective on ADHD

I read a great post today on I Speak of Dreams about kids with ADHD from a teacher's perspective. We are struggling right now with one teacher who thinks that seating D near the front of the classroom is all she needs to do to make accomodations for him. We have had several teachers over the years who have not only done little to help D, but have actually hurt him (hurt his self-image and his confidence). I would love to meet this teacher, Lisa Fischler. She has my admiration and my deep respect.

TAGS: adhd

Comments

[Liz]

Hi, thanks for the mention! Here are some resources for you and your readers.

Woodside Priory School has what we call the "Learning Diversity Network" -- we host a monthly meeting for parents (and educators) on issues around barriers to learning (technically, ADHD is not a learning disability). It's made a change in the school. PEN (see below) can help, too.

If you haven't joined CHADD, it might be helpful, and there's a group in Palo Alto that meets the first Thursday of the month:

KPI
800 San Antonio Rd., Suite 8,
Palo Alto, CA 94303-4633
Phone: (650) 855-9925
Fax: (650) 855-9924
Web Page: http://www.kpinst.org
E-mail: [email protected]

Parents' Education Network
http://parentseducationnetwork.org/index.php

The Parents Education Network was started in 2001 by parents of LD children working together with the administration of Charles Armstrong School. The basic premise of the network is that parents and educators must work collaboratively to help LD children understand their strengths and how they learn best.

PEN's Premises

* The child suffers if the parent-school relationship is adversarial instead of collaborative.
* Understanding LD is the key to a good partnership between the school and parents.
* Parents can't teach educators; parents can only teach other parents.
* Educators must teach educators.

In recognition of the above, PEN asked Charles Armstrong School (CAS), with its 35 years' experience teaching LD children, to expand their outreach program to include a broader array of classes for teachers in elementary, middle and high schools, since all have such different needs. In response, CAS developed the Charles Armstrong Teaching Institute (CATI) to provide educators and parents the training needed to successfully teach LD children.