School

Teachers need support as well as parents/carers with a child who has a disability etc. This web site provides some good information for teachers, strategies and ideas to help them help your child. We cant expect all teachers to understand  and know how to deal with children who have learning differences or challenging behaviours. Giving your teacher support and working as a team is only a positive for your child.

Support for Teachers

Approaching the School

If you are parents of an ADD/ADHD child?, the beginning of another school year can bring fear and trepidation about having to approach the school about your child. This is even more pronounced in situations where hyperactivity is present and the child has a "reputation" in the school. Despite this, both your child and the school need as you are an essential link in managing the success of the school year.

Teachers are faced with more students, fewer resources and tighter budgets. There appear to be more problems with violence and drugs in our school. Teachers also feel they are being asked to manage many more (and increasingly complex) physical, mental and behavioural problems. It's a daunting task to be a teacher today thus, it is amazing that the majority are good teachers who really care. I am not trying to be patronizing. My experience is most teachers really want to do a good job.

It is in that environment that you come in. You are your child's advocate. It is important that you are clear about what your child needs. You can make a difference if you educate yourself on the types of strategies that will make a difference. Your doctor or counsellor can give you suggestions on materials to read.
When meeting the school staff, be prepared to explain your child's medication, what behaviour modification techniques you are using at home and what has worked in previous school years. Knowing that something has been used before gives teachers some comfort. Also let them know what has been tried before that did not work. You should also be clear on what creates frustration.

Use the start of the school year to open up channels of communication. I can tell you from direct experiences that you need this so that problems can be handled as they develop not months later. A recent experience saw a child allowed to skip over 20 classes before the school and parents were brought together.
Earlier direct communication with the parent might have allowed a management plan to deal with the problem when it was possible to also salvage the school year. In this case, too much had been missed by the time the parents were brought in.