Talking to a Brick Wall

Because I'm still so upset over this same old continuous bullshit that we keep getting from the school, and I'm just too muddled to put the words down to explain what's going on again, I'm just going to post the letter I wrote to the school Principal yesterday about the matter. It explains it all.

Dear Mr. xxxxx,

At the beginning of the school year I included all relevant information I felt Zach's teachers would need in regard to his ADHD diagnosis when I filled out his paperwork, and I also sent an email to each of his teachers to inform them of the problems he might have. His ADHD effects his working memory, organizational skills, causes poor self-control, causes him to be over-responsive in many situations. He's easily frustrated which leads to him acting out and lying just so he'll be left alone for awhile, has poor use of self-talk, poor recall of the past, and poor future planning skills. It also takes him much (sometimes hours) longer to complete a task properly that it should under normal circumstances. But he can, and does, complete the tasks when I can stay informed and on top of what's going on in his classes. Many of these problems are controlled somewhat by the medications he is currently taking.

Last week( around May 14th) I received a note from Zach's spelling teacher telling me that, because he had not be completing and turning in his homework, he had an F in her class. Upon receipt of his 5 week report, which was supposed to have been prepared and issued a few days after April 18th, but was not actually sent out until April 30th, I knew he had a 69-D in this class, which came from an average of only 4 grades (2 A's and 1 B) but one grade was a zero because he had not completed his homework on one occasion.

He got in trouble for the D, I told him he had 5 weeks to make it up and that he'd better get busy. I stressed to him that there is no excuse for having a bad grade because he didn't do his homework, homework is like getting a good grade for free in each of his subjects when he completes it. He thought, still does to some degree, that all he had to do was make another 100 on a test and he'd have an A, he does not understand the grading process even though I've tried to explain it to him.

I am upset that I wasn't notified prior to last week that he was continuing to not turn in his homework in spelling. I sent each of his teachers an email on Jan. 24, 2008 asking them if he was turning in his homework because he wasn't bringing much home and when I asked him, he'd tell me he'd done it in class. His homeroom teacher is the only one who replied. I am also upset because Spelling is one of his best subjects and I feel this teacher, any teacher, should feel concern when an A/B student suddenly falls to a D or an F and I have to wonder why she wouldn't feel compelled to notify me earlier than she did.

I really feel as though the school is bound and determined not to aid us in any way to help Zachary do his very best in school due to the information I've received from you during conferences. There is nothing wrong with his intelligence but he does have a disability that makes it much more difficult for him to process the information and have the organizational skills to complete all needed tasks and educational skills needed without help and understanding. I do not feel that your administration and staff have been properly educated about what to expect and how to cope with children who have ADD/ADHD and that there are other students, and parents, in this district who are trying to cope with this disability who are being labeled as problems, or bad parents, unfairly because of this lack of education and understanding.

I do not intend to stop asking for help or doing whatever I can to see that Zach excels at the best of his ability. I will be working on resolution to what I feel is a big problem all summer.

Sincerely,

Brenda




Zach's other 3 teachers have helped a lot this year by keeping me up with what's going on with him. Because I told them I have to try to stay ahead of what he's doing, they've let me know as soon as they can when he's not keeping up with his work, or becoming too distracted (this led to an increase in his meds in December). They post homework assignments on their websites and pretty much keep the grades posted on the online pinnacle site (they do get behind with this a lot) that I check at least once or twice a week. His Math teacher and his homeroom/Science/Social Studies teacher both sit him in front, close to their desks and do all they can to keep him focused during class. One of his teachers even loaned me additional text books when she'd found out that I purchase his Math text every year so I can bone up on what he's doing in Math. This was a TREMENDOUS help because even when he remembers that he has homework, or bothers to tell me he does, there are times when he forgets the book he needs in order to do it.

This summer, after the 6'5" troll of a Superintendent that we have retires, I'm going to send a letter and all relevant diagnosis reports to request that the school give him an evaluation for Section 504 which is part of the Americans with Disabilities Act. There is no guarantee that the school will do this but perhaps it will get their attention (at the very least take up some of their valuable time) and there are always appeals and higher authorities if they don't.