Her dx include inattentive type ADHD, anxiety (which may not be a severe as it was at the time of the dx), and possible dyslexia. She is also HG+ per IQ.
How recent is your latest eval? It might be good to get someone to re-evaluate thoroughly, to know what the biggest measurable obstacle is.
As a result, we've had huge lack of follow through from teachers on doing what they agree to do to support her LDs b/c they don't all seem to believe there is a problem (save for her English teacher last year who also had a HG 2e kid).
Is there a 504 in place? Was the dyslexia remediated?
- moving her into easier classes against the strong opposition of her teachers so the work is too easy and the processing/executive function issues aren't a problem b/c she isn't, technically, needing to "process" much;
For me, that would be kind of last-ditch. What is the work output like?
There's someone around here who does that kind of work, and the families that use that person are thrilled. I have no direct experience with it.
This sort of therapy, esp. for a teen, absolutely requires buy-in. Sometimes the therapist can create buy-in, sometimes not. You also would need them to not talk down to her; she will not be their typical client. I would say, meet with the therapist first to pre-screen. And talk to other people who have used that therapist.
I will also note that our school district has sometimes *paid* for this kind of service. That could be worth looking into.
- the school principal's suggestion is that we have her see a local psych he's seen do good work with ADD kids and have him review prior testing, maybe do more, and have him write up something for the school on what she needs. He then suggests that we get her on the case load of the RtI coordinator in the fall so there is more follow through.
The RtI part seems really important. Where we have gotten our mileage is having a school special ed teacher on the case to teach DS about organizational skills. He has come a long way because they are paying close attention to instructing him on this.
Of course, we could still do the RtI coordinator if we go the route of the educational "therapist" rather than the psych. Either one, we'd be paying out of pocket.
The hesitancy I have with going the psych route is that dd has seen two psychs in the past and totally clams up and becomes very quiet with psychs. She tends to feel like she is being condescended to and "fixed." She is also very opposed to medicating ADD, which the principal was careful to say he wasn't pushing, but I also got the impression that the psych he was mentioning might be inclined to want to medicate.
This is psychologist or psychiatrist? A psychologist should not be working on meds.
Any kind of talk therapy will depend on buy-in. I think an eduational therapist may be a better bet at achieving buy-in because they are more inclined to treat EF as a logistics issue rather than being "broken." But that is just a hunch.
My concern is not her grades, which are fairly good, but more her processing. She is given opportunities to redo things on which she's done poorly (I'm not sure this is a good idea, but that's a side point...), but she does just as poorly when she redoes things.
That, to me, says intervention is a good idea. This sort of thing is not well tolerated in workplaces.
I would also talk to the ed therapist about your DD's reluctance to medicate for the ADHD-i. Would your DD revisit this issue if it were presented after working a while with someone she learns to trust, who is on her side? Some people with ADHD really do find that meds are needed.
DeeDee
