Re the concerns about attention - were the teachers specific in giving you details about when your ds has a tough time staying on task or was it expressed as a general concern? I would want specifics - so you can see if there are any consistent patterns - is it happening when the teacher is talking to the class and students are supposed to listen, is it happening when he's given a writing assignment, is it happening in circle when a story is read, etc. I would also want to know specific details about what behaviors are being interpreted as lack of attention. Is he fidgeting, looking around the room, getting up from his seat etc.
Next step - look through all the details and see if anything you're seeing is a pattern related to either a part of class where he is potentially bored or a task that is related to his disabilities. I would also try asking your ds what is going on during those times - he's still really young so his feedback might not make sense, but otoh, he might have some good insight for you.
After that - if you have concerns at all (or if you think you need to head off concerns on the part of the school re ADHD) I'd consider doing two things: The first thing I'd do is get a private ADHD eval through either your ped's office or whoever they recommend - this would be an eval that includes behavioral surveys completed by teachers and parents. JMO, but I'd want this so I had a good understanding of whether or not what the teachers were concerned about is really ADHD or behaviors that look like ADHD but are due to other situations such as lack of challenge or improperly accommodating for 2nd e etc. If your ds does *not* have ADHD, it's also good to have the medical non-diagnosis so that if it's raised as an issue at school you have a report stating that no, it's not an issue and not a reason for the distractibility in the classroom.
Thanks Polarbear. ... Well I have digested the info given to me at the conference and your posts as well as the other posts here. And I really do not have a clear understanding of what is going on at school with regard to specifics of attention.
I am thinking of requesting another conference, just like the one I had on Monday, with the same teachers - only this time I am prepared for what I am going to hear so I will be more prepared with specific questions. Also I want more time alotted for it so we can really disucss this without a big time crunch. And I want my husband there b/c he needs to hear this stuff too. What do y'all think? That's appropriate, right? For my husband, imo, it's different just hearing it from me than hearing it while sitting across from five teachers. Also, he usually doesn't say too much but occassionally he really does have good insight and has good questions...It would be nice to be able to discuss this together with him having first hand info.
I am also annoyed that when I brought the issues of him possibly being bored/disengaged I was immediately shut down by what I felt was a rather offennsive comment by the Gifted teacher in which she stated that "DS knows that if says he's bored everyone jumps." First of all, the gifted teacher has only had DS in her class (which, by the way, only meets for an hour twice a week) for one month so how would she come to this conclusion; secondly, Ds has been complaining that school is boring for about three years now and no one has ever "jumped" that I have noticed... Usually it is completely brushed off. So, where is this perception coming from and why does she have it? Should I explore this with her, do you think? I said nothing at the time but I am really bothered by it.
So in the meantime I am scheduling an appointment with a devlopmental ped who speciallizes in ADHD for an eval of adhd. We can use the recent Wisc testing and they will do an eval specifically for adhd... This place is THE center for adhd in the area and my insurance will cover it. They should really know ADHD at this place and I think I would feel comfortable with whatever they find. The wait is about 5 months out, though; so, in the meantime, I want to monitor what is going on at school and get more specific information.
So what do you all think of that plan?
