ADD

Advice on Special Needs and the 11 Plus Exams

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: ADD

Post by Guest55 »

Interesting comments about your PGCE courses - mine did include SEN and I think I'm older than most of you.
I studied it at a teacher training college rather than staying on at the university department; I wonder if that made a difference?
DC17C
Posts: 1197
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:34 pm

Re: ADD

Post by DC17C »

mystery wrote:That's good. Kind of make sense that a selective school will be more likely to pay attention to this, despite limited resources, as they are not going to have the full range of needs that a primary school might have to contend with as it's quite likely that the children with more severe needs, unfortunately, are not likely to make it through the grammar selection process unless they have a statement / EHC plan ... and the percentage of children with statement / EHC plan is under 3% -- so maybe less than 1% of the potential grammar school population at a guess?
It turned out the TA who has supported my son has a back ground in occupational therapy so it has been ideal for the level of support he has needed which doesn’t look like much really but has made all the difference. I will say we supplied the laptop my son uses...I wonder if things would have been different if Id expected the school to fund and supply a laptop...possibly much more of a battle...plus they were happy with us getting assessment and reports...but the Dyscovery centre does do statutory assessments as well.
Y
Posts: 463
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:49 pm

Re: ADD

Post by Y »

My extremely bright DD has had problems since she was tiny with many of the issues associated with ADD and dyspraxia. Whilst a paediatrician suggested ADD when she was about 7, the ed psych said she didn't strike her as having 'attentional difficulties' and said it was dyslexia/dyspraxia. Foolishly, I believed her. A later Specialist teacher said it was dyslexia - and my DD got authorisation to use a laptop, but no extra exam time. Pre-university she was assessed as dyspraxic, and was granted extra time in exams. Finally, last year, I was listening to a Five Live phone in on ADD, and the missing piece fell into place. £900 later and a visit to an adult ADHD specialist, and my DD is taking Elvanse. I am a resourceful, intelligent, middle-class parent with time and sufficient finance to deal with these issues, and it has still taken me 22 years to get to the bottom of the problems. I am beyond enraged that no school - and she has attended 2 primaries and 2 senior schools - has ever spotted what the problem was. They see thousands of children. Why does ADD (as opposed to ADHD) not have a higher profile?

Unfortunately, no school has treated my DD well. When she was a tiny tot in pre-reception, I was told by the teacher that she had been left to get on with her work whilst the other children listened to a story. In reception, the teacher told me 'I'm not telling her again, she knows what she's got to do!' because she zoned out when asked to put her coat on. A change of school, and I find she is being set unachievable targets. Come grammar school, and I have to fight endlessly to get the teachers to understand why she is completely incapable of doing DT, and why seemingly simple tasks are impossible for her. The school then refuses to allow her to have the powerpoints of science lessons in advance, which would enable her to focus on understanding rather than making notes. Another change of school, and she is bullied by the head because she finds, again, activities that others take in their stride to be extraordinarily difficult.


Call me cynical, but I have little or no faith in schools as a consequence. And the upshot of all this for my daughter? Chronic anxiety.

If the problem interferes with life, it's a problem. Get it dealt with.
sobz70
Posts: 156
Joined: Sat Nov 30, 2013 1:59 am

Re: ADD

Post by sobz70 »

See a private doctor and get the diagnosis. I got this done for my DD and now she gets extra time for exams. She is at a super selective grammar school. They are extremely supportive.
Moon unit
Posts: 654
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2014 9:14 am

Re: ADD

Post by Moon unit »

Interestingly in my neck of the woods CAMHS have nothing to do with ADD/ ADHD assessment and diagnosis.
All done by our excellent community paeds and their equally excellent ADHD nurse who coordinates all the questionnaires for schools/ parents etc.
Feedback from parents and schools is that it’s a good service.
All medication queries are dealt with by the specialist nurse who does a lot of liasing with parents by phone/ email and does a lot of the follow up consultations.
I hasten to add I’m not involved with the service myself but do refer into it.
Seems very different to other services described on here.
Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now