Being a ADHD person who had very high scores in all my classes; but absoultely hated math I can feel for you. Apart of me wants to say if he scores 100% on testing then what is the real problem here. Another part of me wants to say just ike most of Adders we tend to lose focus if the thing is repeated over and over and this may be the problem because it doesn't challenge him anymore and lost its appeal. There is many tips that is on the Attitude magazine site. I am the only Add person in this home; and I have a 15 year old who is in the top highschool in the State. To make sure she is doing what is expected of her. I check her work ; and make sure she puts in a bag so it is not forgotten. I sign off a book that has her assignment in it so if my initials are not here I know it hasn't been done. You may try a reward system if he goes x amount of days with losing and completing all hsi assignments he will be alowed to whatever. Give him positive recongnition for what he has and is acheving. I don't like math so when I did my college course I had a math tutor who quit in a hour because I would ask questions like "If it is a imaginary number why do I need to know it?" or I would try to make up my own formular. He got so fustrated he left without being paid and told my husband she is unteachable. I can assure you, I have a A average in college and I excell in writing , nursing and thing I find interesting.We are not all going to be the next Einstein who truly had been able to do math ; but could not really read.

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I read your question over again ; and I am wondering if he really isn't ADD ; but a very gifted child who is extremely bored with math and even possibly school and that is why you haven't seen a major difference. with the medications. There is books and subject matter on gifted children who he may fit the bill for. Just a thought because most children of ADD of course not all have learning disabilities, He doesn't sound as if he does. Maybe having him tested for the gifted may give you some insight into him and his problem with focusing on bringing home his math and returning it back to school. Gifted children many times have some of the same problems that ADD/ADHD children have. Please let me know if you think this could be the problem

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I too had trouble with math and I am definitely have ADHD. I had trouble memorizing math facts and doing repetitive problems. I excelled at doing proofs and working problems out the first time. I just could not bring myself to do it over and over again. I always got the top grade on math tests, but I refused to do any homework. In the eighth grade I literally did NO homework in algebra and probably had 98% average on all of the tests. My teacher counted homework as half of the grade so I got a C. I am an engineer now so I had to take 2 years of calculus in college. The hardest part was using building on accumulated knowledge to solve higher level problems. I usually had to go back to the fundamentals and practically start at the bottom every time. How inefficient! (This caused my standardized testing scores in Jr. High and high school to go down eventually because I could not complete the tests within the time limits.) I still have an extremely hard time doing the same thing twice -- no matter how great the reward was the first time I did it. I just can't bring the same focus to the problem the second time and I usually don't remember exactly what I did the first time either. Unfortunately, medicines don't seem to be helping your son. They don't help everyone with ADHD. I found that if I am able to add something to the problems to make them different the second time that it helps. This could be by concentrating on speed. Hey, if you get done quicker to boot it is a double bonus. This doesn't always work though because if a problem takes "too long" you can be tempted to give up. Sometimes external stimuli, such as music or a movie, or something else in the background can keep things moving in the right direction when it is difficult to maintain focus. I hesitate to add this but if I'm honest I must. I often wound up doing math in high school and college when I was fatigued because I put it off so much. I really don't know if it helped, but I'm adding it in case you son starts doing the same thing. Maybe being fatigued forced me to focus sufficient attention on getting the problems done that I could do them, but I don't know. I'm not recommending it in any case. I hope that as he gets further into math that he will find it more engaging. The slow pace at which math is taught could be a part of the problem. That you are aware of the problem and are addressing it now can only benefit your son. I wish you the best.

Charlie

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He probably has his problem based in dyscalcula, look it up and see if he has any of the criteria.

The task test are STUPIID. No child learns anything but how to pass this stupid test.

They are pigeon holing childrens intelligence and they learn nothing.....teachers raises are determined on how well their students do and schools get their funding from it.

He is either very lost or very bored.

I hate math. YUCK.....

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I love math. Yet in 6th grade you couldn't get me to complete a homework assignment. I was between 2 extremes, either bored (the logic of math is like child's play to me) or lost (word problem issues). My grades on tests and quizzes were higher than average, but generally brought down due to oversites/dropping signs, and then when 'going back and checking answers' repeating my mistakes in reverse, as my mind was focused on my solution more than the original problem. Oh, and the lack of homework getting done allowed me to barely keep my grades at all.

I had a teacher who recognized my boredom at least in 8th grade, and gave me the final exam for the class I was placed into. 96%. I was moved back up to the accelerated class, and told to maintain an A else I'd be dropped. Well, because of the challenge, I became engaged. I stayed a chapter ahead of the class, constantly went to the teacher when I began to get stuck, and heck, even joined the math team. I went from a C math student to an A one. Oh and it probably helped the math teacher helped me break down word problems into simple logical steps which I use, and pass on to others to this day.

When you can break down math into patterns and logic, you can learn to appreciate/exploit the levels and complexity of math. It becomes a logical challenge, and that challenge is good and motivating when we feel we have the tools to work with it. Math also use to be a lot about rote memory of rules and things which felt unrelated to me. With ADHD, if we can't make those associations, it's just information waiting to be lost in our minds. It's when you can start making the connections and find personal meaning that the universe starts to open up, math or otherwise.

I've had difficulties in many areas of my acedemic life. It takes a lot more effort than in most people to build up those connections, and I have had friends who ponder at me for taking so much extra time. But - when those connections are made, the challenge is met, I also find I've learned things at a deeper level as well. So there are pluses to the ADHD - so long as the time it takes us to do things is exceptional compared to normal.

Work hard to discover what the actual load is that someone has with ADHD. Schools can help take/spread the tasks out. Learn also how you test/don't test so well and get the accomidations you need. While essay tests take longer than other forms of tests, I find teachers appreciate the time we take in learning to analyze material and own it. I can't do most scan-tron type exams for the life of me. Inevitably, I'm distracted and will misread something. I have tools to compensate when I have to. It will take me about time and a half to double time to complete one of those multiple choice exams.

It took me overall two attempts at college, and 6.5 years to complete a standard 4 year degree. I find I was driven to complete the task when I was firmly committed to it and believed I could accomplish the goal. I sought out mentors who could encourage me, and who could be more patient. Over the years my parents came also to realize my struggle was not one out of laziness and procrastination but exhaustion from the energies it did take me to actually learn something, and my emotional frustrations were born out of the constant fight to 'prove myself.'

Advice: Find out what the reason is completing the task is hard. Break it down. Ensure the student knows there's no wrong answer.. Saying 'I forgot' is a symptom of ADHD. It's not a lack of care. Find means that the student will find rewarding as far as getting organized goes. For me, splurging a bit on colorful folders, and fun paper kept me interested in being more organized. Having checklists that I could check off was great. EVEN if everything isn't getting done, seeing that SOMETHING was getting done was its own encouragement, and then learning to set goals and improve over time began to happen. Don't expect things to change overnight. They take months, and even well over a year.

Best wishes, and I hope there were some nuggets in here for you.

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