Hello, I'm sure both of your children will benefit from a less hectic lifestyle. ADDitude has a wealth of information on talking to teachers, success at school, and classroom accommodations. You don't even have to sort through a ton of info.

Here is the link to ADDitude's Printables. The School and Learning Disabilities printable booklets include a wealth of helpful information. You can print them and read them when you get a few quiet moments.

Also, see the ADHD School Help section of the ADDitude website for more articles. I'm sure you will quickly find what you are looking for.

I hope this helps. Dena

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I moved from a large suburban school system that I had an IEP for my son with specific accommodations listed (he’s ADHD had § 504 from K-9th) basically for additional help, resource room, that type of thing. For him that is what was needed. Anyway, we moved from an 1800 student population to a maybe 300-400 student population 7-12 grade school. He is getting more help, teachers care more, classes are smaller, they are more willing to listen and help my son than the district that could afford it. Offer things to help my son achieve good/better grades or at least pass the class rather than putting everything on his plate and using none of the actual accommodations from the IEP. The Spec. Ed. teacher has maybe 3-5 years experience (and she has knowledge) and is better than the Spec. Ed. teacher he had at the pricier suburban district schools. I was completely surprised when the smaller school suggested teachers actually helping my child in different ways within the class that the larger school refused, and yes, flat out refused, to do to help my son. Accommodations don’t have to cost a lot, just some extra time sometimes. Get a copy of NCLB and IDEA Act. They are pages, but you need to know what is in them and what your rights are now and throughout your child’s school years. Each year will bring different things, both good and bad. You need to let the school know you will be a strong advocate for your child and that you know and are aware of what the law is and what your child needs. You are his mother and know your child better than any teacher or any IEP committee ever will. wrightslaw.com is a good place to start. I think they have both NCLB and IDEA information. If not, just google both. They are out there. Confusing, yes. Worth it, yes. NCLB (read §300.--- to § end for your child). If your child is diagnosed, see if you can get pediatrician to assist as well. They do have some pull sometimes. Mine offers if needed, I haven’t needed him yet. But know he is there if I do. Smaller can be much better if they work with you and your child. They seem to care a lot more in smaller school districts than large because there is more time and less stress to compete. There are many meds forms out there too. Buffalo State University also has some good ADHD resources if you can find them online @ their site.

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Small town or large town, it really just depends on the mindset of the community when it comes to whether or not you will receive adequate accommodations.

I was living in a small rural town until last year. Because of the deplorable conditions in the public school, I was forced to enroll my child in the local private school. It was a complete nightmare from preschool through 1st grade. They were so stubborn and UNaccommodating, we were both miserable. They refused to even provide the simplest (free) changes that would have improved his behavior. But they're view was "It's our way or the highway. If your child can't conform, we don't want you here." At the end of last year, they called me at 8:30 EVERY DAY to come pick up my child and take him home, rather than wait 30 more minutes for his medication to kick in. They basically TRAINED him to misbehave in order to be allowed to go home. But I'm going off on a tangent. There is no end to the horror stories I could tell you about that school.

Anyway, I was forced to MOVE two counties away in order to get my son into a decent public school, but it was well worth it. He goes to a 2nd/3rd grade only building. All the teachers are trained to deal with ADHD, LD, and other "problems" and they all treat him with respect and patience and kindness. It's a pretty small town: a suburb of a larger city. There's about 800 kids in these two grades (whereas, there were about 800 kids from K4 to 12th grade at the private school.) But I would still consider our new town to be "small."

So you really can't tell by the size of the town. It really depends on the mindset of the people who live there. If they are the kind of people who are arrogant and egocentric and think there's only one way to view the world, then you are probably going to have problems. If you live in a town that has a bit of diversity and open-minded individuals, even if it's a small town, you will probably not have to worry.

Hope this helps.

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