12 yrs. Grade 7

Up until his grade 5 year, my son loved school. However, in grade 5, his teacher did not comprehend that he was not a ‘typical’ grade 5 student. Despite my providing her with information about his LDs, ADHD, executive functioning issues, and his learning needs, she felt he should be able to remember his homework, start his work independently, etc. She also felt she could not continue to follow through on a learning program (that we had paid for and he was successful in) and its basic recommendations, despite my offering to do the “extra work” with him at home if she started it at school. She felt it was giving him too much one-on-one time. Grade 6 started out much better, but halfway through, my son truly realized how far behind his peers he was and started hating school and refusing to go some days. His teacher was much more accommodating for him, and I do think this helped a lot. She was willing to research his ASD and dyslexia, etc., and make things easier for him, while still having certain expectations of him. This year (grade 7) he started at a private school designed specifically for kids with LDs and ADHD. He is much happier there because he feels accepted and supported more. It also helps that “everyone is just like him”, and everyone has supports of some kind, so he doesn’t feel like he stands out anymore.