ADHD-LD

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) and Learning Disabled (LD) are separate issues, however the questions that need to be asked are very similar. You will have to use the information you know about yourself to fill in the details of your own needs and capabilities. In this section, there will be discussions that overlap and will have the notation AD/HD or LD. Other discussions will be marked separately.

**************There are college search books for learning disabled teens. For these search books, AD/HD services are covered under the title of learning disabled (even though your child may not have any LD problems). These books rate colleges on how receptive they are to assisting teens with AD/HD.****************

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has been known by many names over the years. Its definition according to the American Psychiatric Association is: “AD/HD is a disorder that can include a list of nine specific symptoms of inattention and nine symptoms of hyperactivity/impulsivity.” These characteristics can lead an AD/HD person to know what to do, but not be able to carry that knowledge to completion through an appropriate action.

At this point in time, there are four types of AD/HD. These characteristics are at levels that are inconsistent with the age of the teen. These characteristics may include appearance of not listening, making careless mistakes, difficulties with organization skills, losing necessary items, forgetfulness, distractibility, impulsivity, being quiet or sitting for extended time periods, talking excessively, interrupting conversations and exhibits difficulty in waiting. [The variety of characteristics can lead to social adjustment problems or impairments of all types of relationships including family, school, college and work.]

[With the March 1999 clarification of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), AD/HD is now officially covered by this legislation. This has allowed widening of the range of services offered by schools to AD/HD students.]

Treatments often encompass a balance of well-monitored medication, behavior modification therapy, counseling, and correct educational responses. This multi-pronged treatment is a 24-hour a day, 7-days a week year-round situation. Becoming successful in following directions and being able to study, controlling actions, activity levels and impulses; advance your teen on the path to success not only in school, but as a person and ultimately a successful adult.

********************If you are receiving prescribed medication, keep really close track of it. A lot of public school systems are requiring medication given out during school hours be administered by the school nurse. But once you are in college that won’t be the case. Unfortunately, there are some who have decided to use medication typically prescribed for AD/HD as a recreational drug. Keep track of your meds and keep them somewhere they aren’t likely to be discovered by someone who is casually scooping out your room. If you find some missing, report the loss.******************

College Survival Hints
The first year of college is an enormous adjustment for any teen. A teen with a high degree of AD/HD with an incomplete survival tool kit, may make the adjustment almost impossible. Depending upon your degree of disability, your personality and your level of success in high school, you may want to consider going to college locally and staying at home for the first year. This interim step may provide you the rest of the skills and tricks of the trade to achieve your long-term goals.

In college, you will need to learn to communicate your needs to your professors, resident assistants and your peers.

· A single dorm room instead of being in a double or a triple might help concentration levels. Later, a single apartment might help eliminate the distractions and temptations of the 24-hour per day activity of dorm life.

Sometimes the harder you try to concentrate on a conversation or a lecture, the more it seems like you have tuned everyone out. Ask your professor if you can tape the lectures.

·Arrange for a note-taker to augment your own notes, if necessary.

If needed, arrange for different test taking situations such as in a separate room, taken orally or on a computer, with dictionary, or without time restrictions.

Ask for a detailed course syllabus that lists clear expectations and dates.

Take advantage of all academic counseling and peer tutoring.

General Survival Hints

· Learn to be your own advocate so you can explain your strengths
and explain what help it will take for you to succeed.

· Keep paper to a minimum

· Find a way to organize daily paper that comes into your life – if you can’t seem to organize it, find a way to contain it.

· Try and keep your home/dorm study area organized – now that is organized for you, maybe not for someone else

· Make up or find funny systems to keep your life under control

· One-stop shop – less likely to forget things

· Work with your resource teacher

· Make use of technology to help you organize and achieve

· Your brain tends to run in a thousand ways at once so you need to structure your college life to minimize the distractions.

· Since it may take you longer to get through assignments, not overloading your schedule might also help.

· Limit your extracurricular activities due to time constraints and that they can act as a constant distraction.

· Work on your note-taking skills.

· Work on your timely and constructive participation in classroom discussions.

· Work on your organizational skills and tricks so that you can keep track of important assignments, papers, projects, etc.

· Keep a calendar or planner. Get in the habit of writing everything
down.

· Work on turning all assignments in – completed and on time.

· Find a mentor.

· Learn your internal signals for when you are heading for being stressed-out or becoming depressed. Learn the tricks that help you during those times. And when the tricks don’t work anymore, ask for help. Don’t go down for the count alone in your room.

· Seek help in searching for a degree and a career that make use of your strengths and ones which you weaknesses will not be detrimental to your success.

· Join a national organization that will provide you with information and support during your school career.

The Internet - AD/HD

AD-IN Attention Deficit Information Network, Inc.

Attention Deficit Disorder Association
www.adda.org

Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD)
www.chadd.org

ADD Resources
www.addresources.org

HEATH Resource Center: Financial Aid for Students with Disabilities
http://finaid.org/finaid/documents/heath.html

Kitty Petty ADD-LD Institute

Music Therapy: The Power of Music
www.enterthefreudianslip.com

National Attention Deficit Disorder Association (NADDA)
www.add.org

Rebus Institute

Sites on the major Internet gateways

Learning Disabled (LD)

You need to work with your guidance counselors, your parents, your teachers and any special education resource teachers to:

· Discover your disability and its level.

· Acknowledge your disability.

· Discover the strategies or tricks of the trade to help you through.

· Discover the technologies that work best to enhance your learning and coping strategies.

· Learn your limitations.

· Learn to concentrate.

· Learn to set goals and the plans to achieve them.

· Learn to think of these strategies and technologies as your productivity tools rather than a deficit.

· Learn to become a self-advocate both in and out of school in language and terms everyone, including you, will understand the scope of your difficulty and what it will take you to be the most productive, the most successful.

· Take as many college prep courses during high school as you can handle.

· Have your all your testing up-to-date

· Join a national organization that will provide you with information and support during your school career.

The earlier the intervention can begin, the better off the student will be. Some school districts have now formed special learning centers at the middle school level to provide intensive intervention for students who have learning disabilities or who are just beginning to have a hard time with the increased academic expectations of middle school.

Let your professors know what you need to succeed in that class. Recorded textbooks, lectures, etc. Let your professor know if you will be using a laptop for note taking and exams so that arrangements can be made for connections, if necessary. Let your professor know how you best take your exams – using traditional methods, a laptop or orally and also if you need additional time to accommodate your particular disability during exams.

The first year of college is an enormous adjustment. A high degree of LD with an incomplete survival tool kit, may make it almost impossible. Depending upon your degree of disability, your personality and your level of success in high school, you may want to consider going to college locally and staying at home for the first year. This interim step may provide you the rest of the skills and tricks of the trade to achieve your long-term goals.

The Internet - LD

Adult Dyslexia Organization

Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD)
www.ahead.org

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
www.cec.sped.org

Council for Learning Disabilities (CLD)
www.winthrop.edu/cld/default.html

ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education
www.cec.sped.org/ericec.htm

The Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM)
www.thegateway.org

HEATH Resource Center: Financial Aid for Students with Disabilities http://finaid.org/finaid/documents/heath.html

International Dyslexia Association (IDA)
www.interdys.org

LD Online
www.ldonline.org

Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA)
www.ldanatl.org

Learning Disabilities Network

Learning Disabilities Center of the University of Georgia

National Adult Literacy and Learning Disabilities Center
http://novel.nifl.gov/nalldtop.htm

National Center for Law and Learning Disabilities

National Center for Learning Disabilities, Inc.
www.ncld.org

Orton Dyslexia Society

Rebus Institute

Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D)
www.rfbd.org

Resources and Assessments for Adults with Learning or Reading Problems

Teaching learning disabled students

Sites on the major Internet gateways

COLLEGE CALL CHECKLIST

ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (AD/HD) AND/OR LEARNING DISABILED (LD)

What type of documentation is needed to be admitted with accommodations made for AD/HD or LD?

What types of specialized programs and support services do you have for AD/HD or LD?

How long has program been established?

How many students have been service?

Are note takers available?

Is there a charge?

How is the scheduling handled?

Is there a service available to proof assignments, etc. for grammar, spelling, etc., if necessary?

If necessary, will there be someone available to me to dictate exam answers to?

Are books on tape available?

Can you get your textbooks, etc. recorded on tape? How do you get that done? And what is the lead time required?

Is there a specialized learning center available for AD/HD or LD students?

Learning strategies

Time management

Test taking and study skills

Writing skills

Is there an AD/HD and/or LD support group available on campus?

Are there waivers available for some high school entrance requirements, if necessary?

Are untimed entrance exams allowed for admission?

Are there waivers for courses toward degrees, if necessary?

May there be course substitutions in degree programs, if necessary?

Are modifications or substitutions allowed for courses toward degrees, if necessary?

Are high school college-prep special education courses accepted as fulfilling college admissions requirements?

Is tutoring available?

How do you arrange for it?

Who pays for it?

If math is your disability, can you use a calculator in my math-oriented exams and classes?

Will it be possible to take the essay portions of exams orally, if necessary?

Are accommodations made for tests and exams taken as a student on campus, if needed?

Individually proctored?

Untimed or extended time?

Reader available?

Scribe available?

Computers available?

Is one-on-one tutoring available?

How easy it is to obtain a tutor?

Is there a cost?

What is the typical cost?

Is counseling available?

Is academic mentoring available?

When visiting campus:

Ask if it is possible to meet with a present student with AD/HD or LD characteristics similar to yours?

Attend some classes.

Meet with the support staff.

Spend a night in the dorm and verify if you can deal with the noise and still study well.

See Chapter 8 for more information and instructions.
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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD)

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

© 2003 [Wildwood Country Press]. All rights reserved. © 2000 [McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.]. All rights reserved. Revised: August 05, 2004 .

© 2003 [Wildwood Country Press]. All rights reserved.
© 2000 [McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.]. All rights reserved.
Revised: August 05, 2004 .