LN, I am fighting right now with my daughter's school. She was an honors student all through elementary and even middle school. She made the honor roll 10 out of 12 times in middle school. She's now a junior in high school and has only made the honor roll twice. Currently, she's failing at least two subjects for this marking period. She is, however, a very talented artist and is making straight As in her three art classes.

Because she's always been very thin (last physical, she was 5'6" and 109 lbs., and that was wearing jeans, a shirt and a hoodie), and the usual meds suppress appetite, I resisted medication and tried to work with her behavior. Since high school, she's just gone downhill. I've finally caved in and put her under a doctor's care for medicating the problem. It's been a nightmare. The first few days, she got palpitations, the shakes and terrible stomach pains. We've reduced her dosage, and it's helped a little, but not enough. Last night, I made her favorite dinner. She cried because she was so hungry, but after a few bites, couldn't eat anymore.

Her teachers, as FS said, often see her as lazy and not doing her assignments. The truth is, she doesn't remember them half the time. Even when she does them, she loses them. We've tried folders, binders, notebooks with folders, anything you could think of that will help. It works for a while, and then it goes downhill.

In English class, she's given a reading assignment. She will read, and then she and I will review it and she recalls details perfectly. However, if the teacher gives a pop quiz the next day, she will often fail because she can't remember specifics. She will be given an in-class essay to write, but is unable to finish it before class ends. She's given the assignment to finish at home, but then can't find it. Teachers accuse her of laziness and think of her as a discipline issue.

LN, I think that Turi's point can be well-taken. Often, this problem is over-diagnosed and children who ARE behavioral problems are lumped in with children who have legitimate issues. Often, parents use it as an excuse because they don't have the inclination to discipline their children. Between single parents and dual-parent homes with both parents working, it is often the children that suffer and this is a way for parents to absolve themselves of some of the responsibility.

Unfortunately, it's making it worse for those that have the problem and it makes it hard for teachers, too. How much slack can you cut for kids with problems if 10 kids per class supposedly have the same problem????

Anyway, try some of the coping mechanisms we discussed. Investigate behavioral training. You have to be your own advocate, and I'm sure you'll manage to be successful.

In the meantime, I found this article to be one of the best I've ever read. Hope it helps.

http://adhd.emedtv.com/adhd/adhd.html