Two weeks ago we made the leap and pulled Little J out of school. We’d actually meant for him to stay in until the end of his grading quarter but since he knew he was going to be homeschooled and his natural inclination is to do nothing in class, he did nothing in class that first week back from break. To spare the teacher, we pulled him. Probably should’ve not sent him back after the holiday break, but hindsight is perfect, isn’t it?
We pulled him for a variety of reasons: first, in order to stay in his seat, follow directions (sort of), and participate at all in class we doubled his simulant medication, which in turn made him lose 5 lbs in 5 weeks, throw up four times, and created tweaky anxiety and jumpiness, none of which were side effects we wanted to live with. Second, due to last year’s denial of an IEP he was falling further and further behind, and while we probably would’ve been granted an IEP – or at least be put in process to get one – it seemed like the process took way too long for such a young kid. Third, we started wondering what we wanted out of an IEP and realized that what we thought would be best for Little J (1-1 help, a small classroom environment, OT services in school, and frequent movement breaks) probably wouldn’t happen anyway. We had lots of other reasons, too, plus I have a flexible work schedule and have a background in education, so ta da! – we removed him from his 2nd grade public school classroom to homeschool.
Read the rest on A Mom’s View of ADHD…
(picture courtesy of flickr user madelinetosh)