Organizing Parents at a High School?

[MountainBeach]

Wise Families,

I'm looking for examples of parent groups who have organized at their student's high school to promote ADHD awareness. Have you done this, and can you share your experience?

Background: My student is at a public "exam" school in a large urban school district. Historically the teachers there have not had to adapt their teaching styles to accommodate ADHD and other neurodiverse students on 504 plans (those on IEPs are shielded by their special ed teachers). The administration of the school is complicit.

Parents of students on 504s feel isolated, powerless, and overwhelmed. I feel that there is power in numbers and it would be helpful to bring them together. Have you been successful in organizing the families at your high school? How did you do it?

[Onthemove1971]

Thanks for sharing your message.

I totally understand what you guys are feeling, but if you are looking for success, it might be a good idea to start with meetings outside the school to get the group really focused on what the goal of the goal would be.

You could seek out the person responsible for all the 504 plans in the school district and get feedback from them. You could learn together about how best to write the 504 plan so that when you meet with the person writing it you can request certain accommodations. It might also be helpful to understand more about trainings that are offered to teachers about different learning styles. But I am not sure how successful you would be to meet at the school. You might see what the school's policy is about outside groups holding meeting at the school.

Of course this is a bit tricky.. and the group would not want to creatve negative feels against the school or teachers becuase it won't go anywhere if they feel that way. What is the saying , "you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar"..

Hope that makes sense.

Good luck.

[MomO_Sea]

You are right about the isolation, it’s been 3-4 years of isolation - since 7th grade - for us but about a month ago I got an invitation from a parent to join in a coffee gathering for SPED parents. We approximately 15 parents swapped stories and then created a smaller group of parents with similarly aged kids. We will meet again this week, and I really look forward to that. We swap tutors, names, resources, and tips. Someone also started a Facebook SPED group for our middle and high school families for our whole public school. That seems more geared to middle schoolers but I appreciate reading about some of their issues.

[ADHDgifts]

Hi -I understand the worry and concern and am sorry to hear that the school hasn't been very supportive. I think at the high school level this could possibly be embarrassing for a child with ADHD -perhaps this could be done with a regional CHAAD group or something similar (not affiliated with the school)? You shouldn't need strength in numbers -check with your State Dept of Education and file complaints if the administration is not working to enforce the plans.

[Redpanda5 in reply to ADHDgifts]

I agree that this could be embarrassing for students. Also, if this is public school - which I suspect it is — it a behemoth not easily moved. If you are looking for change for your individual child, just focus on getting them what they need as each child’s needs are different. If you are looking for support, then I agree that something outside of the school is best for privacy.