<p>It sounds to me like he is doing ok. A lot of kids struggle their first semester away from home. If he can pull the D up to a C (suggest he go to office hours and/or get a tutor for extra help) then he’d have all As, Bs and Cs. Not fabulous, but not awful either. I would focus less on career objectives this first year and more on just doing well in school. Don’t look too far ahead. It may be creating unnecessary pressure and overwhelming him. </p>
<p>Neuropsych testing is costly, and it may or may not be covered by your insurance plan. This is something to check into. Also ask the office of disabilities at the college what testing is required for any accommodations if he were to need them, such as extended time on tests. For standardized tests such as the GRE, it may be required.</p>
<p>Questionnaires can ask about symptoms of ADD, but he would at least need a health care practitioner for any medication and to determine if the symptoms are due to ADD or another cause of poor attention such as anxiety or depression. Questionnaires also don’t reveal possible learning differences. </p>
<p>The student office of disabilities on campus would have information on how to get these evaluations and there may be doctors/counselors/health care practitioners at student health who see students with ADD. </p>
<p>Just want to mention that ADHD/ADD can also cause hyperfocus, meaning focusing too much on one small aspect of a project or on a topic that fully interests him. Also, every brain is different. A diagnosis of ADHD/ADD is not the same as a diagnosis of a medical illness caused by a particular organism, for instance. It is a sort of umbrella diagnosis that covers several types and withiin those types, again, every individual is different.</p>
<p>For the purpose of accommodations, some schools will simply take an MD letter. Others may require a full evaluation within three years. In high school ADHD/ADD is usually covered by a 504 not an IEP,unless there are learning disabilities as well.</p>
<p>Agree that testing is appropriate for learning issues – our son was not diagnosed until after high school – we knew he had trouble sustaining focus in some areas but because he had single minded attention to other things, we assumed that was not ADHD. He tested as highly impulsive, not hyperactive, so was easily distracted from what did not compel his attention. The meds have made a world of difference, the first time he went to class with meds, he said it was like he was finally “there” and could follow it all. </p>
<p>Good luck, hang in there. </p>
<p>I look at this the way @fieldsports looks at it. The kid may not be flourishing at the state college but he’s doing more than surviving. He should get some tutoring for the algebra, and do as well as he can this semester. If he meets the minimum goal, then I look at this as a “glass half full” not a “glass half empty.” He is getting good grades in his other courses, so he should keep up the good work on those and just fix the one that’s weak.</p>
<p>This would give him a boost of confidence, and some momentum for next semester. If I were his parent, I would be cheering him on, shoring him up – he just made a big move to a different environment. How long has he been there? Three months? Give this time. Don’t throw more weight on him by threatening to cut him off. Let him learn about learning.</p>
<p>And he wouldn’t be the first kid to pick a somewhat vague occupational goal just to keep people from pestering “what are you going to do with that”. I wouldn’t expend a single calorie on whether or not he can get into some certificate program down the road to work in PT. If he were truly committed to it he’d be scaling mountains in order to get there. So his lack of laser focus may not be a learning disability- it may reflect his half-hearted commitment which he picked in order to get people off his back about his future plans.</p>
<p>It sounds as though he’s done what you’ve asked- and frankly, if it weren’t for the algebra you’d all be doing the happy dance about how well he’s adjusted. (why he’s taking algebra his first semester if he suspected going into it that he’d struggle is a question for another day).</p>
<p>I think you’ve put a lot of expectations on his shoulders for his first semester away. Kids who were not superstars academically in college rarely transform themselves first semester. Kids who had trouble balancing work and other priorities aren’t going to magically figure out how to eat, do laundry, take out the trash, get money from the ATM, and go to class without a few bumps in the road. He sounds like he’s made friends; he’s not flunking out; maybe you want to withhold judgement about his floundering until the end of the semester? And continue to encourage him to go to class; do the work; go to office hours for help when he needs it; access the tutoring center (would be super helpful for the English course), etc.</p>
<p>and that you’re proud of him.</p>
<p>I am a little confused as your initial post said he was not a “great” student but had a 3.7 weighted with AP classes. That is not great by CC standards, but close to an A- so not a bad GPA in the real world. What were your expectations and why did you not think he could be an actual PT? Did he hate the CC and find it too much like HS or not really want to do that path so did not do his work? Talking about a career path and actually following it can be very different. MANY kids change majors. </p>
<p>Smoking pot, while not good, is unfortunately pretty common these days. It seems like it is pretty much everywhere. It may or may not have had an impact on his grades. </p>
<p>Agree with Blossom - a strict GPA limit may not work for him and may not be necessary. I would give him some time and some positive support, along with limits. I would focus on what he is doing well and on how he can improve in the areas of struggle. You don’t want him to decide it is hopeless to meet the GPA requirement and so why try? Maybe tell him since he is doing pretty well, you won’t hold him to the GPA as long as he gets some tutoring and does his best in the math class. </p>
<p>Not sure why everyone is always quick to jump on the ADD or LD band wagon. Many kids have executive function or focus issues and find it hard to concentrate on boring material. ADD is when it is almost impossible to complete those tasks. It is more than losing homework and having a messy room. It certainly may be possible to get an ADD diagnosis (not that hard to identify symptoms in many kids, esp teenaged boys), and he may have it (at least a mild case) but what then? Is he interested in or willing to take medication and live with the side effects? For kids with ADD - Inattentive, medication does not always work very well. </p>
<p>Having said that, however, I would get him to talk to somebody as he may instead (or in addition) have some anxiety issues. That would explain his problems with taking tests and even with not being outgoing. Also, offices of disability or counseling at state Us are not necessarily the best at these diagnoses. You may want to make an appointment for him near home for his winter break. I hope he does well. </p>
<p>I can’t diagnose anxiety, ADD or LD over the internet (and I’m not qualified to do so in real life). But there is nothing that the OP has posted here that suggests anything beyond normal late adolescent male behavior. Nothing. He wasn’t a “burn up the world” kid in HS academics. Check. He sorta kinda fell in to an academic/vocational interest and then didn’t seem too focused on succeeding in it. Check. He smokes pot. Check. He seems to be making his own way living on his own in college. Hurrah!</p>
<p>OP- many of the PT’s (and other allied health professionals) I know are people who really wanted to be doctors but couldn’t hack organic chemistry, or took the MCAT’s a couple of times and didn’t score well enough to be admitted to a US med school. So the bar is much higher in allied health (in my lay person’s opinion) than it was when we were in our 20’s. I just think all these programs (Physician’s Assistants- which really didn’t exist back then, Speech, OT, PT) attract older and more mature and much more focused students right now.</p>
<p>So I don’t think they are a great path coming out of a HS for a kid that doesn’t have a burning ambition in this area. The competition to get into the programs are stiff, and the competition once you are in them are even tougher. It’s not like getting a beautician’s license (apologies to the beauticians out there). </p>
<p>Your son is now in a four year degree program. At some point he will pick a major, and at some point, he will find a career focus that really revs him up. Maybe back off the preprofessional talk and just focus on how proud you are of him having made the transition to living away and going to college???</p>
<p>Just wanted to address the grades for the PTA program. </p>
<p>These programs, in our area, are highly selective as it can be a very good living with a short time in school. DD,.also, 19, did not get stellar grades in her first year of college. She needed them just to have a shot at getting in.</p>
<p>HOwever, there were 50 applicants for 18 spots. She was told by the couselor, there were NO recent HS grads accepted into the program, AND, most already had degrees. </p>
<p>Our DD managed to get in off a waitlist. I think the only reason is because most on the list had probably already moved on, as she was notified 3 days before school started. </p>
<p>So even if he was fully committed to entering the PTA program, had exceptional grades, he may still not have been accepted. If he still wants that, it may never happen without repeated attempts. </p>
<p>I also don’t know why everyone jumped on the ADHD bandwagon. It may be the case, but with our DD, I have realized she always does well when she wants to, and barely manages when she isn’t interested. And she has stated as much. It is very frustrating! She does not like math, so that is the area she puts in the least amount of effort. </p>
<p>Luckily, the C she got in her freshman year was good enough to get her out of taking it for the PTA program. Otherwise, it would have pulled down her GPA. </p>
<p>REading your post, I can understand your concerns, but I have to say, I think my DD was far worse, and she is doing well, at least w/ college at this point. A solid B average and it is a fast and intensive program. She is really making the effort with this program, because I think she realizes what an incredible opportunity she was presented with. A summer spent trying to find a good paying job helped her to realize this, I believe. So I am happy for her.</p>
<p>I hope it goes better for you and your son as well. </p>
<p>I think ADHD/ADD is often mentioned by parents whose kids’ diagnosis came late in the game, and who found the diagnosis and treatment extraordinarily helpful.</p>
<p>When a post seems to hint at attention issues, for whatever reason, it is an easy enough thing to look up a questionnaire online or even just keep the possibility in mind. I am not sure that is jumping on a bandwagon. It is just one among many things to consider.</p>
<p>A more basic message, whatever the problem at hand, would be to support a kids’ strengths in the context of whatever challenges there may be, diagnosis or no diagnosis.</p>
<p>Having a child diagnosed is simply troubleshooting. To me it is a bit like needing reading glasses. I noticed I started to read less, and did not ascribe a cause. I would have dismissed anyone who said it was because my eyesight was getting worse. Not everyone reads a lot. When I got some reading glasses, my reading picked up because it was easier. In fact, in intervention DID work, that I was not ready to embrace.</p>
<p>Maybe the kid has something that can be helped by interventions; maybe it is simply a phase he is going through. My question is why are some so eager to jump on diagnosing him as ‘just going through a phase,’ ‘normal adolescence,’ etc. It is very likely that is all that it is; but it is also likely he has something that can be addressed with an intervention. Why not find out?</p>
<p>I guess I am restating what @compmom just said…</p>
<p>These days, adolescence is unfortunately extending for many years: it can take the entire 20’s to truly “grow up” in the sense of being fully self-supporting and self-sustaining. There may be lots of stops and starts, zigs and zags, false directions and true ones. The world is complicated. I wouldn’t want to be 19 or 20 for anything, and I am a creaky old person now :)</p>
<p>It does sound as if this young person had a direction he was passionate about, based on a personal experience with PT, and I hope he can eventually get into that field or another one like it. Good luck!</p>
<p>Wow, you have all given me so much to think about. Even though there have been many diverse opinions, I have found it to be VERY helpful.</p>
<p>First of all, yes, I may be too hard on my son. I’ve gone through life hearing a zillion teachers tell me, your son is a bright kid but sometimes he just doesn’t try that hard. And seeing the evidence of that on tests, essays, etc. So it has been frustrating.</p>
<p>But point taken to focus more on his success.</p>
<p>He is getting help from the campus math tutoring center, has been since early SEptember, and he tells me that has been very helpful.</p>
<p>I have encouraged him to also go for help at the English writing center for his English papers, but he hasn’t done that. He doesn’t always make the effort to get the help that he needs. I think some of that is his shyness. </p>
<p>I know the PT track is incredibly competitive because we talked with a couple PTs about that early on and were told that getting into PT school is more competitive than getting into medical school because there are fewer slots and lots of people are interested because it’s such a good field.</p>
<p>That is when we turned our attention to the PTA track. I know that many of the students in the PTA track already have four-year degrees, so if he wanted to go back and revisit that career path later when he is older and more mature, it could still happen if he really wants it.</p>
<p>In regard to the ADD/ADHD, my gut feeling from knowing my son and from what I’ve read about ADD/ADHD is that he has some of the characteristics of that problem, but probably not enough to warrant an actual diagnosis.</p>
<p>I suppose that doesn’t mean that an evaluation wouldn’t result in some help for him in his weak areas, some type of counseling or something. We still have to get him to agree to an evaluation.</p>
<p>@beachesgirl I would not prioritize persuading him to get an evaluation, because I’m not sure you can do that without negating the point of taking an approach with more positive reinforcement. I would treat him like a common (and normal) case of a young person who is still adapting and finding his way of transitioning to adulthood and defining his life career. </p>
<p>Everybody posting here has had kids. It is very difficult in the majority of cases for us to predict what careers out kids would ultimately have. A kid doesn’t have to know in from high school or early college years what their career might be. They should still be exploring different interests, and developing skills (math, writing, language, etc.), and getting a very good foundation for a wide variety of careers. While my kids have had interesting early careers, and they were very high achievers before college, I had no way to know that one would end up as a specialist in sustainable design and the other as a journalist. They themselves didn’t figure this out until late in college, or in the latter case several years after college. </p>
<p>Again, I say let the kid’s career choices evolve, let him get some experience in the job market and go from there. That’s the way the vast majority of kids do it.</p>
<p>I would say be very careful about assuming that he has ADD. It seems the first place - and often the only place - people run to when their son or daughter’s teacher says the words “not applying himself”. Our son tested “positive” for ADD at a doctor’s office and we later came to find out he’s actually dyslexic! He had been memorizing what words looked like rather than reading them for years and years - but it eventually caught up to him. My point is - it could be so many things or just plain immaturity. If he’s smoking a lot of pot - or wants to smoke a lot of pot, he could be self-medicating for anxiety or depression. Who knows? But please don’t just do some online test and then decide he has ADD from that.</p>
<p>The online questionnaire should not be used by parents to diagnose, but looking at it can help a parent understand a little more about that particular disorder and determine whether there is any reason to look into things more. A professional should evaluate a kid for ADHD/ADD or anything else, if the parent or kid thinks that might be useful. (But even ADHD clinics at major hospitals do use the questionnaire, believe it or not.) </p>
<p>Frazzlemom, your post would seem to support doing a full evaluation for kids who are having problems with school: perhaps the dyslexia would have been uncovered sooner without the quickie diagnosis via questionnaire at the MD’s. (One of mine was also misdiagnosed with ADHD; we never used meds so it only did harm in the sense that the real problem wasn’t figured out until awhile later)</p>
<p>Full neuropsych. evaluations run in the thousands, unfortunately.</p>
<p>I think that feeling motivated in school is tough for a lot of young people. There is a disconnect between academics and life, especially for those with a practical bent. The attraction of the PT field is a practical one and it is understandable that that would be appealing. I wish things were easier for that age group and that there were more paths available.</p>
<p>I might add to this…the backdrop for this situation is that our DD who is a high school junior is a stark contrast to our underachieving son. She’s a highly motivated, overachiever, National HOnor Society, high GPA and full IB diploma kid who is raking in the honors and achievements. Plays varsity golf, too. She’ll have lots of college choices and almost certainly some merit scholarships.</p>
<p>We have always been careful not to compare them to each other, and to encourage them in their own ways, but DS knows that his younger sister is an academic overachiever and I can’t help wondering if that bothers him.</p>
<p>They’ve both had the same opportunities and encouragement, and in academic testing in their younger years they were comparable,and in some ways DS did even better than she did in those years. Motivation became more of an issue as he moved into high school.</p>
<p>Whereas DD became more motivated to achieve as she saw what kind of success she could have.</p>
<p>When I read these articles about how our educational system is failing our boys, I look at my own two children and wonder if they aren’t a classic example of that.</p>
<p>Is it the boy thing? How much of that is an issue? I have to wonder.</p>
<p>I think some kids, especially boys, just need a few years to grow up. I also think it’s possible to be a little ADD or a lot ADD. In the post college world all it may take is finding a job that fits your profile. These ideas have been kicking around for a while, but I liked this recent op-ed piece: <a href=“Opinion | A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D. - The New York Times”>Opinion | A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D. - The New York Times;
<p>My son has a good friend who is definitely ADD. He’s wanted to be a doctor forever and has had trouble getting through college. He’s really a great kid. He’s been working for the last couple of years as an EMT and is studying to be a paramedic. He hasn’t rejected the idea of going back to college eventually, but right now the work he’s doing is a much better fit for the way his brain works.</p>
<p>We had many of the same questions about the value of diagnosis, but in hindsight I wish we’d gone through S1’s testing much, much sooner. Pills are not skills, as they say, but knowing certain things about how his brain works, and what it can/cannot do has been lifechanging for him. And we are much more effective parents. But everyone just kept saying he was immature, he’d grow out of it…OP needs to go with her gut feeling. </p>
<p>I think 21st century boys are raised with a deficit of hands-on, real life experiences. That retro way of giving boys real, things to do as a way of learning is, I think, important. Then in adult life, they are unable to structure life because they don’t really know their capabilities or interests. It’s almost as if they are meeting themselves for the first time. I think girls are still socialized to be perfection -seeking pleasers and achievers; opening STEM fields and changing schools has only created more opportunities for them to be competitive racehorses. </p>
<p>All in all, to keep things in perspective, your son is not doing badly for his first semester away. Don’t forget to praise him. Many kids with stronger backgrounds flounder. He could have dropped that math class. But he stuck it out, he went to tutoring and sought out help (very mature for a boy his age), and he is keeping his part of the deal, in fact, doing better than that.
As for careers, etc, he’ll figure it out. Keep checking how he does but right now, I’d be encouraging him :)</p>