<p>My little brother with be entering 10th grade this fall. All throughout elementary school he had problems with ADHD, as he has gotten older it isn't much of a problem. About 85% of the time in elementary school they had him in a classroom all by himself just drawing pictures. This led to him not learning anything the others kids were. They continued to pass him to the next grade even though he didn't know half of the stuff the other children knew. Even in middle school the same thing was going on. I came down for a visit to see my family, I was checking the mail and found a letter from his school. After attending summer school he was promoted to the 10th grade. In the letter there was all his other information and after reading it I felt bad. I knew he wasn't doing great in school but I didn't think he was this bad off. He failed all three of his STAAR test (Sate of Texas assessments of academic readiness) His GPA is 0.844. Class rank is 748 out of 790. He only received 5 credits for this whole year. His English 1 average is 55 (no credit earned). Practical Writing average is 71 (1 credit earned). Algebra 1 average is 59 (no credit earned). Biology average is 71 (1 credit earned). World Geology average is 57 (no credit earned). Those are his main classes. He is like any other teenager. He isn't special Ed, he just doesn't know as much as he should know. He writes like a 3rd grader, has reading and spelling problems and is really bad in math. He wants to go to college after high school but with his grades im not sure where he would go. He wants to go to a good college though because he wants to major in petroleum engineering. What im getting at here is these next 3 years in high school im going to try and help him get his GPA and grades up. Does anyone here know of any kind of online learning program that actually works? I have heard of Sylvin but he lives in a small town called Del Rio, TX and there isn't a center nearby. I wont be here because I am attending college this fall. Any help will be greatly appreciated. My brother really is a hard worker, he just has trouble. If it weren't for the teachers he has had before he would probably be doing good in school </p>
<p>Has he been properly diagnosed and is he now on medication?</p>
<p>He used to be on medication. They changed it a few times. He was taking Adderall but when he started living with my mom she took him off of it because he would just sit there and do nothing and she didn’t like that. He hasn’t taken any medication since then. </p>
<p>Hi - here are my suggestions</p>
<p>1) Demand that your brother be evaluated by the Child study team at the local school. He will then have a formal evaluation by a psychologist
2) Then once this is done, a formal IEP plan should be filed
3) Have him see another doctor to get on another medication that works for him</p>
<p>@SomeTexasGirl Adderall is not the only effective drug…some people do better on Ritalin or Vyvanse…please take sgopal2’s advice now! This is very sad for your brother to fall through the cracks…where is your mom now? Can or will she get involved?</p>
<p>Kudos to you for your concern!</p>
<p>Just to make sure he hasn’t received a proper psychometric test? This can help A LOT on evaluating how and what conditions he possesses while finding a medication of best fit.</p>
<p>We have a son who has been ADHD and on meds for most of his school years. He is going to college this year, and we’ve had to work with him AND do medication to make sure he reached his full potential.</p>
<p>We used Khan Academy for math-type classes, including physics. This is an extremely useful website. Also, for English writing and comprehension purposes, we used Shmoop – which was VERY helpful. PM me if you have any other specific questions. I’d be happy to provide other strategies that are more specific to your brother’s needs.</p>
<p>@SomeTexasGirl, sorry to be so late to the party- I hope I can be of some help. This is going to take a lot of effort. You need to take care of yourself and do well in college. That will take a lot of your focus and energy. For many, getting through college can be an experience that pushes you and stretches you in ways you can’t imagine. You need to focus on you for these next few years. You won’t have the time to devote to your brother.</p>
<p>Therefore, you need to get a support system for your brother. Call in social workers. If Texas will write him into an IEP with an ADHD diagnosis, good. It is often a tough sell. Clearly, they should find a learning disability in their testing. If they can’t, then they need to look at the big picture and explain why he is trying and not succeeding. They really have no option but to find a LD.</p>
<p>Your mom and brother could benefit from family counseling, so that your mother understands his potential, what needs to be done, and what her part is in all of this. It will be useful for her to be held accountable for coordinating his support and for monitoring his performance and progress.</p>
<p>He will need someone to do the things that you would do. Texas should pay for them (under IDEA, a federal law, which is invoked once he has an IEP). It would be great if he could be officially put back to grade-level, maybe two years. That would give him a year of remediation before his “official” high school grades begin, which actually could be enough. Have faith in your brother (I think you already do!), he could come a long ways very rapidly under the right conditions. During this school year, he needs to be sorted out and accelerated through background materials. Then, he will need to have support (therapy, tutoring, medication dialed-in) for the full duration of high school.</p>
<p>I caution you against trying to do this on your own. It is more than a full-time job even for an expert, which you are not. Try to build a team and see if your Mom is up to being the point person monitoring and reporting on his progress. If not, get her some help. There should be child advocacy non-profits who can help with coordinating services, and finding providers.</p>
<p>Good luck. Update on how it is going from time to time. Is he on an IEP?</p>