An LD forum would be a home for those of us who might otherwise be considered “helicopter parents”. Raising a child with LD issues differs in many respects from the experience of parents with neurotypical children. We’ve spent years working closely with school bureaucracies in order to enable a level playing field for our children. The observant parenting never really fades, even if our children are chronologically considered adults.
I’d love to share perceptions of school culture and how well kids with LDs thrive as they adjust to independent living and self advocacy.
What a wonderful idea. Why didn’t anyone think about this before. I’ve been on these boards since d# 1 was a jr. in HS. She’s now a Jr. in college and d # 2 will be entering SUNY Cortland this fall. For d # 1, there was so much info re: schools and admissions that I could relate to- For my younger d, there just did not seem to be the same wealth of info that I was looking for. D # 2 falls into the “real average student” category- solid B but no AP’s or honors. But she was STRUGGLING with the SAT test. Her score was low (around 950), that I had to think there was something more going on with this test. It wasn’t just the score, it was her physical reaction to it. She took Kaplan and would come out of every practice tests white as a ghost- say her head was “numb”- and was very quiet for about 15 minutes. It wasn’t nerves as I said these were practice tests. We had her take the ACT also because I didn’t want to put her through SAT testing again. Lo and behold this test caused NONE of the problems she had from the SAT. Both tests are about the same length in time- so I felt there was definitely something more going on. She scored an equivalent of 130 points higher on the ACT and never looked back on the SAT experience.
I often hunted down bits of info on these boards to see if anyone had a similar experience as my d. Occassionally I would read a post from a kid who had a similar reaction. A few times I read about “brain freezing” or tingling so I guess that it was as close to my d’s reaction that I would see. I noticed that kids who had lots of problems with SAt’s were either into sports or performing arts. I know it is quite a generalization - but it made me think that learning styles and abilities played a role in all this. I found certain website like Colleges of Distinctions (very good info) would have Learning style quizzes and it seems my d has a kinetic type style of learning. It also seems kids who have this style are often into sports or performing arts. This made me feel that my observations and generalizations were not too far off base.<br>
But college confidential really doesn’t address these issues. There are PLENTY of threads talking about the benefits of going to Williams vs. Duke vs Princeton- and you know what–all those kids who are even thinking about those schools will do just fine. Therefore I think it would be the right thing for cc to do is to have ONE DESIGNATED AREA for parents who need info on LD or learning style issues to go to.
My days on these boards are numbered as d # 2 will be starting college soon. I may lurk for a while and pm some parents I’ve been in contact with but I won’t be too active on these boards once this group of threads are archived. So if I can do “one last thing”, I’ll add my voice to try and get that designated area for LD/learning style issues!!
I wish you all well and Good luck to the class of 2011.
Vicki
I see that no new posts have been added for a couple of days. I would like to add my voice to the requests for a forum on this. S2 has “mild” ADD, diagnosed less than a year ago. We were in the dark for too long, trying to figure out what was wrong, and now that S2 is a rising senior, we have lots of questions to deal with really quickly as we go through the college admission process. I think it would be great to have the knowledgeable and supportive CC parents as resources. Would a moderator respond and let us know if our request is being considered?
Here, here, 2mch2sn. Moderator: I really do think that there is a lot more interest in this topic than meets the eye here – I didn’t actually know that this forum existed until my original post was moved here! I don’t think that as many people scroll through this forum daily as in the Parents’ forum. If you look at how many people have posted replies on LD related topics on the parents’ forum, and how many related issues are brought up on each of those threads, I think you’ll get a more realistic vision of the interest and need. I’m about to post an LD question of the Parents’ forum, and we’ll see what happens.
Count me in! I have a brilliant, gifted 16 year old with BAD case of ADD and would love to see this forum developed. I believe that there is a significant amount of overlap in bright minds/ADD. And there are a great deal of bright minded kids and their parents who frequent this site… so…how bout it? Thanks to OP.
Does anyone have experience with getting a forum added in the past? I would love to be able to ask other parents questions on their experiences with ADD and learning disabilities. I have a niece who will be looking for colleges within the next year or so who as Asperger’s–she will definately need to look for an accomodating environment.
i have mild ADHD Was diagnosed as a young kid…Was only a few years old…Almost needed no help except a Small amount of hw reducing in elementary math in 5th grade until I WAs in 8th grade everything went downhill from there…now im a 10th grader w/ a few days left till im clasified as a junior…and my grades r up im sucessfully at a special private school on Long Island for special needs kids and i believe there should be an adhd/ld forum
and i close this w/ SPED PRIDE!
If such a forum was to be created, what would you suggest it be called, so it would be clear what the purpose is but not offend anyone or leave anyone out?