<p>steel, I think you should post this on the Parents Forum instead. Since you are a parent and some of the parents probably have dealt with this issue, they may be able to offer suggestions for colleges that are good for ADD students or what you can do.</p>
<p>yes, I have been told this by a few others and will place future posts in that forum, decided to post here becuase I wanted to hear from actual students who may be dealing with the same issues as my son, thanks everyone.</p>
<p>my daughter has ADD and has in the past helped co-chair an ADD support group on her campus.
She also has an ADD coach that she meets with weekly to help her prioritize her obligations.
Her classes are often seminar style, and since she is a biology major- labs. Many schools don't have large lecture classes, her largest classes as a freshman were about 70 in lecture, and broke out to 15 in seminar.</p>
<p>Jackpot!! Now THIS is what I have been looking for! Pardon me if I seem too excited but this is a GREAT idea for him to look into in College, a support group. Will also look into trying to find an ADHD/ADD "Coach" which is something I never knew existed. If there are any other tips you may have for me, please post I really appreciate this very important tip, THANK YOU!!</p>
<p>I invite you to post your question over on Parents Forum, where there are many helpful parents, some of whom also are ADD/ADHD or have kids who are.</p>
<p>My advice as a person who is ADD, has been a college prof, and has an ADD and an ADHD son is:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Your son needs to sit in the front row in front of the prof. That will help him pay attention.</p></li>
<li><p>Your son should bring a laptop to class and take notes on it. </p></li>
<li><p>Your son should do whatever is possible to get into small classes. Often even in large public universities, after one finishes freshman year, it's much easier to get into small classes.</p></li>
<li><p>Your son should use whatever medications help him with his ADHD.</p></li>
<li><p>Your son should avail himself of the services of the campus counseling center. Even if they don't have special services for ADD/ADHD people, they still should be able to give good advice about study skills, organizational skills and what classes/ profs are likely to be best for your son to take.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Steel, Northstarmom gives excellent advice. I also was going to mention the idea of an ADHD coach. If there is an Access unit at your son's school they should be able to direct you to resources on campus and in the area including ADHD coaches. My son has ADHD and is currently on leave of absence from his college. When he goes back to school it will be our goal to get him documented with his school's Access unit so that he is eligible for accommodations in the class room if needed. Just as important though is finding someone to work with him to show him how to get organized in a way that will allow him to succeed in a college setting. My understanding is that an ADHD coach would be helpful in this regard and they would routinely check with the student in person or by phone to check on progress or problems. Many colleges have wonderful resources to help students with study and college success skill (ADHD or not) but a key issue is whether the student is a good self advocate and will seek these services out if they start to struggle. My son did not seek the help out until it was too late to salvage his first semester in college. I think some sort of ADHD coach would have made the difference for him. </p>
<p>I would be interested to hear if ADHD coaches have been used by others in this situation and whether it proved helpful.</p>
<p>Another great set of tips, thanks. My son does not do good when it comes to note-taking which is soemthing we are currently working on so I am thinking of having him record the lectures then go review it, problem with this is this will take double the amount of time compared to just taking notes in class. I have always had him sit in front of the Teacher's nose in every class since Kindergarten just so he won't be among the usual "slackers" who sit at the back of the class. In College when I won have any infulence then, I can only "hope" he will continue to sit in front. Ok, what I will do now is go create another thread in the Parent forum and try to gather all of the tips into one thread so everyone can simply add and/or question all of the tips available, thanks you!</p>
<p>jdasmom, this is precisely the reason why I am looking into all of this now as opposed to later on when my son actually begins college, my son is NOT a good "self advocate" as you put it, I am still to this day trying to figure out if he just feels shy or lack confidence or what the problem is? Ok, so let me go place everything in a new thread now before this thread gets any bigger, see you guys there, thanks.</p>
<p>If your son has note-taking problem (like me, since I'm an int'l), recording lectures might be helpful.</p>
<p>On a related note, how does one get a job as an ADHD "coach?"</p>
<p>here's the new thread guys, please continue this topic there if you will, thanks.</p>
<p>"Well, you're wrong, my son is very "special", to me, I never asked for "special" treatment of any kind for "my" son alone, what I am looking for are "answers" that will help him with his problems, I am not going to leave him to just "cope", I will exhaust every possible avenue to help my son succeed and not just "get by"."</p>
<p>While i still stand by what i said, i really respect any parent that is dedicated like you seem to be. Best of luck.</p>
<p>maybe your son's just lazy. If you've truly tried every med available and still he comes in with "mere" B's, then the only other option is that he's slacking and using his ADD as an excuse.</p>
<p>Get some Aderol. It's magical.</p>
<p>"While i still stand by what i said, i really respect any parent that is dedicated like you seem to be. Best of luck."</p>
<p>Thank you, no worries, this is America, we all have freedom of Speech and I certainly don't expect everyone to share the same views and I don't mind an opposing view if I consider it to be rational.</p>
<p>"maybe your son's just lazy. If you've truly tried every med available and still he comes in with "mere" B's, then the only other option is that he's slacking and using his ADD as an excuse."</p>
<p>My son who is captain of his Football Team, who does Volunteer work for his school, who is President of the School's Art Club, who helps my elderly neighbors with their chores [for free], who works a 3-11pm job every Saturday and Sunday, who is on his School's track team, this is a LAZY kid? I don't know what relationship you have with your parents or kids but I'll tell you this, you should think twice about calling people's kid lazy and using other negative words!</p>
<p>Well said STEEL!!!!!</p>
<p>Some just have no clue as to where some others must come from and what it can take to get them to where they are going!!! And others just have no clue what so ever.</p>
<p>"My son who is captain of his Football Team, who does Volunteer work for his school, who is President of the School's Art Club, who helps my elderly neighbors with their chores [for free], who works a 3-11pm job every Saturday and Sunday, who is on his School's track team, this is a LAZY kid? I don't know what relationship you have with your parents or kids but I'll tell you this, you should think twice about calling people's kid lazy and using other negative words!"</p>
<p>sounds like he's overcommitted and pre-occuppied with his extracurriculars (football, art club, volunteer work, job, etc.) Yet you are dissatisfied with his grades, but he still can have a job on the side. If he's truly not lazy, then he must be OVERWORKED with a thousand committments. If meds aren't working and you're sure he's giving 100% percent, then maybe he needs to let go of some of those EC's. ADD isn't T H A T serious, no matter what you say. It's more of an excuse to be lazy than an actual disorder.</p>
<p>RBASE - please explain your expert rational - are you an expert in the field of ADD - ADHD?? What is your personal experience?? Are you a parent or a student??</p>
<p>To make such statesments and assessments above - you must have some expertise. Or are you just being ignorant?? Please explain yourself! I am having a very difficult time trying to figure out where you are coming from in this arena - because you certainly do NOT sound as tho you do have the expertise regarding learning issues such as these.</p>
<p>Are you going to tell me you have ADD/ADHD or a kiddo who does - and you think they are lazy or over subscribed in their activities?? Please justify your comments.</p>
<p>First of all JeepMOM, calm down. It's not that serious, it's just my opinion. Second of all, I was talking to Steel, not to you. Third, I'm not on the hot seat, so I don't have to explain my "expert rational" (I belive it's spelled rationale, with an "e" thank you very much, "expert" speller), which I never claimed to have in the first place. Find a post where I claimed to be an expert.</p>
<p>I believe I explained myself pretty well already, you all just don't want to hear what I have to say because I'm telling the truth. I'm not saying what you and Steel want to hear, so you want me to shut up. Well, I don't have to.</p>
<p>In my first comment of the thread, I wrote: "What do you expect? Lectures are a H U G E part of college, and you can't expect colleges to offer extra help or cancel lecture classes just because some students have short attention spans or can't sit still for more than 10 seconds. Students aren't gonna get special accomadations for a minor condition like ADD/ADHD. Maybe being wheelchair-bound or something, but not ADD. Far too common. The most your son will be able to do is seek a good tutor."</p>
<p>This is basically saying that it's ridiculous to expect that your son is going to recieve special treatment in college because they can't focus in class for more than 10 minutes straight, and use it as an excuse to bring in what Steel says are poor grades (B's). You're not going to be spoonfed in college, and it's ludicrous to expect it. Get used to it.</p>
<p>Then some idiot comes in claiming that big classes are rare in college nowadays, somehow forgetting more students will be in college this coming year than any other. I prove him wrong, then go on to suggest that maybe it's more the meds not working. Maybe he's overcommitted to EC's or can't focus for another, but you refuse to hear that. Sorry, but it's the truth. I know it's your baby boy, but maybe you should stop being so pig-headed about this whole ADD thing and consider that there may be other factors that are impeding your son getting the perfect grades that you expect, Steel.</p>
<p>examples:
-Maybe he doesn't do the homework
-Maybe he takes breaks in class frequently
-Maybe he doesn't talk much in class and that affects his class participation grade.
-Maybe he talks too much and ****es the teacher off, which lowers his grade</p>
<p>Boy - talk about calming down hehehe - take a breather there pal.
You certainly like to use sarcasm to attack - uummmmm.</p>
<p>In my opinion - your comments have little basis in this situation with Steel - and I DO have a right to my opinion also. Maybe you need to read back to see what is actually being commented on in this situation.</p>
<p>And BTW - YOU don't have to be so crude and rude in your ''opinions'' - they accomplish nothing. As you don't seem to be able to identify your expertise or to answer questions asked on the issues at hand - ...............</p>
<p>DONE!!</p>