Posted on 12/07/2001 9:05:30 AM PST by Outlaw76
Hello Fellow Freepers and Parents, I need your help to save my son.
Yesterday my wife was warned that my son would be tested for ADD/HD, and that the teacher would recommend that he be placed on medication. If we did not agree she let us know that it would go on his record and that he would likely be placed in a special ed. class in the future.
This is something I have expected nearly since the day he was born. My son has the unfortunate fate of being a whole lot like his dad. I remember my youth with a vividness that no one I know can match. My earliest memories are when I was around two years old. Folks, I can remember being really small. Is that a part of him they would destroy with the mind altering drugs? I can recognize patterns moving rapidly in front of my eyes. (An incredible talent for debugging code amongst other things.) They would make that impossible by numbing his reaction to stimulus. What other traits will they destroy in their quest to fit the square peg into the round hole? Will he loose some of his problem solving abilities? Will he loose his logical understanding and common sense?
As you can see I am deeply concerned, no scared, of what they want to do to my child. Currently, home schooling is not an option. We cannot take him to a private school either. They hold my child hostage with threats of ‘medicate him or we will put him in a class with ‘Special’ children.’ That is in spite of the fact that he does well on tests and scored above average on a national test. I can’t allow them to destroy my child.
I do not think this will be an easy battle to win. Though I am a game competitor, this is not an arena I am well versed at doing battle in. I need information, reliable solid information.
Can anyone point me in the direction of the following:
1. Statistics on the diagnosis of ADD/HD since 1982. (These are the kids that have recently graduated or will be graduation in the near future.)
2. Statistics on graduation rates for the same period.
3. Statistics on suicide rates for the same period.
4. Statistics on student SAT and ACT scores over that time period.
5. Information related to the negative effects of using these drugs on children.
6. Any information that might help me in this battle.
I am prepared to raise quiet a bit of hell on this issue. We will hire a doctor to diagnose him privately. We will hire an attorney to ensure none of this gets into his school records. We will fight this as far and as hard as we have to. I will not let them destroy the man my son will become.
My son is a bright, happy, kind, inteligent 6 year old who dotes on his 3 year old sister, fights with his 10 year old sister and loves his momma like no other. I am not just proud, I am more than proud, I'm his Dad.
Get him away from the pushers.
Get him away from the pushers.
Not a time to be collecting alleged facts like you are a lawyer going to trial; go with your gut instinct.
Open your eyes and look at the options, dad. Work nights. Have your wife work nights. Downsize your living arrangements.
We homeschool. I have one (of a set of twins) that would surely be in your boys position if they were in school. My little girl, she's a dreamer, and doesn't pay attention if it doesn't interest her. Show her a puzzle and it's done in seconds. She has an ability to see things that it seems many don't and it's natural. I can't drug her.
twinzmommy
Good luck and our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Stay well - stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
Well - you SHOULD be.
Exactly what material possesions are you placing before your childs welfare ?
Move, take a job doing something else - but pull that boy OUT of that situation.
You owe him that. 25 years from now it will not matter what kind of car, house, neighborhood you had.
You will forever affect your son's life with this decision.
I know it's hard - I made the same one this year.
I grew up in a generation which teachers recognized higher intellegence levels and gave special considerations to those above the "normal" student. Your son (and you) are gifted-not deficient.
I fear that your school system is not equipped to handle bright students, which is not suprising. Homeschooling is a great alternative, but sometimes not financially feasable. You may want to try private schools, however they may not be equipped either. (mine wasn't)
Just my two cents.
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