Mainstream academic interventions for 14yo with adhd?

[Whatafustercluck]

We finally bit the bullet in February to have our 14yo ds assessed for adhd privately. He's doing 'OK' academically (but currently working below his predicted grades), and he's held it together but is beginning to slip now that school demands have increased ahead of GCSEs. No significant problems with emotional dysregulation on the whole, but working memory, organisation, time keeping, sustained attention and task initiation all cause him increasingly significant difficulties keeping up. He gets a lot of behaviour points for lack of equipment, being disruptive (talking excessively, not rudeness), lateness, chewing, tipping his chair etc. His adhd diagnosis report says he has the combined condition, so while he doesn't get out of his chair a lot (he forces himself to remain seated because he hates getting in trouble) he fidgets and fiddles instead. We don't think an ehcp is required, but we're going to ask for an Individual Education Plan to ramp up support.

We've got a meeting with the assistant senco to progress this, but just wondering what kind of support and intervention he may need the school to make? Wht kind of things might help him other than the obvious seating plan, time out card, movement breaks etc. He has been prescribed medication which he'll be starting over Easter, so that in itself should help a lot.

If you don’t already, you could try having 2 sets of equipment such as pencil case, calculator. Keep one set in DS’s bag that never comes out at home and another set at home for homework.

Things the school may be able to help with: keeping a box of spare equipment in his form tutor’s room/locker if he has one/SEN department, mentor/key worker to aid organisation, ensuring teachers give written instructions and that they are breaking them down, having homework put online, a chew on top of his pen. The school may not be able to provide either without further funding, but a standing desk or a rocker chair could be tried to meet DS’s sensory needs.

Has DS tried any assistive tech? Depending on how mature he is, Brain in Hand might help.

Two sets of equipment is such a good idea. I think we'll do that. The other thing he does a lot is break equipment due to fiddling and fidgeting with it.

At home he uses Alexa to set reminders and timers. I understand that school won't allow smart watches because they're too distracting. They've told us Y9 are having asdessments before the summer which will determine whether any of the children need assisted technology for exams. They've said they'll apply for 25% extra exam time which is good.

We had the meeting and they won't move him up a support band, so essentially he'll have the bare minimum support. I'm just hoping that the medication helps him so much he won't need much more than what they've suggested (seating plan, revision advice from a TA, movement breaks and time out card). They want to make additions to his SEN passport, but on parents evening it was clear that most of the teachers had no idea he had one, nor what to do with it. Most fed back that he wasn't trying hard enough and implied he was lazy, and could do better if he tried harder. We raised this with the assistant senco.

Do you have the email addresses for DS’s teachers? If so, email them all directly. If you don’t ask the SENCO to forward an email to them all.

As well as extra time, things like rest breaks and a prompter might help with exams.

If the school isn’t going to provide more support and a smart watch would work, I would push for that to be allowed as a reasonable adjustment.