Hi idahomom.

My son is similar to yours - 142 on the WISC VCI, 9th percentile on processing speed and ADHD. This is not an uncommon combination.

All the comments so far are useful. We have been told to have our son do his tests orally, have someone scribe for him, and take him to OT for motor visual issues. He is also learning to type.

The decision to medicate or not is a personal one, and we also had serious side effects before we found the right one. I will say, however, that now that we have the right medication, it has made a huge difference. If you do not medicate, it is important to use alternative behavioural therapies.

Feel free to PM me if you wish and I would be happy to discuss this in more detail.

To calizephyr,
My son is taking the standard classes the teachers compile for all 7th graders: 2 LA, 1 Science, 1 Math, Health/PE (supplanted with his gifted class this 1/2 of the semester), Spec. Ed. class (in lieu of a music class). And it was he who alerted me to the fact that he won't be able to attend the universities he'd like because of the lack of Math proficiency. I hadn't arrived there yet. He is looking forward to college. He sees the big picture and looks ahead. When problem-solving, he uses a wide array of resources. For example, if I were to teach him about an apple, I'd need to start by showing him the whole apple, then dissect it in portions, down to the seed. Whereas most teachers start with the seed because the students don't understand the whole apple at first. Does that make sense? Given this understanding of him, the answer is yes, he does anticipate college. He knows he wants to be in an occupation that only comes from higher education. And he gets that.
To Snowgirl, he likes taking things apart...not putting them together. That's why he doesn't do things like Legos. Learning how things function by taking them apart is his motivation.

Eema, I excited to hear more of what you have found successful because your child shares my child's weaknesses and strengths. What medication have you found useful?

I've had a few other parents tell me to homeschool my son. What is the consensus among the writers of this forum regarding homeschooling the 2E?

Idahomom, if he learns best by hearing about the whole apple first before the seeds, the opposite of how most teachers teach, that is a very common visual-spatial learner problem, and in that case I'd strongly encourage you to take a look at that website. There are a couple articles dealing with math as well. What, specifically, seems to be his difficulty with math, if you know?

How was his perceptual reasoning score on the WISC? Just wondering, thinking about whether whatever the problem is affected that as well.

We use Concerta - but it was a rocky road at the beginning. There are many options out there and there are some good forums for parents of kids with ADHD where you can learn much more.

snowgirl,
His Perceptual Reasoning was lower than his Verbal Comprehension at 110. Does that mean something? Thanks again for all your helpful input. He does alright in Math tests, but doesn't turn in his assignments fast enough. He says by the time he finishes one assignment, there's 4 more to be done.

Eema, because your child exhibits the same strengths and weaknesses as my son, I'm curious to know what educational choice you've made. Do you collaborate a lot with his teachers? Is he homeschooled? Is is in a private school?

Secondly, does your son have a strong work ethic. I question my son's. It's hard sometimes to distinguish between his slow processing speed, ADD, and simply lack of motivation to work. Do you know what I mean?

Could you add an accommodation to his IEP for a scribe or for reduced workload?

My daughter is also highly verbal and has a comparatively low perceptual reasoning score. The psychologist told me that her PRI score was affected by a visual-motor integration problem because the PRI subtests are highly visual and require building patterns with blocks, for instance. The visual-motor problem also causes her to have trouble with writing which slows her down on any type of assignment, including math. By the way, the subtests for processing speed on the WISC include "Coding" which requires the copying of symbols. Her score on that was much lower than her verbal scores, too.

His IEP includes a provision for reduced workload. If he turns in an assignment 80% complete--it's complete. But his teachers aren't following it. I've e-mailed them, with no response.