Question:

What is the best school environment for adolescent girls who are shy, anxious, and gifted with attention deficit? What extra support is necessary?

Jackson

Answer:

Dear Jackson,

Each teenager is different and has different needs.  Interventions should be individualized to fit the student.  Without knowing your student’s situation, it is difficult to give you specific suggestions.

Each teenager is different and has different needs.  Interventions should be individualized to fit the student.  Without knowing your student’s situation, it is difficult to give you specific suggestions.

However, in general, a student with the characteristics you have described may be eligible for accommodations in the general classroom environment.  I say “may” because the accommodations made possible by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (1973) are designed to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities.  In order to qualify, a student must have or have a record of a serious disability that “substantially limits” one or more life activities.  If your student is “gifted”, a “substantial” limitation becomes more difficult to document.  Determination of eligibility is the responsibility of the school district and can vary from district to district.  Each school district has a Section 504 coordinator.  I would suggest that you contact your school district coordinator for more information if you are interested. You can also request that your student be referred to a student study team if she is experiencing significant difficulty at school.  For more information on what you can expect and on Section 504, please refer to a previous “Ask A Specialist” response to “Anita’s” question that begins “My sixth grade son, who is also …”

Accommodations can include opportunities such as taking tests in a quiet environment, having a set of textbooks at home, or using graph paper to complete mathematics problems.  A wide variety of accommodations are available and each student’s needs are different.  Since your student is a teen, to encourage her to develop independence and take responsibility for her accommodations, she should help determine her accommodations.  She may be interested in filling out a checklist of accommodations.  A checklist is available to download in Chapter 5 of the Self-Advocacy Manual, available at:  http://www.ldpride.net/selfadvocacy.htm .  This website contains much other information that may be useful to your teen as she learns to request accommodations and advocate for her needs.

The special challenges faced by girls with AD/HD have been outlined in a previous Ask A Specialist, beginning “I have an eight year old daughter in the third grade…” Be mindful of the tendency for teenaged girls with AD/HD to develop depression.  Be sure to give her a lot of positive recognition to counter her tendency to be self-critical.  An excellent online resource listed in that article is:  www.addvance.com.

An article that might be especially pertinent for you and your student is High School Girls with AD/HD, by Kathleen Nadeau from Attention! Magazine, November/December 2000.  Attention! Magazine is available to the general public and is a benefit of membership in CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder.) 

As I mentioned above, a gifted student who has AD/HD will likely face unique challenges.  Giftedness and attention disorders have many behaviors in common.  The list below may be helpful in learning to distinguish between the types of behaviors your teen might demonstrate at any given time:

For additional online resources on the gifted child with AD/HD and other disabilities (ADHD, Asperger's, Tourette, etc.), refer to:

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The Gifted Student with AD/HD: Between Two Worlds
http://www.ncpamd.com/Gifted_ADD.htm

Gifted and AD/HD: What Do We Know?
http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/kaufkalb.html

Personal story of a gifted 12-year-old girl with AD/HD
http://www.schwablearning.org/articles.asp?r=276