ADHD and Classroom Punishment

A 17-year-old with ADHD asks whether the punishment his teacher gives him is fair.
Q
I'm 17, have ADHD, and attend school in a mild mentally handicapped classroom. My teacher makes me stand in the corner when I get in trouble, out of control, or too hyper. Do you think that is a good thing?
A
If I were you, I would ask the person who made the diagnosis of ADHD to speak to the teacher about positive ways she could help you with your ADHD in class. Is there another adult you trust who could do that with you? The school guidance counselor? A parent? A friend?

I'm sorry to say that most teachers don't receive much instruction about ADHD when they are learning to become teachers. Two good books that can help your teacher to learn more about ADHD if she wants to would be the Problem Solver Guide for Students with ADHD by Harvey C. Parker and How to Reach and Teach Children with ADD/ADHD by Sandra F. Rief. She can also get good information from the website (http://www.chadd.org) for Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorders.

For more than 20 years, Eileen Marzola has worked with children and adults with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders, and with their parents and teachers. She has been a regular education classroom teacher, a consultant teacher/resource teacher, an educational evaluator/diagnostician, and has also taught graduate students at the university level. Marzola is an adjunct assistant professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and Hunter College of the City University of New York. She also maintains a private practice in the evaluation and teaching of children with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders.

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