I am in the same situation with my 7th grade son.  At his IEP, I will ask for the teacher to give him her notes or ask if a note taker can be chosen from each class, and then that student copies their notes for my son. I know they have “note takers” in college for students who need help.  I’m not sure how it will be received.  I know in the past the administrators suggested he tape each class and go over it at home; Yeah Right!!  Just what our kids need-more homework and double the school day.  Hopefully someone else has some good suggestions.

I have a 10 yr old ADHD/Dyslexia, and would love to know in advance ways to help him be prepared.  I think the recording would be good.  while the other students have to read over their notes, he will have to re-listen?  Then maybe pause the tape and make important notes….one way or another written or verbal he will have to study the information.  Listen to the lecture in the car, or something?  I think our ADHD’ers will always have to work a little (or a lot) harder then the average learner.

Taping and listening later sounds like a good idea but Pink is right about just doubling up the workload.  We’re struggling to keep up as it is.

The whole process is difficult for our kids:  keeping attention to listen and process what is being said into bite sized pieces, AND struggling to write something legible as quickly as someone says it.  Throw copying from the board and you’ve got a great recipe for frustration and failure.

There must be a way to help them succeed in the middle school classroom.

I worked in a middle school for 4 years and I have an 18 year old ADHD son.  Middle school language arts was our toughest battle.  I would suggest a lot of communication with the teacher and counselor to find a method that works for your son and is acceptable to the teacher.  There are plenty of modifications that can be done by the teacher (shortened assignments, web instead of outline…).  Then you will have to do that all over again with the next teacher.  Know what your son can and can’t do and advocate for him whenever needed.  Know your IEP or 504.  Working with the teacher will get you much further than being oppositional.  You would be surprised how many parents argue with the teacher.  Remember that you both want your son to suceed.  Your definition of sucess might be a little different than the teacher. 

All that being said, note taking is an essential skill for upper grades.  In our 8th grade note taking was a large part of history.  It is a difficult balance for you to make sure he learns how to take notes (or any other skill) but does not get too penalized for what he cannot do.  My son for example could not watch a movie and take notes.  If he wrote during the movie, he would lose whatever was happening in the movie.  If you propose that the teacher give him the notes, also let her know how he is going to use those notes to do the assignment.  Teachers are quite human and are usually more flexible for students who are trying to get their work done.

Encourage him in his strong subjects and help him get through the tough ones.  Let him learn lessons early.  They become more costly later.  My son was strong in math and music, and weak in english and history.  Some of the friends he made in band and math as a freshman, were his best friends as he graduated from high school.  About his sophomore year in high school, he started being able to keep track of his homework himself, and getting most of it turned in.  Keep that gentle pressure on to get his school work done.  It’s worth it!

Mamabear~ Talk to your son’s school about a “speech to text” program for a school computer that will take the notes on the classroom computer for him as the teacher speaks OR have your son bring a laptop to school with the program downloaded onto & have it set up to take the notes as the teachers speaks, the computer will take dictation and it will be saved as a document on the harddrive of his computer.

As I like to say to my students, I want to see you’ve learned, not how frustrated you can become! 

Once the notes are saved as a document, your son can then review the information AND THEN DETERMINE what information was important and NOTEWORTHY~whether that be demonstrated through highlighting, bolding, underlining, etc & then, he deleted info that isn’t needed.  Some speech to text programs will “reread” the information back to you, so he will again have the auditory/visual component to keep his attention focused.

Suggested Programs:
1. Dragon Naturally Speaking OR

2. My Study Bar (FREE) see video overview on youtube (FABULOUS program)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne_rrCpDpaM
You can also request other to other videos about My Study Bar as well!

Hope this helps! AND, the speech to text computer recognition program can be added to an IEP as an accommodation AS LONG AS it shows that it meets the individual need of the student to be successful in class on a daily basis for note taking, for the completion of lengthy written assignments, {ie; essays, reports, journal writing} etc.

I too am having this problem only difference is my daughter is 9 and in the 3rd grade and have Dyslexia/ADHD. She struggles with reading and keeping focus and staying still during instruction.  At out last IEP meeting the diagnostic team decided to list her ADHD as ADD because I had her on meds.  I oppose this reclassification but it was still place on her record. At school the teachers complain about her inability to keep still and give assignments require lenghty reading and writing excerises which is a problem for her to complete much less comprehend due to her LDs. I have invested in a reading card as well as dragon speak software but the school is failing to utilize these materials.  I am at my ends but I still continue on with the battle.