They Call This a Lack of Self-Advocacy.
Yesterday, we had a meeting at the public high school with Dylan’s soon-to-be guidance counselor. We had a few questions, as I’m sure all incoming freshmen do. And while the counselor had many strong answers, he didn’t seem to know the answer to the underlying question that – I only realized yesterday – is plaguing my every move.
What should I do about my son who’s so brilliant that he’s bored, and so unfocused that he can’t turn in his simplest homework assignments?
Dylan hates school. He finds it to be incredibly boring. So I was thrilled to hear that he could take IB classes – classes that are made for college-bound, advanced-level thinkers like Dylan. These classes delve deeper than the standard, add a global perspective, and offer the flexibility of open-ended, written answers during testing.
For Dylan’s brain, these classes are perfect.
But Dylan has a writing issue. Because of his ADHD, he has trouble getting words onto paper without a computer. All of his IB classes would require constant writing. And while he is excellent at organizing his thoughts, he has issues with capitalization and punctuation. His ideas are exceptional. His writing is wonderful. His technical writing abilities are not.
And while his ideas would add much to the IB classes, and while he would enjoy the mental stimulation that comes with it, he has not proven that he’s capable of handling homework and class assignments responsibly enough for even the simplest of classes.
Dylan has yet to succeed in avoiding a “zero” in any class. He has not turned in all of his assignments on time in any class. Ever. He usually does the work. But he never seems to know that it’s due.
And no matter how much I have prodded him to talk to each teacher after class, to make sure he knows what to do and when to do it, he absolutely refuses. So he doesn’t know what’s due, or when to turn it in.
In GT/LD lingo, they call this a “lack of self-advocacy.”
So I can hardly suggest that we put Dylan into a top-level class with advanced-level work, since he is completely incapable of turning in his work.
The problem is not: Is Dylan able to handle IB work? The problem is, Is Dylan able to turn in ANY work?
And unfortunately, I simply have no idea.