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Question by Michelle K: Help! Anyone with adopted children that were meth babies having learning disabilities in gradeschool?
I adopted a meth baby as an infant. He is now 6 years old and in first grade. He is having problems with retaining information such as the ABC’s, numbers, and simple spelling. They want to send him back to kindergarten. Is this common? Can anyone relate or have any suggestion or advice?
Best answer:
Answer by tickled blue
Is this the fisrt you’ve noticed a problem?
Is this adoption through foster care?
If so, I would contact your doctor to see about some testing…..I would then contact your social worker/agency to see about some therapy. In many states, this is offered to you until the child is 18….providing it was done through foster care. Either way, I would want to find out some more info before I did anything rash. If he has a disability, they are often required to give him more specialized help–at the schools expense. If he is just not paying attention or isn’t properly prepared for 1st grade, then you need to speak with your doctor and/or get him some specialized help. Take care! Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
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meth at a young age causes brain damage, and it is also possible he could have dyslexia. i would suggest getting him screened for dyslexia.
it is possible. most times when a mother does drugs while pregnant, this is the form it takes on in the child. a learning disability at around this age or later. however, you can’t be 100% sure the learning disability comes from the meth addicted mom. Many many children have the same issues and their mother never did drugs at all.
As far as suggestions…do for him as any child with a learning disability. The cause most times will not matter, the “treatment” would be the same. See what the school has to offer, she what other agencies have to offer etc…There are many options available to you.
It is also possible that the boy is just a bit lower on the curve of what is “average”. That doesn’t always means he has a learning disability.
Take him to his pediatrician and express all the concerns and see what they say. They may want to run some tests and go from there.
Good luck to you and God bless you for caring for this child.
He shouldn’t be sent back. Have them do testing – he should probably be in Special Education. Meth causes tons of problems and brain damage. He may qualify as mentally retarded at some level (there are 3 levels recognized in the US at different ranges of IQ score).
If you live in the US, there are all types of programs for children with disabilities. If this is the case, insist on an IPO (they’re called different things in different states) – a special meeting and plan set up for his education.
It does not matter if his learning disabilities (if he has them) were a result of meth or other drug use during pregnancy or not. All children with disabilities in the US have rights and access to special education. You also need to hook into the state system if this is the case. Most children get on disability and have access to extra therapy programs outside of the school system. You probably qualify for tons of programs, so you should definitely look into it. Have him tested right away!
It is very possible that exposure in the womb to meth can cause developmental delays. Although studies on “meth babies” are still in the beginning stages preliminary research indicates that about four in ten will have emotional, social, or developmental delays of some kind. I would first get him tested to find out exactly what tasks he is having difficulties with and see if perhaps he just needs a specialist to work one on one with him a few days a week at school.
It is common for some children to repeat kindergarten and in some children this is what they need, just a bit more time to learn the skills you mentioned. However this is something that needs to be decided on through a collaborative effort between you and the school.
I am a meth addict, and although I stopped using as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I have a few friends who didn’t. They all suffer from ADD. So you may want to have him checked by his pediatrician for testing.
That’s a big jump to say that he is a meth baby, do you know this for sure?
The poor kid probably has a learning difficulty and now needs your support. Get some tests done and if he is dyslexic or ADHD you can get the correct help.
Don’t settle for keeping the child in kindergarten get extra help and get second opinions.