ADHD x3

I think one of THE biggest challenges for an educator is that blasted disease-Attention Deficit HYPERactivity Disorder. ....especially when untreated! I had a student who didn't take her meds most of last week in the morning & made things particularly difficult. On top of that, I got a new student, who I found out has ADHD as well, & his mom/auntie forgot his meds that morning & had to come back & give them to him later on in the day; what an adventure!
But the girl student who didn't take her medication was really bouncing off the walls; every time I went to help other students around the room, she was constantly at my elbow and butting into other students' business, asking if I had "fairy books" for her to read, complaining about how hungry she was, & also informing me at the same time that she was gnawing on pencils & erasers. Wow! Luckily, the school counselor loaned me some snacks for her, & she made it until lunch....when I say "made it," I mean she knocked her plant off the desk entirely, finished a task here & there (a co-worker had suggested I highlight passages or lines for her to do at one time & then have her bring it to me) & stayed in her seat for a grand total of 5 minutes.
I spoke with this young lady's mother after-school on the phone about how we needed to work something out for her daughter to get that medication, because it really isn't fair in a class of 28 students for me to have to mostly attend to just one of them. The mom told me she's not easy to handle at home either, but I reminded her mom that she's just responsible for her daughter at home, whereas I have 27 other kids to be attending to simultaneously while her daughter is acting like that. It was kind of strange to me that the mom said her daughter's medication was "stolen" & they would be refilling it---sounds sketchy, but I'm at least grateful that she showed up on medication today; it made the day somewhat smoother! :)