Clarke Gable

Name: Clarke Gable

Age/Grade: 10 years, 8 months; entering 5th grade

Parents: Ashley and Scarlet Gable

Condition: learning disabilities, emotional disorders, and attention deficit hyperactice disorder (ADHD) overlay.

Background: Clarke is the second of three children born to Ashley and Scarlet Gable. Clarke and his younger brother attend Maplewood School. His older sister is in the high school, which adjoins his elementary school campus. Clarke was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 6-years-six-months; a little more than two years later, the diagnosis was amended to learning disabilities/emotional disorders, with ADHD overlay.

In addition to the anticipated learning difficulties, Clarke exhibits some overt ADHD behaviors – difficulty sitting still and doing seat work, always on the move, at times wandering aimlessly about the room bothering others, and giving back-talk to his teachers, especially during reading tasks. These behaviors seem to occur more intensely in times of stress or when a task demand is placed on Clarke. Lately they are increasing and are more frequently appearing at other times as well. Clarke's younger brother is also diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and receives Ritalin, which appears to help. However, his brother does not have the hyperactivity, along with the attentional deficits. Clarke's parents asked their doctor if Clarke might benefit from Ritalin and also alleviate some of Clarke’s apparently hyperactive, aggressive behaviors; with Ritalin, could Clarke also improve his reading grades? Would it improve his attitude?

Basically, Clarke is successful academically in mathematics; his math skills are excellent and he loves to manipulate objects to solve problems. Reading, however, is another matter. His teachers make sure he receives specially designed instruction for both reading and written language expression, including spelling and paragraph construction; however, the IEP Team is concerned about his ability to succeed in the more applied science and social studies content areas which are now getting more difficult because of the complexity of the reading text. Clarke is getting more and more frustrated and angry when asked to do any subject that requires content reading.

Finally, Clarke is a loner, typically staying to himself. He interacts with peers only when he has to, or when he wants to cause a disturbance.

Comments and Insights

Parents: “Clarke was making progress in school when younger, but now we are very concerned. He refuses to do his homework and promises of rewards to motivate him have failed. We agree that he will need limited intervention concerning reading skills, but in 5^th grade almost everything is based in reading. How much can a teacher do when there are so many other children in the classroom? Soon we are afraid he will begin to hate math and won’t do any work in this area as well. We need some program for him that lets him see -- in a big way -- the direct results of his actions. We've thought about a private tutor, along with medication, but we are not sure he will cooperate. His brother is very good about taking his Ritalin, but Clarke has already said he won’t take pills and we can’t make him do it. He is convinced they won’t work for him. We are also concerned about Clarke's lack of socialization -- he can answer questions fine, but cannot initiate positive social interactions, choosing instead to annoy or hurt other children. It’s affecting our social life. We can’t take him anywhere; when he is forced to go somewhere with the family, even to places he likes, he sulks or is obnoxious and mouthy. He acts the same way around his siblings; what you see at school is also what we get at home.”

Special Education Teacher: “Clarke responds well to specific skills and questions with absolute answers. He can follow and write simple directions, but he can't tell a story in his own words after reading it with the teacher. His whole world seems to revolve around his house, his school schedule concerning what subject or event comes at what time of day. He is almost paranoid about making sure he takes home at least one good paper a day to show his family. Yet, he seems to want to fail before he even begins. I remember this happening this week. It went something like this. ‘Today we are going to read a story about a boy about your age who doesn’t like to read.’ Clarke said, ‘Oh, just like me. Well, good for him. Reading is for girls and sissies. I’ll like this guy, for sure.’ It’s like he does this on purpose to make me get off the subject and work on attitude instead of reading skills. How can I help Clarke understand it is okay not to be very good at something, but continually practicing and working at it is something he needs to do in order to get better? All he seems to want to do is wait for the time to go to the computer lab with Mr. Mikesell. I have no idea what goes on in there, be he always comes back happy. It’s the only time I ever see him this way here of late.

Regular Education Teacher: I agree with [the special education teacher]; Clarke's reading skills seem to be at the heart of the problem. How much of his lack of success is due to his ADHD is not really clear. His conceptual idea of reading assignments is fine, as long as there is one right answer for each question or task and there are cues along the way. He cannot seem to infer or think about other ways of thinking about characters, their motivation, the circumstances. He struggles with -- and exhibits aggressive behaviors -- when we engage in class discussions or personal stories about real-life experiences. If given the chance, he invariably makes fun of the personal comments from other students and seems to intentionally hurt their feelings. I don't know if Ritalin is going to make any difference there. I think Clarke is reacting because he is encountering tasks for which he has no skills. You know, I just thought of something. Clarke is a natural mimic -- I wonder if books/audio tapes of materials could be helpful, especially if he is a more auditory learner than a visual. Would he do better if he could hear the text read by someone else as he followed along or read with the tape at his own speed? We have got to find some ways for him to be successful soon, or I am afraid he will become so far behind he won’t want to come to school at all.”

Clarke: “I hate reading. These books are about people not like me – I don’t care what they think or do. Who cares? Fake. They are all fake. What happened to the books with pictures. I like pictures. Now all I get are books with words – small black words and graphs and crap like that. I want some pictures instead of all this boring stuff. Mr. Mikesell. He understands. He knows that reading books is a crock. He lets me just go to special sites he has bookmarked and lets me pick some and then read what I want and then talks to me about it. What a cool dude. He doesn’t nag me or make me do any homework either. I wish Mr. Mikesell was my teacher all the time than just the two days a week I get to go to computer lab.”