update

I can't let this go. A guy gets pulled from his swim team and in two paragraphs the topic of mental retardation, learning disabilities and ADD is brought up? Is this what I have to look forward to next year - my kid makes bad grades and comes home worried about being possibly retarded or needing to see a shrink for ADD? This is outrageous. Did anyone first think (actually, I do believe Tom E did) that maybe bad study habits are to blame rather than some fabricated 90's sydrome or worse yet, retardation? I just can't believe this. When I got bad grades, the TV went off, the sports got removed and the fun ended for a while. No one ever put cockamamy notions in my parents head. I'm outraged. JC - I hope you improve your grades so you can return to swimming soon.

I’ll jump in on this one. JC, your scholastic endeavors are more important then anything else in your school life right now. As I stated in a previous post regarding your swimming, what you put into the pool today, you get to cash that check in future meets. The same applies to your school work. Whatever you put into your studies today, you will prosper in the future. Since I do not know the reasoning behind your not being allowed to swim (due to grades) or the severity of this issue, I am going to take a general approach in my suggestions. • In the event you find yourself behind in class, reach out for your parents and teachers help. DO THAT NOW! • Talk to your counselors and find out what type help is available to you. DO THAT NOW! • In the event this is a discipline problem, get tough and buckle down to the task and strive to improve your grades through hard work. In the event you cannot find the discipline to sit down and do your homework, immediately seek out professional counseling in your school or church. Possibly and underlying problem or event is occupying your mind right now and that may be negatively impacting your grades and studies. Keep your chin up JC and set a plan in motion with your parents, coach, Pastor and teachers to improve your grades. Keep us posted on your progress. Kindest regards, Tom Ellison

Hey, JC I'm sorry to hear that your grades are going to keep you from swimming! I want to put in my 2 cents also. I'm a school psychologist (note there is a difference between a sch psych and a sch counselor) Sch psychs do a lot of different things, but one of their major jobs is diagnosing learning difficulties. If you find yourself making great grades in say math courses, but really struggling in reading or language arts (or vice versa) it may mean you have an undiagnosed learning disability. A LEARNING DISABILITY IS NOT, AND I REPEAT NOT, THE SAME AS MENTAL RETARDATION. A learning disability means that a person has difficulty processing certain types of information the way most people process it. If you have difficulty concentrating, remaining on task, finishing work, it doesn't mean you are lazy. It may be undiagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder. There are also lots of other things that may be interfering with your learning. In either case, the above advice is great. Talk to your school counselor, your teachers, your parents and your coach about the problem, listen to what they tell you, and find out how to get intouch with your school psychologist (you've got one you just don't know it) He or she may be able to give you some strategies for raising your grades that you never dreamed of. Laineybug

THANK YOU Aquageek! I had exactly the same reaction to laineybug's post as you did. High school is full of social distractions, difficult subjects and other things. Those should be looked at before learning disabilities. My goodness. JC, get help. I urge you to talk to your teachers to determine what the problem is. We all wish you the best here. Good luck! -GG

JC, can you swim practice and just not meets, or are you not allowed to practice eithe/. If you are allowed to practice, keep working hard, but work harder on your studies, and get the help as suggested above. If you are not allowed to practice, try to find open lap swim, but don't let it interfere with study time. Good luck and get the grades up. We're still cheering for you!!

no, I can't swim for the team, but when I raise my grades, my parents are gunna get me on the o.a.c. swim team(it's not a school team, but It's still a swim team

Originally posted by JC_FLY no, I can't swim for the team, but when I raise my grades, my parents are gunna get me on the o.a.c. swim team(it's not a school team, but It's still a swim team So, whazzup JC? How come your grades are where they are? Did they drop recently? Are you distracted with something more interesting, and school got little bit boring in last month or two? I know, maintaining grades can be a lot of tedious work, it does get boring, huh?

The only problem Mr. Fly seems to have is with spelling and grammar. But perhaps with more swimming rather than a dose of ritalin, everything will turn out just fine. On a more serious note, how about using every ounce of your non-class time hitting the books? Try to have all your class work done for the next day before getting into the pool. When your lunch is eaten, don't sit around. Get up and run, yes run, to a quiet spot in the library. Ask for help from your teachers. If you don't get it right, let them know. The only thing wrong in not understanding is in not asking for assistance. There's no such thing as a silly question. P.S. Athletes are usually ranked highest in their class than their non-athlete counterparts.

Notice I did not say that it was a learning disability, nor ADD. I said it might be undiagnosed problems. Way to many learning disabilities and ADD go undiagnosed and the student struggles along with everyone thinking he is 'lazy' or 'stupid' and even worse getting punished for something that is outside of his or her control. The kid starts to wonder what is wrong with himself and eventually becomes to believe lazy/stupid and its a downward spiral from there. If you've never experienced what it is like to have a learning disability, or ADD, or any other handicapping condition, then you don't know what its like and have no basis for making any statements concerning it. Notice I also told him to talk to his school psychologist, counselor, teachers and parents. They will be able to advise him further on whether or not there MIGHT be a learning disability or ADD, etc. AND give him suggestions on how to improve his grades. One of the things a school psychologist can do is help JC learn how to learn. How many teachers ever taught you HOW to study? Some of us seem to know how to do study without the help of a teacher, others of us have no idea how to study. I mentioned mental retardation because many uninformed people equate learning disabilities with mental retardation. They are two different things all together. When I see a young person who is motivated and goal directed in one area, and then I hear that he has failed in another I wonder why the motivational skills, the stick-to-it-ness, etc that he has learned and uses in one area hasn't carried over to the others, especially when there are high stakes like not being able to participate in the area that is most motivating to him. Any time a student fails all possibilities, including disabilities, medical conditions, poor study habits, lack of motivation, too much time swimming, not enough time studying etc. must be considered. Offhand rejection of any possibility is blantantly closed minded, demonstrates a lack of understanding of individual differences and might well contribute to further failure. That having been said, I agree with you, turning off the tv, limiting phone and internet time, etc. will be a really good way to help determine whether or not a real problem exists. That is, if all of that (and maybe some help with learning how to study) doesn't improve grades, then there might be a disability present. I also agree with you that the possibility that a learning disability is present is less than the possibility that JC just didn't do his work. However, saying "All you need to do boy is just study harder" may not truely be the best advice. Studying harder and more does not necessarily improve grades for a student with a learning disability. What is it I've heard a lot of folks say on this board, "Don't swim harder, swim smarter." That applies to students with disabilities, they need to learn how to study smarter... use alternative strategies to learn... and JC may never learn how to study smarter if someone doesn't say, "HEY, there may be a learning disability, ADD, etc going on. Think about it, talk to the adults in your life about it." Don't get me wrong, I don't make excuses for academic failure. Remember I was the one that told Ion, "that may be the reason, but its not an excuse." The same thing goes for school failure and disabilities. Laineybug I also never mentioned the use of Ritilan, nor do I advocate the use of medication for all individuals with ADD.

the WHAT: grades Honors Biology: C-, was an F, I raised it Honors English: D, was a B, but low VOcab tests(not enough studying) Cross Training: B+ Honors World English: B- Geometry: D, low test, quiz scores(not enough studying) Spanish II: D, low test quiz scores(not enough studying) the WHY: I was not prepared for STUDYING, in Jr. High, I got a's and B's by not studying. I was BSing the 1st 2 months of school. the How: How I'm going to fix it. Stay after school everyday and study, If I need help, I have the teacher right there.