April 24, 2025

What the education system does not want you to know about the discrimination against ADHD students. 

Mom Is Very Involved: ADHD invisibility magnifies disability.

ADHD invisibility, minimization, and dismissal are so insidious and strong that I, a person with ADHD, did not recognize it myself until I witnessed the impacts on others.

Did you know the Code states, “Students with non-evident disabilities often face unique challenges in the education system. Because these disabilities are not “seen,” many of them are not well understood in society. This can lead to behaviour based on misinformation and ignorance, and may lead to a student’s disability being mislabeled and misunderstood”.

ADHD invisibility is upheld by our education system. Our system has confused non-evident with non-existence.

As you read along, notice how the educators seldom speak up against each other.

Notice how one thing is said to us, and something else is said about us.

Notice the person with integrity. 

Notice ADHD invisibility.

Grade 9, Quadmester 2.

During the final weeks of this quadmester, Ontario schools were closed for in-person learning. 

My daughter’s subjects were English and Art. My son, her twin, was in the same English class.

For context, know that my daughter had informed her teachers many times since September that she was having difficulty submitting her work through Google Classroom. 

Virtual learning made this predictably harder. 

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“Your son has submitted all daily assignments, while your daughter has received 0 on the past three,” stated the English teacher,  “Hopefully, you can convince your daughter to begin submitting her daily work, or her mark is going to suffer. I will keep trying as well”.

“Hi again, Lynn. I am sorry to keep bothering you…I will keep trying to insist on the work from my end…”, the English teacher continued in another email. 

“Please know that we expect that all technical problems have been resolved and all education regarding the virtual platform has been provided before a deduction in marks occurs”, I replied. 

“No problem, Lynn. I won’t deduct any marks from your daughter. I’m sure that she has been trying to submit the work. It’s difficult to learn new technology. I trust her and will accept her work with no deductions when I do receive it. I will let her know that I am here to help her if needed as well. Take care.”, the English teacher stated.

“Edge Program Teachers shared that Lynn’s daughter is not submitting work yet during distance learning. She seems unfamiliar,” wrote the Vice Principal in her notes before following up with the English and Art teachers, who indicated similar struggles in their classes.  

Within this discussion, the VP acknowledged that remote learning was the worst format for my daughter, and 4 days before the end of remote learning, she connected my daughter to an EA for extra support.

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“Thank you for helping,” wrote the Art teacher to the newly involved EA. “I know she is challenging to work with….I have been chunking all the information as we go, but she chooses not to do it, so it builds up.” 

“Unfortunately for her, the online format requires her to be good at all the areas in which she struggles to be successful,” responded the EA.

While this first attempt to accommodate my daughter was taking place, the English teacher initiated a referral for plagiarism against her.

My daughter was informed of this allegation by the EA.

I emailed the English teacher, who stated, “Hi Lynn, I’m not sure what you are talking about. I haven’t given any zeroes because of plagiarism…”

Soon after the English teacher’s email, the VP called and informed me of the seriousness of plagiarism. I learned the English teacher had accused my daughter of plagiarizing her brother’s work.  

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As the plagiarism investigation was taking place, I emailed the Art Teacher, “… I noticed that my daughter has 3 assignments marked as incomplete from December. Can you please clarify if these assignments are showing this way because Edsby is not updated, or if you do not have a record of receiving them?” 

She responded, stating, “The three assignments that were marked as incomplete, before the holidays started, are all sketchbook assignments that she did, and handed in late…A large ongoing concern I have had lately is that even with help from the EA, she has still not submitted the papier mache Animal Trophy Sculpture and its’ Artist Statement…” 

I quickly responded to the Art teacher, stating,  “As we have previously discussed, my daughter has completed and submitted her papier mache… We have been raising this concern about missed work submissions since September and are growing increasingly concerned that the school has not resolved the issue.” 

I also stated, “I do have some more questions for my learning. As you know, my daughter has an accommodation for extra time. Please advise how you distinguish between extra time and late. Please also advise when and how you communicated this distinction to her. Lastly, did virtual learning impact this distinction, and what was the workaround? Thank you.”

We exchanged a couple more emails. My questions were never answered.

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The plagiarism investigation initiated by the English teacher was completed, and it was determined that my son and daughter divided the questions between them.

In other words, they shared the work.

Not to diminish the seriousness of plagiarism, but to keep this in perspective.

They were not working on their dissertation, this was grade 9 bell work being completed in our basement during a COVID-19 lockdown.

After the plagiarism investigation was concluded and the outcome shared, the English teacher stated to the VP, “She didn’t do much of any work today.  At this rate, it looks like she will fail unless you happen to find the ‘missing assignments”.  I am worried about Mom’s reaction with me to this.  …I don’t feel comfortable giving her daughter credit for her son’s work.” 

As soon as in-person learning resumed, all the “missing assignments” were found. They had been saved incorrectly. The VP helped my daughter find the assignments on her computer.

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No one challenged the false narrative that the teachers were spreading, not even the VP who conducted the plagiarism investigation and helped find the “missing assignments”.

Over and over again, they devalued my daughter. Death by a thousand cuts.

This is how ADHD invisibility magnifies disability. It harms and creates poor outcomes for our ADHD youth.

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On my daughter’s report card, the English teacher stated that my daughter “worked inconsistently throughout this semester.” She also stated that when my daughter “fully applies herself, she is a good writer and thinker…” 

We attempted to challenge the English teacher’s comments, we asked that it be rewritten to include the impacts of learning from home without accommodations.

We also requested a review of my daughter’s marks, citing concerns about the teachers, application of policy, omission of accommodations, and poor follow-up with tech issues.

The VP offered to change the English teacher’s comments to “has achieved her ENG 1D credit.” 

We declined their offer.

They never followed up on our requested review. It was ignored.

It takes effort to remain this ignorant.

Let’s stop pretending this is not happening and start engaging in meaningful changes to ensure that ADHD invisibility ends now!

Your very visible ADHD advocate,

Lynn

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