Marlon Vickerman, Features Writer

It was a sunny October morning and Gavin Gauntlett had just dropped his son off at school. Before noon, the caring father decided to swing by the school just to check up on his offspring.

To his surprise, he arrived on the compound just in time to see the child standing next to the principal, sobbing. He learned that his son was to be expelled from the institution for frequently being disruptive in class, being disobedient to his teacher and fighting with another student. This is the second institution he has had to leave due to his condition, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He is seven years old.

Gauntlett said he discovered that his child was 'more than normal' from as early as two and a half years.

Very energetic, active

"Gavin (Jr.) started school at two and a half years and even at that age he was very energetic. He was always active. By the time he was five years old and a student at a preparatory school in Mandeville, the principal asked that we get him a psychological check-up," Gauntlett said. He noted that the principal's request came after several of Gavin's high-energy and disruptive outbursts in class which often warranted daily calls for his parents to come and calm him. After the assessment was done, the youngster was diagnosed with ADHD and had to be moved from the school as the institution could not facilitate him any longer.

After that prep school the youngster was placed at another private institution. This institution, said Mr. Gauntlett, was made fully aware of Gavin's condition, being provided with a copy of the psychologist's report. He said that he was assured by the institution that a trained teacher would be made available to deal with the situation. "Gavin's first week was pretty calm, they didn't have to call me and ask me to come get my child or anything," Gauntlett said.

"But then, two weeks in the school term, the principal called, Gavin was being disruptive in class and was in a fight with another student, which is quite strange because he has never been violent. So, basically, the school concluded that they couldn't deal with him, despite telling me that they had a trained person, so I needed to come and get him. They also refused to give me a refund or even half of the school fee that I had paid."

Little Gavin is now being privately tutored.

Michael Stewart also has a seven-year-old son, Chay, who has the disorder, but he is thankful for his blessings, one of them being that Chay has never been expelled from an institution. "He gets pink slips regularly. The teachers say he is disruptive and aggressive with the other students. There was an incident recently where I was called in to come to the school and calm him down.

"So what I try to do is maintain the closest relationship possible with the school, even providing material on ADHD for his teachers to read, just so they would be able to understand his condition. Had it not been for that, I know he would have probably been out of school now," he said.

Attempts to contact Jasper Law-rence, chief education officer, to hear what steps, if any, are being looked at to aid the plight of ADHD students, were unsuccessful.

Marlon.Vickerman@gleaner jm.com