The Middle School Cliff: How One Parent's Journey Led to Neuro Learner

Every entrepreneur's journey begins with a problem that needs solving. For me, that problem was deeply personal.

The pain of fighting for executive function.

When School Suddenly Becomes a Struggle

As parents, we all want to see our children thrive. For our family, watching our bright, capable daughter navigate elementary school had been a journey of pride and joy. She was intelligent, creative, and engaged with learning. But as middle school approached, something changed.

"The transition was like watching lights dim in a room," Megan once described to the school counselor. "The same child who had eagerly tackled learning in elementary school suddenly found herself drowning in assignments, struggling to keep up despite her obvious intelligence."

Like many parents of neurodivergent children, we discovered that middle school represented not just a new building with new teachers, but a profound shift in educational expectations. Researchers call this phenomenon "the middle school cliff"—a steep drop in academic performance and confidence that disproportionately impacts students with learning differences.

The Diagnosis: Only Half the Story

Our daughter actually went through two stages of diagnosis. In fourth grade, a teacher had the children doing a project where they wrote every number from 1-1000. Midway through the project we were called in because the progress stopped at about 50. We were asked to see if she was showing signs of ADHD, as it aligned with the "unacceptable lack of executive function" per her teacher. And let's be honest, both myself and my wife realized we were likely undiagnosed for this. To no one's surprise, our daughter got the ADHD diagnosis, but in the classroom, nothing changed. She still had to "just work harder" to get all her numbers written. I'm sure anyone reading this wouldn't be shocked by the lack of outcome.

Four years later, other things started surfacing. Our daughter was having extreme challenges spelling words correctly, holding writing implements, engaging in classroom discussions, and remembering homework. It felt like she was becoming reclusive to school and her family. We went for a full neuropsych assessment and learned our daughter also has dyslexia and dysgraphia. Finally, we had an explanation for the struggles we were witnessing. But that relief quickly gave way to frustration as we discovered that identifying the conditions was only half the battle.

The school provided an IEP with accommodations that looked great on paper. But in practice, implementing those accommodations across six different teachers and subjects proved nearly impossible. Everyone was trying their best, but the system just wasn't designed to deliver consistent support.

This gap between prescribed accommodations and effective implementation is a challenge faced by millions of families with neurodivergent children. While elementary schools often have a single teacher who can consistently apply accommodations, middle school's structure of multiple teachers, classrooms, and increased academic demands creates a perfect storm for students who learn differently.

... and this gap is what we're working to address.