Search the Community

My son is in 6th grade and has several qualifying diagnoses (Autism, Health (ADHD), Specific Learning Disability (Dysgraphia), and Anxiety). He has been succeeding with a very extensive 504 plan, but things have recently taken a turn for the worst. He is currently unable to write essays at school both for a graded essay and for MCAS (state standardized testing). Further, he became distressed working on an ELA assignment where he had to come up with 8-10 quotes showing character development. The teacher changed it to 1-2 for him due to the amount of distress he was displaying. Additionally, he also wrote that he is stupid on a math test because he didn't understand what was being asked in the bonus question on the exam. His teacher reprinted the question and re-worded it. He got the question correct and got a perfect score on the test. We just put in a request for an academic evaluation in writing and OT evaluations because of the dysgraphia diagnosis and the recent struggles with writing. They are also doing two observations as part of this evaluation: one by the OT and one by the special education teacher. He had a psychoed evaluation done last year as well as an outside neuropsych, but he was doing better mentally. Teachers keep saying we need to add accommodations to his 504, but it seems like he'd really benefit from writing support. Right now, they want to add the ability to dictate his writing as an accommodation. His grades are good and they say he's making effective progress, but how can a 6th grader who doesn't write their own essay or have the work reduced 80% be making effective progress? Again, they are willing to update the 504 with new accommodations. We have a meeting in a couple of weeks, but I feel like he really needs pull out ELA support (or at least push-in support) in addition to the meetings with the adjustment counselor which are in his current 504 plan. Wouldn't you say that this warrants an IEP? How do I convince school that he's not making effective progress when they are giving him grades indicating that he is at grade level?

Hi everyone, I'm a Licensed Clinical Social worker at the Puerto Rican Family Institute in New York City, and I'm developing a training for psychotherapists around helping parents cope with the emotional and psychological toll of the IEP process. In order to ground the training in the lived experiences of parents who have been through it, I'm conducting interviews to learn directly about how it feels to navigate these systems, and in particular, what thoughts, feelings and emotions come up in IEP meetings themselves. I want therapists to be able to really "get" what a parent is going through, so that it's not on the parent to educate the therapist, which is often what ends up happening. I'd be delighted for any replies on this topic, or if anyone is interested in being interviewed at greater length, you can reach me at fsternfeld@prfi.org.

My oldest has also been diagnosed with ADHD (2nd grade), Convergence Insufficiency, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, OCD, ODD, mood disorder, executive function deficits, sensory processing disorder and auditory processing disorder, and suspected Autism Spectrum Disorder. She is now a Sophomore in high school. I have been advocating for an IEP since 2nd grade due to her extreme ADHD and my concern regarding additional challenges but have been repeatedly denied assessments. Due to my inexperience, and the schools legal violations she has suffered and is now facing truancy court and is at high risk of dropout. The school specifically stated in the court documents that they think we are lying about her anxiety. I’ve taken her doctor in with me to meetings, and they made a statement that they believe we are lying! Finally this April they agreed to screeners and said they would dig deeper when red flags appeared. I should have known. By the way, I recently learned about Endrow vs Douglas County School District. Ironically, DCSD is our school district. Why I thought they’d have learned from losing such a landmark case, I have no idea, but they are still horrible. I have an Initial meeting in 3 days, I fully expect them to “not have found anything” and to again tell me that she does not qualify. Luckily this time I will also be going in with an Independent Educational and comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation but I desperately need an advocate. My confidence is completely shot.

Are there any rules surrounding teachers allowing extended time? Does the test/quiz need to be a certain length of time? My child started with 150% extended time in middle school due to her Anxiety diagnosis. She is in HS now. We finished neuropsych testing last spring and due to her severe anxiety and ADHD double time was recommended (whenever there was a timed element to her test the score would drop 30-40%) and approved . I have 2 questions My daughter had a quiz and after 15 minutes the teacher grabbed her paper. When I reached out to the teacher she said that 15 minute quizzes do not qualify for extended time. I couldn't find anything that supports that statement. Is that true? My second question - my dayghter was approved for 150% extended time for the SAT but was denied the 200%. Is there a way to appeal that decision? Any guidance would be appreciated. TY

Hi all, my 10th grade daughter has selective mutism/ social anxiety and has had an IEP for years. She has made much progress and speaks to many teachers and peers freely but not all. She is struggling in algebra 2 despite the math teacher being wonderful and helping her some days before school and again alter in the day during advisory period. She spends a lot of time each night trying to get everything completed and has started to have headaches and TMJ due to stress and anxiety over math. Yesterday at the annual IEP meeting we asked for a modification/reduction of the amount of work she needs to complete each day. The SPED director was resistant to this and suggested we just try peer tutoring at school but also agreed 2- 3 hours a day is too much. We are going to meet again as we didn’t get through the IEP yesterday in the meeting. so I am typing up an email this morning to memorialize and again to request a reduced assignment amount. Perhaps all odd or all even numbers. she only needs this on the assignments where she is struggling. Some assignments she is able to grasp and complete fully. I’m seeking advice in reference to asking for this. We do not want to jeopardize her credits and ability to graduate but just want to reduce her stress so she can learn. Thanks for any input that may be helpful.