I am new here and have been reading many posts that are very helpful. I am hoping to get some advice regarding my son's homework. He is 13 and in 7th grade. I am having trouble with the teachers expecting too much out of him. At the beginning of the year, he came in with goals in his IEP regarding handing homework in on time. He seemed to be doing well in that area after the 1st quarter so they said he med that goal and they want to take it out and move onto him being more responsible and have more self advocacy goals etc. I agreed......well, now his grades are dropping because of missing scores and 0% scores (with no explanation). My son says he hands everything in and no one ever says anything to him if something is missing or late. Basically, I want to call another IEP meeting and get this addressed. I want the homework goals put back in and I want there to accommodations as well. I read a post here previously but can't find it now about some suggestions for accommodations to help with this, like has 2 extra days to hand homework in, reminders of missing work etc. Can anyone give me some suggestions for good goals and accommodations that you have in your kid's IEPs for this? I'm so tired of them trying to teach my son responsibility when he's not ready. They are always saying "well by this age, we expect all kids to be able to do this" or "All of my students do this" I need a good come back for those kind of comments! I'm about to call PACER. Thanks for any help you can give me.
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Bahr98
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Bahr98- We are so happy you have joined us on this journey of raising a child with ADHD. Welcome.
I have a 12 year old and he have the same issues. Excpet, when our son knows a teacher doesn't care he will also not care. Therapy helps this issue a lot. Or changing teachers can also help.
As far as the IEP goes, there are accommodations ( allow child to turn things in 1 week late, 2x amount of time to take test, etc..) Then there are IEP goals, goals should be tracked and measured and should be year long to really know if the learning it helping him. You can call an IEP any time to add a goal back on, but what it sounds like is he needs someone making sure he has turned in the homework and monitoring progress on missing assignments. Many children with ADHD don't to do what they are required because they think they will get away with not doing the work. This is not an IEP goal or you could write an IEP goal for it then assign a person to follow up on it.
Hope this helps.. You don't have to worry about the writing of the goal the school should help with that.
On my son's iep we have added reminders to turn things in or to retake quizzes
Teachers probably change these requirements because it makes it easier for them not to have to stay on top of things.
It is known that ADHD kids are 2 years behind in development to other kids the same age. So a 7th grader is probably at a 5th grade development level.
I would demand extra time for turning in homework, if he needs it testing done in a smaller environment with more time given. We have a set up in our school district that lets the parents know when there are assignments missing.
There is a good book that might help you it’s called “The Organized Student” by Donna Goldberg. Maybe you can get some good ideas from it and ask to be included in IEP plan. I think a lot of times school wants to do minimal work. Especially when kid doesn’t have a severe problem.
Hello, my 12 y.o. ADHD son has similar problems. We have spent hours on projects that account for a major portion of his total grade. He will forget to turn the project in and get a zero. I will find the project still in his bookbag or laying around the house weeks after the due date. The kids just have so much trouble with focus and remembering important things. Any distraction takes them off task. The teacher really needs to help them remember to submit assignments when they are due.
You most definitely can ask for another IEP meeting to add the homework goal back onto his IEP report. You do not have to wait until he is scheduled to have another meeting. I agree with many others that the teachers want to do only the minimum.
My 13 yo has ADHD and Dyscalculia. She is bright, but it is very difficult for her to stay organized. We constantly have to ask her to do her homework. Many times, the homework sheets are crumpled up in her bookbag, and many days overdue. She was initially getting all A's with 2 B's. This was with a lot of effort from us, and hiring a personal tutor. The teachers felt she was doing well because of her grades, and did not want to implement any extra help. Lately, she has gotten many D's and F's for not turning in assignments on time. She is suffering in Math. I just asked for another 504 meeting, because the teachers refuse to speak with the tutor I hired to help her with math. In addition, the Math teacher refuses to give me the graded homework sheets, and the tutor is not able to see what she got wrong, and why. I feel like the public schools want to do the bare minimum, and don't really care about the student's welfare, until they are in a desperate state. I am going to ask the school to add extra time for homework assignments to be turned in without a penalty. If there is any other suggestion, I too would be greatly appreciative.
It was suggested to me to ask for 2 extra days for homework to be handed in, as well as have a designated homework folder. That folder is checked at the end of each day and it should be empty. I also now have a Para sitting near my child to remind and prompt him to hand his assignments in. Search online for ideas. I find that the school NEVER makes suggestions for you.....you have to find them and fight for them.
Thank you all for your input.....I was able to get the following added:
1) A Para to sit near my son in each core class so that they can routinely remind/prompt him to stay on task and do what he needs to be doing, as well as sign his planner to let me know if/when he hands in homework. We had to tweek this today because they have yet to get this right.
2) All tests are now to be read aloud to him.
3) He gets his AR tests ahead of time so he can fill out the test as he reads instead of having to remember the whole book and then take the test.
I still want to add:
-2 sets of books (1 for home and 1 for school)
-2 extra days to hand in assignments without it being counted as late
It was quite an interesting meeting because they fought me on a lot of this basically because they said they aren't that organized. So how in the world can you expect my child to stay organized when you all can't keep your s&%$ straight.
The schools are expected to meet their expectations as well as our children in order to comply with Federal law and provide our children with a FAPE, and they are not working with a major deficit as well as having a whole team to assist them in reaching their goals! Please look up the No Child Left Behind Act. It requires that teachers and IEP team monitor a child’s academic progress, and when a child’s grades are seen to be an issue, it is required to be addressed as soon as possible. A child’s behavior is a separate issue than them failing to achieve their academic goals although one may sometimes effect the other. One can be handled with a behavioral intervention plan, medication, therapy and positive intervention. The academic portion should be addressed with accommodations in place on their part to teach the kids an ”individualized” education plan and effective learning habits. They are supposed to be the professionals, but will do the bare minimum. Don’t be afraid to insist they provide him what he needs and what works and stay on top of them. Take it to the superintendent if it comes to that. We are our child’s advocate and know them best. They are supposed to be working with us, not against us as we are also part of our child’s IEP team. You are doing a great job in staying on top of what he needs to succeed. In the end, you will both see the rewards of your efforts.
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Should I change from IEP to 504 Plan?
Frustrated Mom
