I'm feeling helpless, my son goes to a Miami Dade County elementary public school. After much difficulty, I was able to secure him a 504. I'm having problems with his assignments. He has an assignment notebook where he is supposed to write all of his homework, but many times it is incomplete. After scheduling a meeting with the teacher to try to get a backup way to get assignments, one of them told me that she would make sure that he completes writing the assignments. However, after the meeting he continues to not have assignments/homework written down as directed by the teacher and she has failed to make sure that he has it written down completely. When I brought this up to her again, her answer was to find a reliable buddy in class to get the assignments/homework from. It is clear that this teacher does not want to take the extra step to help my child. Going to the school administration is hopeless and every time they just say that my son is smart; which I'm happy to hear, but the fact remains that my child is not only diagnosed with ADHD combined, but also struggles with his grades in class due, in part, to not having assignments ready when they are supposed to be done because of the difficulty with this teacher securing an effective way to get backup assignments. The other teacher sends me pictures through an app of the assignments, and that works very well. However, the other is reluctant to do the same. Please help. What should I do? Administration doesn't help either.
Desperate parent; need help. - CHADD's ADHD Pare...
Desperate parent; need help.
I don't have the answer, but wanted to share this. My son's teacher signs his assignment notebook everyday. At home I write what paperwork actually came home with the child. For example "2 graded worksheets and 1 math homework sheet" or "no papers, no homework". I hardly think it is a big request for the teacher to glance at the assignment notebook everyday and initial.
And if your son is going to get help writing assignments down from a classmate, that "helper" would ideally be carefully selected by the teacher.
Keep fighting for your kiddo! Let that teacher know you are going to bug her about this three times a week until you see assignments in that notebook!
I have a lot to say about this. First off who wrote the 504 plan and was there an administration employee in the meeting? Since a 504 plan is not like an IEP ( which has goals with staff tied to it) it is harder to get everyone ( even our son) to follow it.
With that being said....if I were in your shoes the question / demand would be how do I get our son to do this task himself? The reason is this is the heart of homework and follow through for school. You didn't tell us what grade he is in... but I assume elementary school where there is 1 teacher involved.
When your child gets to middle school this skill is a game changer. With transitioning to 6-7 classes it really gets hard.
So I wonder if you can reward him when he fills it out and someone signs off on it daily ( you might start small-1 day and add). Whatever his carrot is see if you can do it that way.
I would also go back to whoever wrote the 504 plan and see if they can help. If the principal needs to get involved maybe they can assist.
In other words I think the school need to empower your child to do this.
Hope this helps.
Good luck
If I were in your shoes, I would request in writing that your son be evaluated for learning differences. IEPs are required by law for students with disabilities. Your son has a diagnosed disability. They are not legally allowed to deny a written request. You have tried to be "nice" and ask for what is needed and it is not working, so put the law on your side and get an IEP. Give them your son's private evaluation that resulted in a diagnosis. They are required to consider this. Assuming he qualifies, he should be classified, at a minimum, under "other health impaired" which is the category under which ADHD falls. Try not to accept qualification under speech, which is a need that will go away. There is no legal requirement to enforce accommodations under a 504. Whether or not they do this is up, ultimately, to the principal. But compliance with an IEP is mandatory. You an ask for a shared aide to make sure your son copies his homework down, for example.
This skill, as others have stated is a *big deal* and you need to get this taken care of now.
You might find the Wrightslaw books and resources helpful.
Best of luck to you.
Hello,
My sons teacher usually sends a picture message of the assignments that she wrote on the board. Our school uses a program called remind where they can send out information and text and pics. You can text the teacher anytime too. She sends this to the whole class, not just my son. But it has really helped with keeping up with assignments, quizzes and test. Maybe she can do that for your son.
Document, document, document. 
As you work with this 504 and with this teacher and administration, look to see what modifications are working for your child and what modifications aren't. As was mentioned earlier, IEPs are treated more seriously, but in order to get one, you need to have proof that one is necessary and to get that proof you need to keep records of what isn't working with the 504.
I kept report cards, homework examples etc. and emails back and forth with teachers and administrators.
With an IEP, a child has a special education teacher assigned, and that teacher can become a liason between the other teachers. Then when you're having a problem with one teacher not following what is on the IEP, it doesn't always have to be you as the parent who is hounding them, you can go to the special education teacher with the issue and they can remind the other teachers what is on the IEP.
Just this last week I also called up the school counselor for one of my sons and spoke with her about a similar concern to yours - I had already contacted a teacher a couple of times and wasn't getting anywhere. I have a good relationship with the school counselor and because she's part of the IEP team, I spoke with her. She's going to follow up with the teacher as well as the special education teacher to make sure the IEP is being followed as it should.
Good luck with this!
Good morning, I understand the frustration when you want your child to succeed but cannot get full support from the teachers. Request another meeting and ask that the teacher provide an assignment log on Mondays that includes the nightly assignments and due dates for each task. You will need to get cooperation. If you cannot get her to cooperate, then involve administration. She will be upset, but I would not give a crap.
I'm sorry for learning problems with your son at school. Would you be open to outside help? There's a company called Axiom Learning that has a great reputation for bolstering students' scores and improving executive functioning. I'll just drop the link here just in case you want to reach out to them. axiomlearning.com/
Try not to despair. Praying results come quickly and remain consistent. Blessings to you and your family.
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