Hello, first post here. Does anyone have experience in successfully getting an IEP for their child? We have been going through hoops since January to get help for our son and we got his ADHD diagnosis in June. He does have issues at school with some subjects and socially, and I don’t want him to fall behind.
Any tips or advice for this newbie?
Welcome to the group. I am curious if the person who diagnosised your son wrote a letter explain what he needs in school? If not that was very helpful.
All IEP's start with an assessment of skills. In your case also an assessment from a psychologist to determine if his social and emotional issues impact his education.
If you request an assessment, please do so in writing. There are federal guidelines that need to be followed.
With that being said, unless there are specific help areas that need to be worked on he will not qualify for an IEP.
If he just needs accommodations and modifications ( extra time, flexiable seating, etc.) this is done in a 504 plan.
An IEP has specific goals written and connected to a Specialist who will note progress on the goal.
Our son has not needed an IEP, he gets the help he needs with me talking with each teacher each block. I have found at high school the teachers are much more helpful. Middle school was the worse time of our lives.
Can you give us more details a out what he is struggling with?
Hope this helps.
Our daughter just graduated from HS. She was diagnosed in first grade. My best advice: 1) hire an attorney to represent her in front of the committee- it maybe the only way to get the IEP, which is essential going forward. Do not let the school convince you otherwise. Second, I recommend holding him back. It will do him wonders socially. Our daughter has a high GPA but only hangs out with kids younger than her. She needs more time emotionally before going to college. Now as a young adult we are forced to have her do a gap year to give her that time. We sorely regret not holding her back when she was so young it would not have mattered. A friend of ours pulled her son from public when he was a rising second grader, put him in private for a year, then returned him to second grade in public. She bought her child two years. As they get older, this makes all the difference. Good luck!
Hello! My son was diagnosed with severe ADHD at a very young age. He has had an IEP since he started pre-school at age 4 through our school district. He is now starting kindergarten in the fall (he will be 6 in October) and still has his IEP in place.
When my grandson was in grade school they talked me into a 504. In middle school I finally requested an IEP and they asked me why he didn't have one in grade school!An IEP has many more accommodations but a lot more paperwork for the schools.
Request in writing and don't let them talk you out of it. Bring recommendations from your psychiatrist
Wow, thank you for so much information. My son has some difficulties with reading, and on the end of the year progress report, they told me he might also have dyslexia because some of the signs are there. I am not even sure how to go about finding that out, too. So should I ask my psych for a written recommendation next time we see him? Theres also my internal debate about holding him back, I am worried that he may be made fun of by those nasty kids, or feel bad about himself.
UHG! So overwhelming.
How has your son performed on standardized tests? Schools unfortunately pay more attention to academic needs than behavior needs. My daughter was given an IEP by the schools suggestion before she was even tested because she had regressed in math. After the school year ended she was diagnosed with adhd and anxiety.
I recommend:
1. If your son is regressing academically, gather the data to present to the school.
2. Ask for an IEP review meeting and bring the psychologist who diagnosed your son. A professional at the table is often the presence you need to get things moving.
Unfortunately a student many times has to fail before the school will step in. If they themselves witness him slipping it will be much easier for you to get an IEP. I know how difficult it is to see your child fail, but more often than not, that is what it takes to get the help you need.
My kid was diagnosed with adhd and anxiety when he was 8 years old. He was behind in school since kinder but we thought that he was a little bit lazy, until we saw his problem grow bigger. The school never wanted to help. They say he did not want to study. A teacher told me to take him to a particular psychologist, so I did it. They diagnosed my kid with ADHD and anxiety.
So I talked with the psychologist and counselor of my kid's school.
After that they agree to do some test to my kid and see if he qualified for special education.
They said he did not qualify and his teachers and I did not understand why because it was too obvious that he could not follow the class as the other kids.
The first thing that I did was enrolled him in the 504 program in the school, but it was not enough.
I tried to convince them for the IEP, but it was the same.
The teachers and the psychologist of mi kid were too sure that he needed the IEP but they told me that public schools did not want to struggle with that.
So they told me to ask for the services of an attorney. I did it.
The attorney asked me for all documents and everything that supported the problem of my kid. Then she said that first she were going to talk to the school and remember them the law about kid with learning problems.
After that, the school did another test and my kid did qualify for IEP.
It seemed as if the school did a more complete test than the other ones on the previous years.
Well, my kid last about 3 to 4 year to qualify for the IEP. Now he is in 9 grade and he is still with the IEP.
It was a hard journey but finally we got it.
I just can tell you that it is true that the school is going to try to discourage you. Do not let them. Talk to the teachers. Ask them for their opinion. Talk to other parents with the IEP program so they can tell you more about the subject.
Talk to the psychologist and look for more information.
Good luck!
Hi. Some good advice here. I'll try to be brief. The process of getting an IEP is controlled by federal law (IDEA). If you make a request in writing to the school's committee for special education they MUST complete a full evaluation within 60 days of your written request. Evaluation includes a psychological assessment and an academic assessment. Certain specific things (which I won't include here for brevity's sake) will make him qualify for an IEP. But if he does not qualify for an IEP he WILL qualify for a 504 plan by virtue of medical diagnosis of ADHD alone. As others have pointed out, that may be enough for him as it is for many of our kids. Two more quick things. First, holding my son back one year before starting kindergarten was one of the easiest and best decisions we ever made. You mentioned bullying. Think about boys. I can tell you from experience that boys who are older and bigger than others in their grade are NOT more likely to bullied. As for any other concerns you may have, I encourage you to seek out medical articles on the topic. Almost without exception, boys with or without ADHD tend to benefit in every way from being held back a year. Second, please remember that the management of ADHD is a legged stool with the legs being accommodations at school (that you asked about), lifestyle modifications at home and MEDICATIONS. Your son will need all 3 to function at his best. There is no cure for ADHD, but it can be managed and these children can be very successful. Good luck to you. Be well.
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