Hi! My son who is 9 was recently diagnosed with ADHD a few months ago and has been having issues at school for the past few years. His main issue is emotional regulation- he gets frustrated very easily and loses his cool, sometimes shouting or crying or slamming his desk, etc. He’s not aggressive towards other people but it causes a disruption in class and his teacher (who is a first year) seems quite overwhelmed. He’s allowed to take breaks throughout the day and sees the school social worker once a week to talk about emotions, etc but it doesn’t seem to be helping that much. About a month ago we started him on a stimulant and he started seeing a therapist outside of school. His teacher says his behavior hasn’t improved but we saw a stark improvement at home since we started treatment. I suspect she’s just so overwhelmed that she hasn’t paid much attention to him but I could be wrong. He has been doing well academically- his report card was good and he frequently brings home highly scored tests and assignments.
Now the school is saying they want to evaluate him and consider an IEP but I don’t think he has a learning disability so I don’t see the point. Personally and from past experience w my other son, the school is not very capable in the realm of mental health which is why we found outside support. Also I’m concerned he would get frustrated and upset by the testing process and when I asked if I could be present during the evaluation, they said no.
I’m curious if other parents of kids w ADHD have had their kids on IEP’s solely for ADHD? Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
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Adhdmomof2
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Our son was evaluated and did not qualify; however, we did get him a 504 plan with accommodations for him in the classroom, such as breaks when needed, preferential seating, extra time on big assignments, breaking tasks into chunks, etc.
Also, it is my understanding that emotional regulation is even better helped with a non-stimulant. Starting our sun on guanfacine nearly eliminated his anger outbursts. It just hasn't helped at all with his non-emotionally-driven impulsivity. 🙃
It's funny, his therapist just suggested guanfacine as well and we have our monthly medication check in with his pedi this week so we are going to bring it up with him. Thank you for your reply!
Stimulant medicine helps with symptoms of ADHD like impulsively, hyperactivity. Etc.Guanfacine- helps with mood regulation, focus etc.
Each medication does specific things.. and of course then there is how each child's body is able to use the medication.
As far as the school, it is important to understand that a new general education teacher IS overwhelmed, they are just learning the job.
If the school is suggesting an IEP, they would provide you with an "assessment plan", this will describe the areas of concern. You can decide what area you agree to assess. But it's important to understand that what they suggest are areas they are concerned of that are impacting his education.
Doing an assessment will give you more information about his learning process. It will be important to work with specialized professionals ( like special education)
One last thing.. where he is today may not be where he is as an adult. Maturity helps children with ADHD a lot.
Yes! Get the IEP! One of my kids has just ADHD on his and qualified for many helpful supports.
Supports can include a wide range of possibilities based on the child’s needs. See a sample list below.
The bigger issue with an IEP is it can take a while to get the assessment. And even longer for the supports to begin. And each year you may have to push to retain helpful supports or add more supports you think your child needs.
Some supports include extra time on tests, being allowed to take tests in a quiet room, extra movement breaks, preferred seating in the classroom, 1:1 meetings with an executive functioning specialist to help organize homework or projects. 1:1 with a social worker and/or a group social emotional class.
Visual timers, instructions written on the board (not just delivered verbally), printed schedules and visual prompts on the child’s desk to help stay on task.
Pull outs or in home support for speech, occupational therapy for handwriting or movement. Special devices such as tactile cushions or fidgets to help with excessive movement. If the student is falling behind grade level a weekend or summer learning program can be made available for free. If the child has dyslexia a reading specialist can be made available for free. And many more not listed.
Sometimes having an IEP simply makes teachers and staff more aware and thoughtful toward the student.
A child doesn’t need to have a learning difference to qualify for an IEP and supports. Executive Functioning issues go hand in hand with ADHD.
I do see some value in having him on an IEP but my biggest concern is just the quality of the supports our school has around social/emotional health. My other son has been working with the other social worker at their school since Kindergarten and has been in a social skills group and he said they mainly just watch videos and he hasn't gained anything from the sessions. The social worker has even gotten my two sons confused and tried to pick up the wrong one from the cafeteria a few times and he has had to tell her she has the wrong kid lol. Another red flag was when the social skills teacher told my son he was "cheating" and wouldn't give him credit for a correct answer because I had taught him the Zone of Regulation book at home so he already knew some of the answers to one of the lessons when she tried to do an activity in the group. He now goes to OT and a behavioral therapist outside of school and we just see a big difference in quality and progress. I also like how outside support actually gives us (my husband and I) updates and summaries where as the school doesn't communicate. I just worry with an IEP for my second son, he will also be pulled out of class for ineffective services 😕
If he "needs" and Iep and goals are written a special teacher is responsible for that. Goal are written and approved by you. Once the goals are written and worked on there is progress that is given to you about the goal.
Yes go forward with the IEP evaluation!! It can be for both academic and/or behavioral. The IEP gives you child access to supports that are his legal rights. It also sometimes provides the school additional funding to provide these supports.
Giving your child the behavioral supports needed will reduce the chance that he starts falling behind academically. And may help him enjoy/continue to enjoy learning.
It is A LOT of extra work and paperwork for the school to manage IEPs so if they are suggesting it, they have a pretty good idea that there are additional supports they can provide that will help him!!
Thank you for the reply! The funding piece actually gives us some worry as well as it seems like our school just tries to get as many kids as possible onto IEP's, provide the lowest quality/cheapest services possible to legally get by and then collect all the funding. We found out of the 5 public elementary schools in our town, our school has the highest rate of IEP's (~30%) which we find kind of suspicious and I genuinely felt like the IEP coordinator was trying to scare/threaten me into the evaluation when I called with my concerns. I know "waiting it out" can be dangerous but I am wondering if maybe it makes sense to wait a few months to see if the meds and behavioral therapy have an impact alone.
IEP's are driven by the need of the child to support their learning. If you wait it means he would not be getting the support in the classroom. Have you considered a 504 plan,? This will give him the accommodations he needs and then request the added social emotional support. These plans are created and followed by different professionals. These do not need an assessment to be created and will follow him so that each teacher gets a laid out plan of his needs.
Yes! That is actually something we're considering as an alternative. His teachers have been really good with giving him accommodations even without a formal plan but as he gets older it's a good idea to have that formally in his record. Thank you for your insight! I am really happy I joined this group- I can't believe all the useful feedback I am getting already
There are IEP’s for all sorts of reasons. Ours has one for executive functioning. Education wise she can read above grade level but is behind in math. You can also hire an advocate to work for you through the process. We did that and it was mainly to make sure the school was doing things correctly.
If you don't mind me asking, how much do advocates usually cost? I have already had a negative experience with the evaluation/IEP process with my other son so I'm very hesitant to start the same process all over again. Thank you for your response!
Yep, there was a reason we hired an advocate which I wont go into, but your experience sounds similar to ours. The big thing ours did was make sure everyone was doing everything above board, and she was our mouthpiece. She pointed out things that were done wrong the first go around and held everyone's feet to the fire. She did a ton of work for us and did not feel like we were being taken advantage of. It was not cheap, about 4k after all was said and done. This is in the Chicago area. Ours was recommended, tbh we didn't shop around so it is possible there may have been somone cheaper.
I am a retired teacher and now an ADHD coach. If you talk to your kiddo and explain the evaluation, you may be surprised. First, all attention is on him and the evaluator is the only other one there. Second, he may enjoy the eval because it can be a fun challenge. Many kiddos don't mind the evaluation. There may be parts that slightly overwhelm a child, but the evaluators should be sensitive to that, make note, and move on.
ADHD is not a learning disability per se, but it can interfere with academics. This does not sound like your child's issue. Your child's ADHD sounds like it is getting in the way of possibly the speed of learning, emotional regulation and/or social learning. Teachers are not taught anything or enough, about classroom management in general, and definitely not enough about ADHD and learning disabilities.
Many children have an IEP for ADHD only. Some have a 504 which is strictly accommodations and not services such as OT, etc. 50% of people having ADHD, have an additional challenge, referred to as a comorbidity. This can be any number of things. Check out this article: (Looks like they put the link above).
Go for the evaluation because, it may uncover a 'hidden' comorbidity, and/or open up some helpful services at school that he is not getting now. Also, research the IEP process. A number of schools tend to 'stretch' some of the rules. There is a strict timeline. Go to: ADHD Advenutures.net, on FaceBook for a map of the process and more information. Also, look into getting ADDittude magazine. It covers lots of ADHD related topics and is full of great information. ~Sue
Thank you for your response! I have been talking to the head of elementary special Ed about the process and she’s given me some more comfort around the process. I have been on the ADDittude website a few times already and it is very informative. The more I learn, the clearer the picture becomes. ADHD is such a complex disorder- there are so many traits and behaviors I see in my son that I’m now learning are quite common in ADHD. It’s true that although a diagnosis can be overwhelming at first, it does bring some peace in the sense that we now understand him much better! Thanks again 🙂
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