My 16 year old son just got diagnosed with ADHD (severe). He had a 504 but I wonder if I should apply for IEP and what can I expect?
My son has lots of pride and won’t people to know (he’s a teenager after all 😏) I’m just not sure what resources we can expect from IEP besides the accommodations he received from 504 (include extended testing time).
Also appreciate any educational tools to help him reduce his 30+ missing assignments and slow processing speed.
Katy
Hi lovetotravel1108.
An IEP would be important for your son. An IEP takes into account goals for your son, his present level of performance and specialized instruction for him, whereas a 504 plan does not. Furthermore you and an Educational Management Team will develop a plan for his academic success.
Ask questions about his plan and accommodations. How will this help him?
For example, kid with ADHD have no internal sense of time so they can’t plan for the future.That is why your son is missing 30 assignments.So giving an ADHD student extra time for a test when he has no internal sense of time would be useless. However, if he gets the same amount of time for the test can have a stop watch to stop the test and take a break then restart the stop watch to continue the test that would allow him to break down the test into small doable parts and time to refuel his mental energy. I wrote an article on managing time blindness in adhd and attached a link if you would like to read it Good luck!!
Welcome to the group and thanks for posting a question. An IEP ( individual education plan) is written to address of concern and give instruction to help your child. This most likely means there was an assessment and.the team found something they will help your child learn.
Could your son get guidance on turning in assignments and managing the work required on these assignments?
There are other tools that he may need like counseling and medication. These help reduce the symptoms of ADHD.
School and peer relationships can also be addressed in the IEP.
Best of luck in getting him the help he needs. Maybe in high school he can have a study skills class where a teacher helps him manage his workload.
He's getting school counselor to help currently. And he just started medication. Do you have any suggestions on what could be on IEP for high schoolers?
Well an IEP is based on an assessment, which has to be reviewed and approved by you. So if they found during an assessment that they could teach him a skill, then they could justify adding time to teach him directly.
A 504 plan is not centered around assessments and goals. If defines the reason for the 504 and explains accommodations and modifications.
An IEP will end on or before the child graduates and in order to get help in college student can be served with a 504 plan.
Hope this makes senseless
Thank you. I've heard that having an IEP could hurt the possibility of a child getting into the college of choice because the child is perceived as "disabled"....? Not sure if that sounds right?
Not sure how this would work. The services are seperate from the application process and you don't apply for them until after you are accepted. But again colleges only accept a 504 plan not an IEP. A college would not give a student any direct instruction like you get in a high school from a specialized teacher.
Hope that makes sense.
Once in college student recieve services under the Americans with Disability Act vs IDEA.
I have a daughter with slow processing speed and an IEP for ADHD but she also has dyslexia which is why her team approved her IEP evaluation. Slow processing speed is related to ADHD and dyslexia, and can affect memory recall, math fluency, spelling, etc. so the school psychologist wanted to use ADHD as a qualification for the IEP because the slow processing speed can have an effect on learning in multiple areas. It’s considered a health impairment. Also with an IEP, classes can be P/F, and graduation requirements might be adjusted. My oldest (17yo male) has severe ADHD but a 504 and was never tested. Very bright but sow slow and we definitely know his ADHD has significant impacts on his daily functioning, and it’s exhausting … but he is still managing a 3.45gpa with several college level classes and is a 3x varsity letter earner for wrestling. I pushed for his 504 to have a 1 week non penalty for any missing assignment or project, with the option of an extension if working with his teacher. Previously he had to ask for an extension but he is so “time blind,” he had no idea he needed an extension until it was too late… and IDEA says your accommodations need to be available, you should never need to ask. So a 504 can work but you will have to push as your son’s advocate and stay in communication with his teachers if he won’t talk to them. You can discuss shortening assignments, frequent check-ins with teachers, or anything you think your son needs to balance his disability to equalize his learning environment with his peers. It’s tough because it’s often thought of as “lazy…” but I know my son has trouble focusing and working in class so that’s when he uses his phone or wastes time… In WA state we have a great non profit called PAVE, a website which outlines IEP and 504 laws and rights. Good luck and hang in there!
Who qualifies for a 504 or iep? How to be prepared for the meeting with the school about this
504- accommodations question
IEP meeting went great
504 meeting with teacher 
