My daughter is 11 1/2 and will be entering middle school in the fall. I am very concerned about her ability to keep up with taking notes. She has ADHD, dyscalculia and a reading disorder. Does anyone know of any special electronic equipment to aid with note taking? We plan to use a regular recorder but wondered if anything else is available.
Also, we are developing her plan for middle school in the near future. I have reviewed many web sites talking about IEP development and IDEA. However, I’m still not clear on how many accomodations the school is required to provide and how that necessity is determined. For example: my daughter has major difficulty recalling random facts in all subjects. Are they required to modify tests to multiple choice if I request this? What about extra tutoring? Our developmental pediatrician recommended that she have one on one tutoring to work on her skills in learning to function with her LD and academics. He also recommended counseling to help her cope with the anxiety and depression she is suffering related to her disability. Is the school district obligated to contribute financially to these? Any specifics on who to contact regarding these questions? Any input would be appreciated.
Re: special accomodations
There is a little machine called an Alpha Smart that can be procured to help her take notes and also another nifty little tool to help her focus and learn better would be an Assistive Listening Device/ Fm System AKA an auditory trainer. I would ask for a complete speech and language battery. I agree with the one on one therapy as well. She can be entitled to a class called learning strategies where they teach kids to take notes and become more organized learners. I would also look into her language skills. One of the kids that I work with one on one has trouble with the recall of facts and she will use circomlocution to retrieve data that she has on the tip of her tongue but she can’t pull it up. She has severe writing problems which the underlying cause is weak expressive and receptive verbal skills. She can talk a blue streak but her logical use of language is hard. She can read fairly well but putting her ideas on paper is tough. She also has all the signs of ADD-Inattentive and her mom refuses to get a medical evaluation and try medication. The correct medication and accomodations can make a world of difference for a child, I know first hand…. Hope this helps and good luck!
Re: special accomodations
The school should make the accomendations that she needs to be able to get all that she can out of school. They should modify her work to her ablility. If her reading (for example) is a 4th grade reading level and she is in the 7th grade then they are to modify her test and assignments to that reading level. Assignments should also be modified so that if they have 30 questions to answer then they should pick out maybe 15 of the main points that she should be able to answer. My daughter is in the 10th grade and we fight with this all the time. One teacher that she had, had special books for her LD students. They were the same books as the other students so they looked no different but they were highlighted with the main points that she wanted them to know in each section and then the assignments were also highlighted to corispond to the highlighted sections in the book and tests were also and she only had to answer the questions that she had studied about. If she could answer any of the other questions they were extra credit. If you have any more questions e-mail me. I do know of some books that would be helpful with IEP planning and rights for parents and students
I am also looking for answers to a similar situation with my son.