Failing Grades

An FM System in the classroom and have you looked into a trying something like Zoloft for the ADD/depression? I have had a student who didn’t respond to a stimulant like Ritalin when she was 5 but by the time middle school hit she was drowning due to zoning in class,depression and ADD. Once the psychiatrist put her on Zoloft her depression and her ADD-Inattentive behaviors subsided. There was a united front between the tutor/family and psychiatrist to teach her the skills she needed to focus and to not feel so overwhelmed so that she would give up. She is doing much better now.

The first thing I would do is get a complete a full copy of his entire educational file. I would put everything in chronological order. I would try and determine if he has made any academic progress,then I would request another IEP meeting to revise what parts of his IEP that is not working.

I think getting another evaluation to determine medications is a very good idea,but you also seemed to need to be able to hold accountable the educators in your son’s life. If the teacher states she can not follow the IEP,there is something wrong.
Fact: She is legally obligated under IDEA to follow whatever plan is developed.
If she finds the plan difficult then the plan needs to be revisited.

Putting a child on medication is a parent’s decision but as you’ve been willing to try that, would you consider trying medications other than Ritalin? There are others out there that can help some children Ritalin cannot.

Would you want him in Spec. Ed for more of the day? I’d like to be wrong about this but we can write lots of things into IEPs but that doesn’t mean that every teacher knows how to implement those things.

Is 6th grade in your elementary school or your Middle School? If it’s self-contained (one teacher) go and observe the different 6th grade teachers. See if one of them is naturally a more hands-on teacher. Some teachers naturally teach in a way than lends itself to hands-on learning. If so, you could request that teacher.

Others who post to the BB have talked about having their children not graded at all. Perhaps that would be possible.

Good luck.

I appreciate all of your suggestions. I am trying desperately to do the right thing and I am frustrated with not being able to get the right plan in place to help him succeed. Next year is middle school for him, and I have been having trouble with the administration as well as the regular ed. teachers in trying strategies that could benefit him, as well as following the IEP. I usually remind them of their obligation to follow the IEP or alter it and they make a limited effort for a week or so and then return to telling me that “he can do it if he wants to”, or “his ability his higher than his achievement”. Those comments do not help me or him. He was on Wellbutrin in 4th grade, but that didn’t help either. I just took him to the pediatrician and he wants him evaluated by a neurologist to be sure we are properly diagnosing him. Some symptoms seem to suggest non-verbal learning disability or even possibly Asperger Syndrome. All these evaluations could take time, in the meantime he continues to fail. I asked the teachers to send me ALL of his papers everyday or every week so I can monitor his productivity and try some incentive plan, but they keep saying it is his responisibility - even as they write me notes daily telling me “he did nothing today”. I didn’t think it was too much to ask for them to give me all of his assignments - they tell me they don’t have time. How can I tell how much he gets done or what he is not learning if they won’t be sure I see what work he did not complete. Do I have to write EVERYTHING in the IEP? Thank you all for your input - I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t hear from people who understand & can give me suggestions. The school seems to have written him off until I come in a make waves. It is all very draining.

IT is very draining and discouraging. Do remember one thing though. The school district’s generally make it hard for parents. If they didn’t everyone would want a free and appropriate education! Keep at them,you have the right to expect them to follow the IEP,or discuss changes.

You could go to the next level if the teachers continue to be noncompliant. Write to the principal and if you get no help there write to the special educational director.not going to tell you it will be easy of that it will illicate an instant change,but it is a start.

T.J., your son’s story sounds just like my son’s, and I know how you feel about always having to complain. I will admit that I have let things go….just because of I was tired of fighting, but the other day I went to see the principal, we have another IEP meeting scheduled for 1-2-02. This time I’m pulling out the big guns, I’m going with a list of things I have a problem with, I’m writing the solution and the date they expect to have the solution in place, and everyone present is signing it, if it doesn’t improve, I’m planning on going to the next step. I’ve decided when they say he doesn’t try, I’m going to say…. and what do you do to help him succeed. The prinicpal seemed willing to help, but she is one of those ppl who tell you what you want to hear, that’s why I’ve decided to document it this time, before when we have this meetings, they offer solutions, but then it is never done. My son is in the 7th grade, reading on a 4th grade level and his writing and spelling skills are below 1st grade, sort of hard to “try” on that level. I’m also calling and inviting the new super. to come. I’m also going to mention a free apprioate (sp) public education as much as possible.
Also, this board is great, it gives me the incentive to do things when I feel like giving up.

Do you know the private options in your area — the FAPE they’d have to pay for if they acknowledge that yes he needs to learn to read and write better, but gosh-darny-shucks they can’t provide it ‘cause they just can’t?

The only private option in the area where I live is a University about 2 hours away, that has a program for dyslexic, they will come to the school and tutor, using the Wilson Reading System, for $25.00 an hour, including travel time. Are you saying that if our school system can’t provide a FAPE, they would have to pay for this tutoring?

yes. If they can not provide what he needs,if they say ,yes,he needs it but we can’t get it,then you can MOST definitely used this as an alternative for them. because they MUST provide FAPE.
The trick is to get them to admit he needs it. You go in with,hmm,he needs help with reading,he is way below grade level,the reccomendations in the report state he needs this type of program,will the school provide this? When they say we don’t have this to provide,you tell them,well I have this program here you guys can provide to him,because your obligated to provide it. Don’t call it the wilson program call it the program that provides a multisensory approach to learning to read,or whatever the specific are to what is reccomended. Make sense? In other words they HAVE to provide a free and appropriate education,NOT a specific program. But a program that includes all the things reccomended in the report that talks about how he learns best,or what would help him most etc.

Have you thought about homeschooling or finding a private school for LD? Honestly, depression can become serious, and it sounds like to me that your son’s school doesn’t know how to help him. If they are that ineffective with him in a special ed. class 25% of the day, I surely wouldn’t recommend more time. A poorly written IEP probably is indicative of the quality of the program. Poor LD programs produce a lot of drop outs. I’m sorry to be negative, but I just spent the past four years teaching at a high school, and I saw it first hand.

Janis

I did try homeschooling him for a few months at the end of second grade. It went well, but he tends to withdraw and become passive. I had hoped that the system would do right by him & that being around other kids would be motivating. I was shocked to learn that so many kids have these experiences year after year, and to know that there are so many problems with the system. I can see now how so many children get depressed & angry by high school and drop out. I have a strong feeling that my child will need to be homeschooled. I have nothing against that except that it makes me angry that there is such a lack of committment within the school system for these at risk kids. I have not experienced much motivation on the part of the school administration to “see what will help” my child. I decided to get my degree in learning strategies (or some type of special education) in order to help my child learn, but also to attempt to reach the kids that got shoved aside for so many years. Too many teachers attribute these kids failures to “parents that don’t care” or “kids that don’t care” and I see now that that is not always the case. I can see that the teachers and school system are not very universally educated on reasons for learning difficulties or kids shutting down.

Well, I’ll surely have to agree with you there! I may be headed in the same direction with my own child, and I am a special ed. teacher. The only thing I can really say is that the public school system is designed like a cookie cutter. They use certain methods that will produce the most consistent cookies. The really high kids and the ones with learning difficulties really aren’t the priority, unfortunately. Even with good parental advocacy, you cannot guarantee that the school personnel will have the expertise to correctly diagnose and remediate with effective methods. That is the sad part. I am lucky because my child is in a new charter school and the principal is very interested in preventive intervention and using methods that work. I am still left to find my own way though, because at this point, I know more than anyone at the school in regard to my child’s learning problems. This then forces me to educate myself on the most effective methods. I will have to say that this one web-site has been invaluable to me.

Janis

Kathy too, just wanted to follow up and see how your meeting went. What kinds of things did you ask them to do for your child? Did they actually sign your requests? I have had problems having them sign anything besides the IEP. I even asked the teacher to initial his classwork assignments so that I could be sure she saw what he did or she could see if he understood the assignment. She said no. Share any successes you have & I will try them too. tj

TJ,

You need to have those kinds of requests written into the IEP under classroom modifications/accomodations. Reasonable requests can be discussed at the meeting and as long as the majority of the team agress, the teacher will have to do it.

Janis