My son’s (age9, grade4) iep renewal is coming up soon. He is LD in reading/writing, has apraxia of speech and ADHD. He currently goes to Resource Lab ~2 hrs/day, speech therapy 2x week, and is on Strattera. He is about 1 year behind in reading, even further in writing. At home he works on Lexia for his reading. In the resource lab he also does Lexia and some OG instrution, along with writing practice… His iep has, as supplemental aids/ supports /services;
1) tests read aloud to
2) study guides provided
3) cursive not required
4) copies of classnotes/lectures
He is doing ok in Social Studies, Math, Spelling; however struggling in Science. I think because it is more abstract (they are studying the changing states of matter now). He studies a lot at home for tests/quizzes and we read together often. His spelling words are geared toward his level, single syllable words w/ short vowels. He has great difficult with short vowels, I’m sure partly (at least) due to the fact that he still can’t pronounce some of them correctly..
What else can we do to help? Is it reasonable to add to the iep— to get the study guides at least *1 week* in advance? Now he receives them anywhere from one week to only one day before. Also I want to add that he can do unfinished classwork at home, and can have the use of a calculator for math. He often brings unfinished classwork home now and we do it here already.. How should we address keyboarding? He has done it some, they have a program the kids work on in the library, although that has thus far, proved very difficult for him too (very slow at it…)
I’ve had him tutored past couple summers, but never saw any real progress (plus he hated it) so I just work w/ him at home in summers.
He dislikes school, I’m sure because of the challenges. I want to get him thru school with his self-esteem intact and while maximizing his progress. He is happiest playing with his neighborhood friends, being with his dog or playing gameboy.
Any ideas/ or comments??
Thanks!
It is absolutely reasonable that if he can demonstrate that he knows how to do math functions in longhand, that he might be able to use a calculator to speed things up. The school granted this request of my daughter without so much as batting an eye.
At this age, he should have a a piece of paper signed by each of his teachers that he fills out with assignments and what was accomplished in class that day. He should bring home this “assignment sheet,” to which you add your signature and return with him to school. That piece of paper should tell you the test dates in advance as a matter of course—the teachers have this as part of their lesson plan so there shouldn’t be a huge problem. If you are successful in getting those study guides home a week in advance, let me know and I will give it a go.
If printing is an issue, then keyboarding is something that he will need for the future. Keep him at it.