My son Hunter is 9 years old he was diagnosed with ADD at the beginning of the 1st grade. We had him privately tested for learning disabilities at the beginning of the 3rd grade the school system also tested him after I demanded that they test him. On the testing he was found to have ADD, visual perception problems, visual spatial problems, difficulty with handwriting. Last year Hunter was receiving help from the special education teacher for 30 minutes each day and OT services once weekly for 30 minutes. We found out last week that Hunter has not seen the special ed teacher at all this year even though my husband and I along with our advocate did Hunter’s IEP at the end of last year with his 4th grade teachers and the principal and the special ed director and the special ed teacher in attendance. According to Hunter’s IEP he was still suppose to be seeing the special ed teacher 30 minutes daily along with OT once weekly for 30 minutes, his general education teachers said they could teach Hunter but that he couldn’t be pulled out of class all the time. Hunter also sees a behavior specialist at least twice weekly. I asked Hunter if he was seeing the special ed. teacher and he said no he wasn’t. This is the second 6 week grading period of this school year, Hunter maintained a C average on all of his subjects on his report card last six weeks. Today is report card day so I am keeping my fingers crossed that he does as well for this six weeks. My husband asked the principal why Hunter wasn’t seeing the special ed teacher each day and she told him that the special ed. teacher was monitoring Hunter and if she begins to see that he is having problems she will go back to pulling him out of class and tutoring with him. My problem is this and I need to know if anyone else has experienced similar problems. Hunter received a Grade of F in conduct for 2 of the past six weeks, the general ed. teachers lists the things that resulted in Hunter receiving an F in conduct here are the things that were listed: Not following directions, not completeing classwork on time, off task. Hunter was not disturbing the class he was just off task, he has a hard time with handwriting he has fine motor skill difficulties he is also left handed, Hunter was supposed to have been evaluated to see if he would benefit from the use of an Alpha Smart this was discussed in last year’s IEP meeting and the director of special education said that Hunter would be evaluated during the summer, but Hunter never received an evaluation, when school started I wrote Hunter’s homeroom teacher a letter and asked her if she remembered that Hunter was supposed to be evaluated for an Alpha Smart she wrote a note back saying that she thought an Alpha Smart would be more of a hinderance than a help because Hunter does not know how to type. As a result of slow handwriting he usually does not finish his classwork on time. Last year one of his accommodations was that he would verbally tell the special ed. teacher the answers and she would do the writing for him, well he is not getting any of this done for him this year. Being off task, not following directions and not completing classwork are part of ADD and I don’t think that should affect his conduct grade if he is not disturbing the class. Do any of you have similiar problems. Thanks Teresa
Re: Conduct Grade
I think many families have similar issues with their own children with learning differences. Some teachers take their learning differences into account when grading, others do not.
This might be something that you could address in his next IEP. Grades should be modified to reflect that he works with extra challenges. It also sounds as if the school is not following through and meeting your son’s needs. Perhaps sitting down and speaking the school psychologist, guidance counselor or principal would help to get the evaluations done.
And how else will this child or any other learn to type unless they have an Alpha Smart?
Good luck.
Re: Conduct Grade
Also a SPED teacher, in elementary school. That IEP is a legal document, and the school is obligated to follow it unless they have a new IEP meeting and you agree in writing to change it. DO NOT wait for the next IEP meeting, it might well be called at the end of the school year. If it is in the IEP, it is the law for your child. Start with polite, but don’t let them off the hook. Also, get them to give you a new copy of “Procedural Safeguards” it tells you how to get what you need. I would require as to how Conduct grades are determined, and I would want it in writing. The school should be able to provide this although they may not want to do so. Did you get a student handbook at the start of the school year? Some of this imformation may be in there. Good luck.
Been there, done that (Long)
Teresa, You need to start writing letters YESTERDAY. Send a letter to the school (certified mail, return receipt requested) and cc the teacher, the guidance counselor, the spec ed teacher and the district.
You need to state in the letter that your son is entitled to the accoms on his IEP and that they are out of compliance and in violation of his rights under IDEA and ADA. You need to request a copy of the log (I know my OT keeps one) that the special ed teacher and OT keep to show how often they have met with him.
You need to request in writing an AT (assistive technology) evaluation and ask specifically that “the person who is authorized to provide funding be at this meeting”). I would NOT wait until his next IEP. He needs help pronto. By law, they are ALSO required to provide typing instruction for the alphsmart (It also has a typing “coach” on it that he can use at home) I would also request that he be allowed to have summer continuim (SP?) - I think it’s called - so that he can retain the Alphasmart over the Summer and get more proficient at it (We didn’t know about the typing instruction and sent her to keyboarding classes at the tune of $45.00/hr). She types 20+ wpm presently.
You have quite a challenge in front of you. The mere fact that you are on this board seeking information and direction is commendable. I think you can do it. Start writing. Also (something I JUST learned) is that you need to request that a copy of your letters (all of them) be placed in your son’s CUM folder. (I just reviewed mine and NONE of them are there. I am writing a letter this week, with all the past letters attached, requesting that all past and future letters be placed in my daughter’s CUM folder.
If you do they above, oftentimes they get in a real “hurry” to provide the services your son is entitled to. You need to be firm and reasonable, and knowledgeable about his entitlements under the law. Once they find out they have an “educated” parent on their hands, they usually come around pronto. Good luck.
My daughter has LD/ADD, written expression and both SI, dypraxia and auditory and visual processing delays. She started on an AlphaSmart in 2nd grade, got a Dana in 4th and uses a laptop in resource. Free free to email me with any questions you have - as stated above “Been there - done that”.
As a special ed. teacher, I can tell you that there are more problems here than a conduct grade. Hunter is not receiving the services he is supposed to be getting by law according to the IEP, and these services should be as stated in the IEP, not what the regular ed. teachers think and not what the sp. ed. teacher thinks. If the reg. ed. teachers do not like it……..too bad, it is in Hunter’s IEP. Naturally I would be as accommodating as possible with the teachers, but I would still insist on getting his 30 min. a day. In addition, that evaluation is waaaaaay overdue. It sounds to me like this could even be a legal issue by now. I’m not saying find a lawyer, but perhaps politely remind them that your son is legally entitled to these things…….and you expect them to follow the law.
As for conduct grade, I would like to know how it is assessed. Is it simply a
willy-nilly “this is what I feel he should get” grade…….or is there some monitoring system in place by the teachers based on a percentage of violations?
In my room, I use a “participation” grade which is 10 percent of the final grade, but I use a system where each violation of the rules is 5 points off of a participation grade for that period, which starts off at 100. Hence, if a child gets 3 violations, at 5 points off apiece that is 15 points off, for a particpation grade of 85 for that period. It is fair, and serves notice to the student specifically of each time he violates a rule. I also record each violation.
Finally……..while off-task behavior can be problematic grade-wise…….if he is not disturbing the class as such, I would say an “F” is way too harsh. My word, what would they give if he WAS disturbing the class?
I would say it is time to have a conference with the principal highlighting the issues I have set forth here.
By the way, I am a 20-year veteran teacher of high school students with learning disabilities and behavioral disorders. Most of my students this year have ADHD.