I was hoping that a teacher could help me out. I had a meeting with all of my child’s teachers at the beginning of the school year to explain my child’s disabilities. Since then, one teacher is not giving my child accommodations. So, I had another meeting. I was first told by the teacher that my son would not be allowed a specific accommodation that I asked for. The teacher then corrected the statment and said that if it was in my child’s IEP and my child asked for the accommodation that it would be granted. (It seemed grudging, however. The teacher’s philosopy is that accommodations actually hurt children from progressing.) The teacher has my child’s IEP. I’m not sure when the line was crossed from teachers giving accommodations listed in the IEP to my childing having to request accommodations. Is this new with the new IDEA or is this teacher just being difficult due to philosophical reasons?
Re: Asking for Accommodations
She might benefit from seeing the Rck Lavoie Fat City video. She obviously doesn’t understand learning disabilities. And Dad is right.
Janis
Re: Asking for Accommodations
If the teacher refuses to provide an accommodation that is in the IEP, that’s illegal. You may want to convey this to her in a diplomatic but still matter-of-fact way. “But the accommodation is in my child’s IEP, and the IEP is a legal document. So since my child really needs this accommodation and the IEP requires it, his teachers must provide it by law.”
If the teacher still balks, request that the accommodation be made in writing and cc the principal. Then progress up the chain of command if that fails.
ETA: I don’t mean to take on a litigious or “fighting” tone. I am an attorney, so I may sound like one. But when folks do and say stupid things like that teacher did, I get ticked. That’s not cool for a teacher to foist a personal philosophy on your child, to say the least.
Re: Asking for Accommodations
One additional thought…
Under our current environment which stresses that children with extraordinary needs are not to be identified in any manner that could bring negative attention to them. (I think we all understand that some children will be blantantly obvious whether by physical features or like my boy, by very obvious behaviors.) One could construe that making a child or teen with the need for accomodations ask for the teacher to impliment them could be at the very least embarrassing and in more extreme cases could be seen as a form of harassment.
Good luck to you and please let us know how things turn out.
Asking for Accommodations
Thanks everyone. I didn’t think that what was going on was quite right because it has not worked this way in the past.
I will see what happens the next time my child needs an accommodation. My child has difficulty when the teacher says this is the rule and the accommodation overrides this rule. So, if my child must raise a hand and ask for the accommodation, it will not be acceptable. It will be too much of an embarrassment.
Re: Asking for Accommodations
No, the student shouldn’t have to request the accommodation (especially when it’s darned certain that the teacher will make no effort to make it pleasant, and may do what s/he can to make it unpleasant). I would document everything (especially for the next student down the line) - when there’s a low assignment or test grade, write a letter to the teacher and the principal simply stating that accommodation X was not provided and you believe that if it had been, the student would have **learned more.** If you can, *also* document when good things happen (with or without accommodations). You want a clear trail that shows that your child needs certain conditions (whether because of the nature of the assignment without accommodations, or because of the accommodations) in order to learn successfully… but that the child **can** and **will** learn if those conditions are provided.
This is NOT in IDEA, this is one teacher’s skewed perception of what proper Sped service delivery is. Suggest you read about the Withers Decision to see what can happen to teachers who decide to selectively impliment a proper IEP.
http://www.faculty.piercelaw.edu/redfield/library/case-doe.v.withers.htm