My 15-year-old teen has completed an evaluation for special services and we are waiting for the final determination meeting. Since we first approached the school with our concerns many things have changed. First, the child received a diagnosis of ADHD inattentive type from a psychiatrist and a neurologist hired by the school confirmed it. The student is on medication and there is a noticeable improvement in behavior. We have arranged for weekly private tutoring. The student’s grades have markedly improved this progress period they have gone from D’s to A’s and Bs. The student is seeing a psychologist every other week to deal with comorbidity of anxiety. The teachers were given a list of recommended accommodations from the psychologist and have tried to implement them during this interim period (recommendation from the superintendent of schools - not special services).
As a result I believe that the child study team will conclude that there is no adverse academic impact and will not provide special services. In reality, the student still can not organize his thoughts to write an essay, participate in class discussions because of slow processing time and anxiety, follow complex directions etc. In short the student needs to acquire new learning strategies.
How can I get this across to the team when the student is “not presently achieving failure” as the LD consultant on the team has expressed on more than one occasion. My child has a long way to go before he has mastered the academic skills that he needs as he progresses through high school. Any advice for this concerned parent?
You will still be a ‘team’ at the meeting, make sure you point out that without accommodations being implemented by the teachers and direct services/interventions from a tutor, psychologist etc. your son’s adhd will affect his outcome as prior to these actions your child was failing. He should be qualified under other health impaired. Are there others (reg. teacher for instance) who are in your court?
At my son’s meeting,(4th grade) we talked about the iep vs. 504, the only person who disagreed at this meeting with qualifying him was the school psychologist. My husband and I insisted on the iep and were backed up by the reg. teacher and sp.ed director. I used past standardized tests that my son scored in single digits on, his classwork examples and past history to make my case. His teacher helped by documenting all that she was doing in class to try and help him keep up.
Don’t give up. They may try to say something about all the teachers helping but you can’t guarantee that next years’ teachers will be so willing. An iep gives those teachers no choice but to intervene on behalf of your son.
Hope this helps. Best wishes.
Amy