Wow! I could have written any of these replies. I am beyond frustrated! I want someone to be accountable. I realize that my son has a responsiblity to turn in assignments, do the assignments, etc. The school system has a responsibilty to teach my child in a learning style that "clicks" with him. The last 3 grading periods my son has earned 2 Fs and 7 Ds yet he is not considered a "struggling" student because he earned As & Bs in his art and vocational/technical classes. Give me a break!! Thanks for sharing your experiences. I know I am not alone.
Dear Disheartened,
Don't give up!!! Have you had your child diagnosed? Luckily we have good insurance and we were able to take our son to a psychologist to have testing which only cost us a co-pay as opposed to several hundred dollars. We made an appointment with the school guidance counselors, the school 504 Plan coordinator and the school psychologist. They all said that there was no need for a 504 Plan because it's not the schools responsibility to help him reach his potential - as long as he is not failing he's doing just fine. After several long and loud phone conversations, several e-mails to the guidance counselor as well as the assistant principal, the district 504 Plan coordinator was called in to the meetings. During this meeting the school psychologist performed another psychological evaluation on my son which gauged his perception of his performance in school, general starting tasks and staying on task, etc. This test determined that my son has no clue that there is a problem - and being able to identify that there is a problem is very important. After that evaluation he was given a 504 Plan, but honestly it has done nothing for us. The teachers are still not communicating with me. I had a conversation with my son's History teacher a few days ago and I simply asked for a list of upcoming assignments so that I can write them on my son's calendar. The teacher told me no and and that if he did that for me he would have to do it for every parent. Needless to say, I wanted to crawl through the phone. I think the best thing to do is attend school board meetings and bring up the subject of how so many teachers and school administrators have no clue how to deal with kids with learning disabilities. Let's do our homework and go to the meetings armed with numbers and facts and then follow up with certified letters to the school board and the school district superintentants and then maybe send the same information to the state department of education. There is no one size fits all teaching plan that works for every kid. Sometimes it's just a matter of helping a kid to get more organized. I would think that a teacher being able to recognize a student's learning challenges would make the job of teaching that child a little easier.
I love all the great recommendations and experience everyone is sharing. I think they are all very important. I would just like to add one piece that often gets lost in the shuffle of problems a child is facing in their school.
ADHD is a challenge of boredom and engagement. What child, teenager or even young adult is going to pay attention, with full focus and sustain their focus, in an area of weakness, challenge or perceived failure?
ADHD is a challenge of INTEREST and brain stimulation. If you want to see any kind of improvement with a student with ADHD, then you also need to advocate and request that the school be responsible for identifying your child's strengths and interests.
Request that the teachers and the administration be responsible for specifically identifying and articulating your child's recurring patterns of success. What they specifically are in the classroom and other areas of their academic day. If you don't do this then your child will continue to place most of their focus on what they can't do at the expense of what they already can.
It is a shame to waste the unique brain-wiring attributes your child already possesses. Don't let a system that focuses on limited standards and ways of learning limit your child's ability to do what they already do well and do it even better.
Unfortunately, most schools are so focused on fixing what is broken. There is already a successful part of your child waiting to be acknowledged. Don't let what they already do well be forgotten by a system that focuses on fixing problems.
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While I feel that these are all good ideas, my experience has been that teachers generally do not like to communicate with parents. Although they all know that my son has ADHD with a serious auditory disorder and he has a 504 Plan, they all just think of him as a lazy kid who should "just do better", "just try harder", "take school more seriously".
My husband and I attended several meetings with my son's guidance counselor, the school 504 Plan coordinator, the school psychologist and the district 504 Plan specialist last year asking for a 504 Plan for my son and thinking that having one would mean more communication with the teachers and possibly some help from his teachers keeping him focused and doing well in school (my son is a junior in high school and was only diagnosed last year with ADHD and the auditory disorder). The 504 Plan has provided none of this. There is virtually no communication with the teachers and limited communication with the school guidance counselor. The 504 Plan states that I should be contacted directly if my son's grade falls below a C in any class, but instead his teacher's post grades on Edline when they feel like doing so. There have been times that he didn't hand in work, and I did not know that he had assignments due because his teacher's don't use Edline to post upcoming work or tests, and after several F's in a row for missing work the teachers finally post. I understand that my son has to be more organized because of the ADHD and also because the auditory processing disorder. As such I have him write assignments in his agenda and I check his agenda to see if he has completed those assignments. His teachers do not understand that if they give an assignment and they simply say it to him, it often does not register for him and he does not write it down. I have virtually begged for a list of upcoming assignments and tests from his teachers, to no avail.
My son attends a public school. I wish I knew if this would be an issue at a private school as well. I cannot effectively express my frustration.
I have had very similar problems with my son's schools. The problem with 504 plans is they have no "teeth" and the schools seem to put the majority of burden on what the parents agreed to do as part of the plan. this doesn't work when the school staff doesn't keep up with their part of the agreement. How can you monitor your child's homework when the school doesn't tell you what it is? A child with ADHD often "forgets" to write their assignments in their planner. We can review and sign the planner but, if the teacher doesn't do the same, how do we know that it's correct? After a lot of arm twisting and threats of legal action I managed to get some perfunctory compliance from the school's staff. One teacher now sends me a weekly e-mail outlining upcoming assignments which really has helped both my son and me. The other teacher seems more reluctant but does point to on-line assignments via StudyIsland.com. My son's psychologist is pushing hard to get an IEP in place since there are more legal avenues available. Recent changes in the Americans with Disabilities Act has given us more "ammunition" to use in dealing with the school's reluctance to help.
I have found the same problems in my daughter's school as well (middle school). The teachers are given a book with the list of kids on a 504 plan but apparently they don't check those books to find out if any of the students in their classes have a 504. Even knowing though, I do hear that she is "not paying attention" (isn't that part of the problem of adhd). I also do not get notified if she is missing assignments and even have problems with teachers getting back to me when I contact them about things. I did try for an IEP but was told she doesn't qualify because her grades average out to a C average. Nevermind that she was an A student, has the ability to get much better grades and also that she struggles to pull the failures up to a D grade. She gets an A in physical education which ultimately always pulls her average up.
I do feel some of the tips in this article may be helpful though. Teacher conferences are next week so I plan to speak with my daughter, find out where she feels the struggling is the worst and what she thinks may help and then go to the teachers prepared to work out a plan.
The school is WRONG!!! It's not grades alone that qualify a student for an IEP. It's her disability. My son's school tried the same tactic until we showed them the pertinent ADA laws and the laws that state what the qualifiers are for an IEP. The principal was a little upset after we showed him in writing as a response to his statement "I know the law!". He probably does but didn't expect us to know it as well or better. Remember, an IEP is for children that have learning difficulty, whether or not their grades seem to indicate otherwise. My son was literally getting straight F's for 2 years, still getting advanced to the next grade, and struggling with the stigma of being a "troubled, disruptive child". It's only been the immense efforts he, his psychologist, and I have been putting in to improve his grades and behavior. Despite the lack of any real support from the educational system. And don't even get me started on what a farce most school boards are! What a sad, miserable joke!
I can't find anything that says that she is entitled to an iep (she has a 504). They say she doesn't need help with academics since she has a "C" average. Guess I'll get in touch with our parent resource center and find out what else I can do.
Wow, I didn't expect so many responses!!!!! I guess I'm glad I'm not alone. Sometimes I think it's just me putting too much responsibility on the teachers. I try not to be a problem parent - I always hear that teachers want input from parents, yet I'm regarded as a nuisance.
I wonder if maybe teachers/school administrators are simply not trained to deal with kids who learn differently. Maybe contacting district or state governance would prove helpful. I just don't think many teachers have the tools to deal with kids who learn differently or have a 504 Plan or IEP. If that's the case, it's almost not their fault that they are not assisting us or our kids in the way they should.
Thanks for all the input.