Jump to content

Menu

Dyslexia + ADHD in high school - accommodations?


Tanaqui
 Share

Recommended Posts

Younger kiddo is going to high school next year. We don't know which one yet, and won't know until March, but I know that if I don't work out now how we're going to handle asking for accommodations then it'll get put off way too long. I did try to pick schools with an eye to "are they going to totally stonewall us on reasonable accommodations?" but it's hard to know for sure just based on asking them and going on a tour, you know?

She did not have a formal diagnosis when she was in elementary school (pulled out to homeschool in the 4th grade), so this is all new to me!

I have an idea of some things to push for, but what all did everybody else find helpful for yourself or your kids?

I want to hear ideas before I talk up her specific situation, in case somebody randomly suggests something they might not have if they knew all the details from the start.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok,  you can start by getting the NOLO book and reading about the IEP process. Do you have any private paper trail? Is there a possibility of getting private evals first? 

The legal timeline for the IEP process, if they don't deny you flat up and make you wait and be observed a grading period, is 120 days. So you need to calculate whether you'd do better to request evals NOW, when you can just force their hand, or wait till you enroll. Some schools, when you say you're enrolling, will want to observe her for a grading period first. Other schools will be much more generous and do the evals while the dc is incoming. It may also depend on the amount of evidence you have of severity of impact, ie. how DIRE it is that she receive services or accommodations.

Also, you've got the question of a 504 vs. IEP, which is not something really you have to answer (it's the school's choice) but more of a question on your end of defining what you're trying to make happen.

-Do you want her to receive intervention services? Does she require specialized education in any subjects?

-Will she need therapies?

-Does she require EF supports, use of tech, and other accommodations?

And then, just as a parent, I suggest you think through what HOLES there might be in the paper trail so far and what might get identified with more thorough evals. Typically private evals will be more thorough, because ps evals are looking mainly at eligibility. They're not going to tell you what SHOULD be happening because they're only answering what they legally have to make happen.

So things I would want to know, just given family history and how things roll, are 

-pragmatics (Social Language Development Test, Test of Problem Solving, the new CAPS which is reviewing VERY well)

-language (CELF Metalinguistics, TILLS, narrative language)

-IQ/Achievement

-and of course anything like the CTOPP or motor skills, OT eval if writing is difficult or there are sensory issues, etc.

If you go in under one diagnosis and want to change, add more, you no longer have the protection of the timeline and can have a harder time. They'll have pegged her like oh this is her disability. They're not SUPPOSED to do that, and they might not. However just saying it can happen, which is why I'm saying look at everything and kitchen sink it and mention EVERYTHING.

If you can make private evals happen first, that will give you a better ammo. 

The IEP process is not the most fun thing. Hopefully they'll be reasonable to work with. The less you ask for, the easier they sometimes are, lol, which doesn't necessarily serve your kid well.

What Makes an Independent Speech-Language-Literacy Evaluation a GOOD Evaluation?

Why “good grades” do not automatically rule out “adverse educational impact”

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What we did for dd2 who went from homeschool to high school was get evaluations done in the January/February of her 8th-grade year. Then we took those evaluations to the counselor later that spring. They set up a 504 for her right away and we have had nearly zero problems in getting the accommodations that dd2 needs.

I would also work on having your daughter learn to be an advocate for herself. She needs to be able to talk about what she needs to succeed because even with a 504 in place, dd2 still needs to talk to all her teachers every fall and spring and to remind them during the semester for things like in-class writing assignments or computer generated quizzes.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a good question! Her sibling is likely to need a 504 for unrelated health issues soon, and we're going to be pushing for a limit on how much grading weight is put on homework because it's simply not getting done, but we're not sure we can convince A to just stop doing homework after a reasonable amount of time!

E (the one we're talking about here) seems more interested in the idea of accommodations, and has discussed the issue with us with regards to what may or may not be helpful, but there's no way of knowing how comfortable she'll be once she's actually in school. The one that she's certain she both wants and needs is to be able to go into another, private room for tests - which is something her elementary school automatically provided for her without a diagnosis, so she knows how effective it is for her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...