Tori: My son has ADHD and has accommodations in place. I am constantly having to police his teachers because so many of them don’t give him all of his accommodations. I’m tired of having to constantly make sure that they follow his plan. What can I do to get the school’s attention?
I have the same issue with my children’s school district. My son took a course required for graduation during the summer because it wouldn’t fit in the schedule. The teacher only offered lip service to extended time after we asked about it. She did not meet any of the other accommodations. In a meeting with his principal, it was decided he will have the first semester to complete it, with assistance from a special educator, despite the fact that he will have a full schedule on top of it. The administration refuses to take any responsibility for the failure to meet his IEP. In addition, we were required to pay for the summer course, despite it being the outcome of an IEP Team meeting.
I have to constantly police my son’s teachers to make sure his plan is followed. My son has an IEP and the teachers just refuse to cooperate and follow the plan. They say it makes too much work for them and they have other things to do. One teacher is even trying to have my son removed from her class so she won’t have to deal with him. Principal , Director of Special Education, and Super Intendant are no help at all. They allow the teachers to do whatever they want. Now my son is failing because of these teachers and they do not care. What should we do now?
Please help. My son with Autism and Dyslexia. He has and IEP with accommodations, modifications and goals. School refuses to update his goals. They say he is still dumb and will not amount to anything. I even drew up some smart goals for my son to go on his IEP and the school refused all of them. Then I decided to play child in Private School and the public school responded that they do not have to implement his IEP or give him services since he will be in a private setting. What do we do not to help our son
The school has no choice but to update the IEP because your sons needs will change. School seems like they are unprofessional telling you that he is dumb. You need advocate for your child and demand change. You can request mediation with the school and hopefully get them to pay for a private placement or file a complaint with OCR or State Education Agency.
My son attends a private school and is diagnosed with Dyslexia. The private school set up an accommodation plan and is also allowing services to be brought in from the public school system. They say they are not legally bound to his IEP nor the accommodation plan since they are a privately funded school. Since he is not passing one class he is now not allowed to participate in any extra curricular activities. Just trying to figure out what ground I stand on, as I feel my son should not be being punished for having a disability.
Kerri – this whole private/charter/non-public whatever school is really frustrating for me too. In my state (OH), if a parent places the child in a private school they lose their right to a FAPE, but the State does still require the public school district to conduct the evals and IEP’s. Both the district and private school must participate in the IEP meetings.
We placed our son in a private school because we had expectations that they would do their part to help him succeed. I assume that’s also your reason. If they don’t, it’s up to us to find a better placement.
Extra curriculars must be available to all kids in our district, even if they are in private school and at no additional cost to the private school student.
Look for an advocate or parent mentor in your area to help you.
Tori, I need more info before attempting to answer your question. Does your son have an IEP or a 504 plan? What services and accommodations did the school agree to provide? What accoms are not being provided? How do you know his teachers don’t give him all of his accommodations? How often does this happen?
What do you mean when you say you “police” the teachers? How?
My son had a STAT meeting and was given accommodations pending his evaluation for Special Ed. He has to be given re-directions, hard copies of notes, preferential seating, among other things. I mean “police” by having to constantly remind the teachers to provide my son with his accommodations. He frequently doesn’t get his re-directions (life saver for my son), he doesn’t always get hard copies of notes, and a few of his teachers didn’t have him in preferential seating. His ARD is coming up in 2 days and he does qualify for Special ED. I’m just sick of his teachers not doing their job. It hurts my son’s performance and his grades. I’ve had to be b**ch at times to get their attention. I finally got the principal’s attention by threatening to sue when my son failed a test because he wasn’t given his accommodations (re-directions and extra time) and the teacher told my son that his ADHD wasn’t real.
Sometimes it helps to let go for a couple of months and let the child land in some spectacularly hot water. This is not always a good idea. You must think about the effect this might have on your child. But I thought I should mention it.
In the long run, the child will gradually learn to advocate for himself, with your guidance. When he’s ready, print out his list of accommodations in a format he is comfortable with, and install it in his main notebook. Do some role play at home so he gets comfortable. For example, “I accept that I should have a consequence, but I really need to move around during recess, or I’m afraid things could get worse in the afternoon.”
There are a variety of techniques that could assist you in getting their attention. On the Wrightslaw home page under topics go to Advocacy.