TL: My sons new middle school for next year announced that they do not have inclusion (called ICT classes here in NYC) honors classes for the next school year. My son is a twice exceptional student. He has ADHD and Dysgraphia.
By 5th grade he wound up in an ICT class again, but not as a special education student. As a general education student with the laptop accommodation. It’s his only accommodation left really, and one that I imagine he’ll need life long. He did better then fine in a regular general education classroom, he’s bored. I want him in honors for middle school. I want him challenged, now that the challenge of not being able to hand write is virtually gone and his confidence is where it should be.
When his middle school told me he’d need to drop some services to take honors classes I was shocked. It wound up being a clerical error. It is all cleared up now, and he will be honors classes in the fall.
We are lucky he seemed to have “outgrown” ADHD. We are lucky that his other learning disability is dysgraphia, and it’s fairly easy to get around in the digital age. He’s bright. He has the IQ score to prove it. Despite the enriched and advanced work the teacher gives his group in class, he is not being challenged and he’s bored.
By not leaving an option for other twice exceptional kids like him, isn’t the middle school in violation? It’s luck his learning disability is what it is and he can be in honors. There must be others who are not that lucky.
Congratulations on solving the problem!
The main difficulty I have seen with this situation in practice (my son is in a similar boat to yours) is that the honors classes generally only have one adult in the room. That can make it harder to ensure that accommodations and modifications are complied with.
Schools may need to be reminded that to exclude a child with disabilities from, for example, an honors math class, is discrimination. Assuming the child with a disability can be successful in the honors class with the right supports.
I wouldn’t tell them this more than three times, though. After that I would file a discrimination complaint with the Office for Civil Rights. Sometimes you do have to do something slightly dramatic for people to start listening.