School Accommodations, Part 2
Vagueness is a no-no
When discussing your concerns with the teacher, “be specific,” says Susan Luger, a child advocate in New York City. “Rather than saying, ‘It takes John forever to do his homework,’ record how long it actually takes, and send a note that says, ‘John needed three hours to complete this. Is that typical?’ Or set an alarm for one hour and send the homework in with a note that says, ‘This was all John could complete in one hour.’” With this information, the teacher can get a sense of what she can do to help solve the problem.
In many cases, a minor accommodation can solve a major problem. That was true for Valerie Shapiro, of Wilmette, Illinois, the mother of three ADHD children. When her son, Danny, who is now a college sophomore, was in junior high school, he kept losing track of his homework assignments. Shapiro asked his teacher to initial his notebook to make sure he had copied down the assignment correctly. That solved the problem. Similarly, when Danny had trouble finishing tests on time, she worked with the school to let him take tests on a computer, and to get copies of the teacher’s notes.
Jane Hall, of Montgomery Village, Maryland, is the mother of a highly distractible eight-year-old, Michael. When she noticed that Michael had been seated at the back of his third-grade class, she asked his teacher if he could move to the front — where, she believed, he would be better able to focus on his work. “It made a huge difference in his performance,” she says. “I also suggested to the teacher that, if she needed to talk to him, it was best to get up close and look him in the eye, to make sure he was paying attention.”
The next step for Hall? Recently, she scheduled a meeting with the teacher to discuss ways to improve Michael’s weak penmanship. “Michael is very bright and is advanced in math and reading, but his handwriting slows him down,” says Hall. “I’m hoping that he can use a computer to overcome his handwriting problems and continue to succeed.”
If your child’s teacher is unwilling or unable to provide the necessary accommodations, request a meeting with school administrators and the special-education instructors. State your concerns, and ask that your child be formally evaluated. “Once a parent has filed a written ‘Consent for Evaluation’ form with the school, requesting a special-ed evaluation, federal law says the school has 60 days to evaluate the child, explain the results of the evaluation to the parents, draw up a plan for helping the child, and explain how the plan will be implemented,” says Luger.
If the school fails to devise a plan within 60 days — or if you feel that the school is failing to meet its obligations to your child — you may request a “due process” hearing before a judge. “At this point, you need a lawyer,” says Luger. “Still, there’s no reason for you to get aggressive. Let the lawyer be aggressive for you.”
The paper trail
No matter how cordial your discussions with school officials, it’s always a good idea to create a paper trail. In addition to copies of all correspondence, your records should detail every meeting and phone conversation you have with the teacher or any other school official (dates, times, what was discussed, who was present, and so on). Put everything in a three-ring binder, along with report cards, test scores, and doctor’s evaluations, as well as every note sent home by the teacher and copies of your responses.
Good documentation can do more than jog your memory. It can act as evidence if you must seek legal help to persuade the school to meet your child’s academic needs. Explains Tudisco, “Suppose you’re at a legal proceeding and someone says, ‘We had no idea that your child had trouble seeing the blackboard.’ You pull out your binder, find the appropriate teacher note and your response, and say, ‘Two years ago, this teacher recognized this as a problem, and I thanked her for it.’ You have evidence to prove it.”
This article comes from the April/May 2007 issue of ADDitude.
To read this issue of ADDitude in full, purchase the back issue and SUBSCRIBE NOW to ensure you don't miss a single issue.
