How to draft an individualized education program that will provide the ADHD accommodations your child needs to achieve success at school.
by ADDitude Editors
Advocate for your child with this six-step plan for an individualized education program that establishes the ADHD accommodations he needs to excel at school.
Memorize the list of ADHD symptoms psychiatrists use for diagnosis
Your child cannot be punished or discriminated against for displaying the symptoms of his condition, such as inattention, forgetfulness, or interrupting.
Determine how these symptoms affect your child at school
Does he forget to turn in his homework? Does he fail to follow directions? Is he impulsively aggressive on the playground? List specific problems, then read up on strategies that address them.
Prepare yourself
Come to the team meeting with the list of your child’s symptoms, as well as a list of interventions you want the school to provide.
At the team meeting, work together to develop a list of specific, measurable, and achievable goals for the school year.
Set time limits: Johnny will improve his ability to respond to the teacher from one out of 10 times to eight out of 10 times by the semester break; Johnny will reduce his interruptions from 10 times a day to two a day by month three; Julie will be able to decode words at the 50th percentile as measured by the “Evaluation of Basic Skills.”
Enunciate the ways in which the school will teach your child to achieve these goals
“Every misbehavior signifies the need for instruction,” says education advocate Dixie Jordan. Have the school write into the IEP exactly how they will teach Johnny to follow directions or stop interrupting. Which services will help Julie attain higher reading scores? If these strategies aren’t written into the IEP, you can’t enforce them.
Ask for the data
If the school insists on certain interventions, ask for written evidence that what they’re suggesting is effective. “If you have an inattentive child and the teacher says, ‘Johnny, pay attention,’ you’re not going to get good results,” says Jordan. “Johnny doesn’t know how it feels to pay attention. Someone needs to break down the steps and teach the child how to pay attention and how to filter out distractions.”