I would definitely work on getting him a 504 plan. Middle school is even more difficult because of the many different teachers, changing classes, etc. Organization is needed to a much greater degree and teachers expect the students to be able to do this because of their age. The accomodations used would depend on what his particular needs or difficulties are. Contact your school's ESE department to talk with the 504 coordinator at your school. You may also want to contact your school board to see if they have a program for parent advocates. Our schools here in Florida offer this service through a grant (not sure if it is a federal or state grant or something else) and it is free to parents of children with special needs, including ADHD.

You can also check out resources here and at www.chadd.org for different types of accommodations that can be used---look up 504 accommodations.

Good luck!

Elaine

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Thanks, Elaine. I appreciate your advice & will check out the references you noted.

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As a middle school teacher, and as a parent of an ADD middle school student, you should definitely get at least a 504. Reasonable accomodations would include preferential seating, copies of class notes, no spelling penalty without a wordbank in all content areas, extended time for test taking, use of daily planner, second set of books to keep at home, reduced homework load, assessments taken in resource room, use of a computer for writing, provide study guides, encourage child to self-advocate, allow child to return to locker to retrieve supplies or missing items needed for class, etc... There are many others, but you need to prioritize the areas where your child is struggling most. Hope this helps.

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Hi debbielax:

It sounds like your son is a prime candidate for a 504 Plan at school - he's making efforts but isn't being properly rewarded or recognized for his successes; only penalized for his errors. My fear is that he'll begin to feel so beaten down that he'll just stop trying altogether.

Good school accommodations can prevent this from happening - and a 504's scope and breadth are totally under your control, so it doesn't have to be all-consuming.

Here is a step-by-step plan for setting up a 504 Plan for your child. Plus, a list of classroom accommodations that work for children with ADHD. And you might also find a lot of value in ADDitude's new, comprehensive ADHD at School eBook.

I hope this helps!

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In elementary school, my son had a 504 in place for 3rd & 4th grade.

Now in 5th, new school/new teachers, we decided to start meds. 2 months into school, they cancelled his 504 because they don't feel he is "substantially" limited in his learning to qualify. While I'm happy he's learning well at school. I still have a lot that I work on at home with him (most when he is unmedicated (weekends) or (after school) when meds are wearing off and he's rebounding. Unmedicated/Rebounding it is a challenge to complete homework/study for quiz & test/ and complete long term assignments. Are these areas which can be helped by a 504 and if so I need specifics because being vague has always been a problem for the teachers.? On what grounds can I Appeal the 504 decision? I also felt more comfortable trying meds knowing that the 504 was there to back him up - in case it didn't help or had problematic side effects. Now I feel sort of forced to continue medication for my child. Any advice?

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