I had the same experience recently. My son has a 504 plan that states he gets extra time for written assignments and he had a teacher that would not accept an assignment that was one day late for any credit. After I called the principal/counselor, they finally agreed to partial credit. I don't understand how a child with diagnosed ADD cannot be excused occasionally for a late assignment!

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Absent additional facts, this would be a poor practice especially for anything 10th grade and under. If a student is in college-bound curriculum - there is an argument for increases expectations to match college expectations in the older grades... but I digress.

Without making sweeping generalizations, if a 504 for IEP states the student received extra time - it should be without penalty.

I often see teachers worried about accountability or abuse, I usually respond to these concerns by making the extra-time accommodation contingent upon showing progress at the due date. If students show that they are working on it, they get the accommodation. If they have nothing to show, then the accommodation does not kick in.

http://askdreric-schoolpsychologist.blogspot.com/

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That sounds like a good idea. I'll bring that up at our next meeting ...

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My son's 504 Plan also stated that my son should be given extra time for assignments, and even sent to a quiet place when he needs time out for quiet study/tests. My son's 504 Plan also states that he can leave the classroom at anytime for any reason (!) that he (my son) feels necessary, to talk with anyone -- another teacher, principal, assistant principal, learning director, or whoever is available.

The school was negligent concerning these items on my son's 504 Plan, which is totally unacceptable! How can they get away with not complying with my son's 504 Plan regarding these important issues ... ???

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See, setting limits on accommodations benefits both sides... You get greater buy-in, they have accountability, the student gets help=== but not an open license for avoidance.

In my district, we call the class excusal a "Hot Pass" which is an actual permanent pass. However, we also specify when (or when not) it can be used as well as where the students may (or may not) go.

I see it as a win-win.

Also, when you concede these limits, it makes any complaint for not complying that much more damning to the district because you can say, "Even when I worked with the school to make sure the plan was not abused, they still did not follow-though."

At that point, you may want some checks-and-balances to verify their compliance... just like you offered for your child.

I have blogged on making accommodations more logical. http://askdreric-schoolpsychologist.blogspot.com/2010/02/processing-deficits-and-accommodations.html

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When will the teachers get it through their empty heads.....penalizing a child diagnosed with ADHD when he/she turns in a class assignment/homework/project late and then only giving partial credit is discrimination against that child and his/her diagnosed disability. That would be like the teacher telling a disabled wheelchair- bound student that he/she is only going to get credit on an assignment/homework/project because that child must enter the school facility via a ramp!!!! My 13 yr old was just diagnosed with ADHD and I have an older son (18 yrs old) who was diagnosed with non-verbal learning disability back in the 3rd grade. We have been in the same school system, and yet each and every year we've had to be extremely vigilent about making sure that the school(s) follow the IEP and accommodations for my older son. You cannot allow the school to get the upper hand on your son's accommodations. We had to bring an attorney to the table after the first two years of the school playing games with us. As we are now dealing with a diagnosis of ADHD with my younger son, I guess I am fortunate to have had the learning experience on how to deal with the schools administration and the teachers. And---guess what...they are trying to play the same games all over again! So...here we go again! We also learned that, unfortunately, most teachers take the attitude that they've got 20+ other students in the class and, therefore, cannot take the time (nor do they have the patience) for any other such student outside of that normal relm. With these type of teachers, you need to try and develop a stronger working relationship and insist on weekly or, even better, daily check-ins with them via phone call, note home or e-mail. If they are not willing to initiate the communication, then you should initiate the emails/calls This way, you are holding them accountable in the communication department, if they do not respond to your efforts of communication. Remember...paper-trail, paper-trail, paper-trail! Good luck.

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I save all of my e-mails, and have already printed out the e-mails I sent and received, and placed them into my binder where I'm keeping documents, articles, etc. regarding our ongoing situation .... along with notes on problems I'm having with the school, and my own personal notes of things I would like to address at the next meeting.

(I still can't use the "Quote" function. When I try, my message is not posted. So I'm stuck with using only the "Reply" function.)

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