APS : School Refusal Any advice?

[Anonymous]

Our 9th grade student with an IEP for ADHD, Dyslexia, GAD is miserable at school. Poor social skills & no real friendships outside school. Possible ASD but not evaluated due to waitlists. Have psych, have meds (which are refused due to the appetite suppression and physical side effects) a great therapist and supportive IEP team.
I do not know what to do. Has anyone ever successfully gotten an APS school to offer part time schooling during periods of mental health crisis or offer to let a kid learn on self study but not online during a period of school? Am concerned that the kid will end up failing 9th grade at this point and the idea of repeating a grade will put DC off of school completely. Should I hire an educational lawyer to help advocate? Do I try with a counselor on the IEP team?

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure APS has a setting for kids experiencing school refusal. Have you talked to the high school counselor?

[Anonymous]

Our kid’s therapist spoke with school counselor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our 9th grade student with an IEP for ADHD, Dyslexia, GAD is miserable at school. Poor social skills & no real friendships outside school. Possible ASD but not evaluated due to waitlists. Have psych, have meds (which are refused due to the appetite suppression and physical side effects) a great therapist and supportive IEP team.
I do not know what to do. Has anyone ever successfully gotten an APS school to offer part time schooling during periods of mental health crisis or offer to let a kid learn on self study but not online during a period of school? Am concerned that the kid will end up failing 9th grade at this point and the idea of repeating a grade will put DC off of school completely. Should I hire an educational lawyer to help advocate? Do I try with a counselor on the IEP team?

Yes, since the team is not offering an appropriate resolution, get a special ed lawyer stat. Work with a lawyer NOT an advocate and it's much better if they are very familiar with APS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 9th grade student with an IEP for ADHD, Dyslexia, GAD is miserable at school. Poor social skills & no real friendships outside school. Possible ASD but not evaluated due to waitlists. Have psych, have meds (which are refused due to the appetite suppression and physical side effects) a great therapist and supportive IEP team.
I do not know what to do. Has anyone ever successfully gotten an APS school to offer part time schooling during periods of mental health crisis or offer to let a kid learn on self study but not online during a period of school? Am concerned that the kid will end up failing 9th grade at this point and the idea of repeating a grade will put DC off of school completely. Should I hire an educational lawyer to help advocate? Do I try with a counselor on the IEP team?

Yes, since the team is not offering an appropriate resolution, get a special ed lawyer stat. Work with a lawyer NOT an advocate and it's much better if they are very familiar with APS.

Where does OP say she has gone to APS to seek help or a resolution? Maybe she has. We need more info though. "Do I try with a counselor or the IEP team?" would seem to indicate no effort has been made to contact the school.

[Anonymous]

You don't need a lawyer- contact counselor about home bound or partial.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks all. Yes we have had many meetings with the IEP team but the school refusal, including skipping class, is new and urgent but the mental health spikes are known and we went through this once last semester. The IEP team is great, but we have been disappointed with solutions before and don't want to make an error in not taking the strongest approach to a resolution that helps my kid without jeopardizing things with school.

[Anonymous]

OP your therapist should be able to talk about this with your Case Carrier.

Is your DS on an SSRI or antidepressant? Also, Center for Anxiety and Behavioral Change in McLean has a weekly support group for high schoolers trying to recover from anxiety-based school avoidance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 9th grade student with an IEP for ADHD, Dyslexia, GAD is miserable at school. Poor social skills & no real friendships outside school. Possible ASD but not evaluated due to waitlists. Have psych, have meds (which are refused due to the appetite suppression and physical side effects) a great therapist and supportive IEP team.
I do not know what to do. Has anyone ever successfully gotten an APS school to offer part time schooling during periods of mental health crisis or offer to let a kid learn on self study but not online during a period of school? Am concerned that the kid will end up failing 9th grade at this point and the idea of repeating a grade will put DC off of school completely. Should I hire an educational lawyer to help advocate? Do I try with a counselor on the IEP team?

Yes, since the team is not offering an appropriate resolution, get a special ed lawyer stat. Work with a lawyer NOT an advocate and it's much better if they are very familiar with APS.

Where does OP say she has gone to APS to seek help or a resolution? Maybe she has. We need more info though. "Do I try with a counselor or the IEP team?" would seem to indicate no effort has been made to contact the school.

Ok, fair, I guess I assumed the school was no help since this kid has an IEP but she's posting for ideas and help on here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks all. Yes we have had many meetings with the IEP team but the school refusal, including skipping class, is new and urgent but the mental health spikes are known and we went through this once last semester. The IEP team is great, but we have been disappointed with solutions before and don't want to make an error in not taking the strongest approach to a resolution that helps my kid without jeopardizing things with school.

Please get legal advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks all. Yes we have had many meetings with the IEP team but the school refusal, including skipping class, is new and urgent but the mental health spikes are known and we went through this once last semester. The IEP team is great, but we have been disappointed with solutions before and don't want to make an error in not taking the strongest approach to a resolution that helps my kid without jeopardizing things with school.

Please get legal advice.

This town and lawyers. If the issue is NEW and urgent, give them a chance to offer solutions.

[Anonymous]

No advice on the school, but a nonstimuluant like Strattera or Guanfacine might help with the adhd and the anxiety. The problem is they take a while to kick in. I'm sorry you're going through this.

[Anonymous]

See if they can offer home based schooling for the rest of the school year. Like what they would have to do if a kid had a serious physical illness.

[Anonymous]

I am so sorry you are going through this. We have been there too, not with APS, but were in another district. It’s emotional and draining when you have a teen going through this and you feel out of control.

I mean this kindly, what do you want from the school that they are not providing? Please think about that. We don’t know your kid and it’s hard to tell from a couple of posts. You have a teen going through a mental health crisis, refusing meds and is skipping school. That needs to be stabilized and dealt with before you can worry about any sort of academics.

Again, I was there a few years ago. It was awful. For us, lawyers and advocates were not the way to go. We actually had to pull our kid out and get health under control on our own before we could even think about classes. But it got pretty bad in our situation and everyone is different. We did private online school while we got health stabilized with doctors and therapists. Frankly, it was quicker and we had more control than trying to get homebound.

I don’t know your kid or what’s right for you and I wish you the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 9th grade student with an IEP for ADHD, Dyslexia, GAD is miserable at school. Poor social skills & no real friendships outside school. Possible ASD but not evaluated due to waitlists. Have psych, have meds (which are refused due to the appetite suppression and physical side effects) a great therapist and supportive IEP team.
I do not know what to do. Has anyone ever successfully gotten an APS school to offer part time schooling during periods of mental health crisis or offer to let a kid learn on self study but not online during a period of school? Am concerned that the kid will end up failing 9th grade at this point and the idea of repeating a grade will put DC off of school completely. Should I hire an educational lawyer to help advocate? Do I try with a counselor on the IEP team?

Yes, since the team is not offering an appropriate resolution, get a special ed lawyer stat. Work with a lawyer NOT an advocate and it's much better if they are very familiar with APS.

Where does OP say she has gone to APS to seek help or a resolution? Maybe she has. We need more info though. "Do I try with a counselor or the IEP team?" would seem to indicate no effort has been made to contact the school.

Ok, fair, I guess I assumed the school was no help since this kid has an IEP but she's posting for ideas and help on here.

That's a pretty stupid assumption.