kids on the spectrum and heavy laptop/app use at public schools

[Anonymous]

For those here who have kids on the spectrum, how is it going for your kid at school when it comes to laptop and app usage? My DS is in 7th grade and doing well in most classes except math where his teacher relies heavily on laptops and apps not just for work but grading. On top of it, the laptop is full of free crap that easily distracts him- I wish I could disable everything but the tools for coursework, but the IT director claims it's not possible.

We go from perfect scores to 0s on assignments he swears he completed or was unable to finish because he needed more time and the app graded him a 20/100 (and the teacher claims he has another opportunity to make up the missing work which he does but then for whatever reason the grade is still 20/100 three weeks later).

I'm at my wit's end. DS always tests in the 99% percentile in math and does well in state competitions but can't seem to get his grade above C+ because of his difficulty with the apps. Something isn't working out well here. We monitor his laptop usage and review his assignments due, and we've already called the school to ask if he's skipping class just to be sure when we see zeros for in class assignments. I don't know what to do anymore other than send him to private school.

[Anonymous]

FYI, he does have a 504 for autism. The last time I mentioned it the coordinator insisted the teacher is in the right and there's nothing wrong with her apps and his use of them (I, of course, very much disagree), leaving me to think the 504 is useless.

[Anonymous]

My two kids have HFA, and one of them had an IEP for severe ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and low processing speed on top of his autism. He was medicated for his ADHD all throughout middle and high school, otherwise his focus was non-existent. He also had 50%, then 100% extra time. He still has extended time in college.

None had trouble with instruction or tests conducted with screens, however.

I think your kid's current problems stem from inattention, or other issues not directly to do with a socio-emotional communication disorder.

Maybe a more complete evaluation is in order.

[Anonymous]

Is he upset with his math grade? Does he think screentime equals fun time and he just doesn't think bad grades are important? He needs to understand that in high school, every quarter grade counts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My two kids have HFA, and one of them had an IEP for severe ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and low processing speed on top of his autism. He was medicated for his ADHD all throughout middle and high school, otherwise his focus was non-existent. He also had 50%, then 100% extra time. He still has extended time in college.

None had trouble with instruction or tests conducted with screens, however.

I think your kid's current problems stem from inattention, or other issues not directly to do with a socio-emotional communication disorder.

Maybe a more complete evaluation is in order.

Thanks, this helps. The 504 invites him to ask for extended time, but he's not asking for it when he should. DH and I have sat down with him and asked DS to walk us through exactly why assignment X is a zero, what went wrong there, and it'll come down to, "I ran out of time" or "I was working on something else that I thought was due at the same time" or he was confused and looked at the wrong app. Or he DID hand it in but the teacher hasn't graded it (and months later, still hasn't graded it). I reached out to the principal once, too, and she just backs her teacher. I wouldn't even know what to evaluate him for at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is he upset with his math grade? Does he think screentime equals fun time and he just doesn't think bad grades are important? He needs to understand that in high school, every quarter grade counts.

He's starting to understand this. He's in a gifted math class and likes math and expresses that he doesn't like getting bad grades and knows bad grades, well, aren't a good thing. We've talked about him taking Algebra 1 next year (the only time his teacher really spoke with me was earlier this year when she said his test scores indicate he'd do well in Algebra) but I question whether he has not only the maturity to keep up with the work but support to complete it (getting more time to finish assignments or just less screen time if it's too distracting for a 12 year old. I mean, he's 12, and like a lot of these kids it's great to see them finally master looking both ways).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My two kids have HFA, and one of them had an IEP for severe ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and low processing speed on top of his autism. He was medicated for his ADHD all throughout middle and high school, otherwise his focus was non-existent. He also had 50%, then 100% extra time. He still has extended time in college.

None had trouble with instruction or tests conducted with screens, however.

I think your kid's current problems stem from inattention, or other issues not directly to do with a socio-emotional communication disorder.

Maybe a more complete evaluation is in order.

With all due respect, your kids did not have to deal with the clusterf*ck that is computer based learning in 2026.

OP I think you need to get an IEP and the IEP needs to include home-school communication provisions that allow you to better monitor the in-class assignments on a daily basis and provide him with more *daily* checkins from the teachers to make sure he knows what he needs to do and has any issues with the app resolved. Getting the C in math shows he is not accessing the curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two kids have HFA, and one of them had an IEP for severe ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and low processing speed on top of his autism. He was medicated for his ADHD all throughout middle and high school, otherwise his focus was non-existent. He also had 50%, then 100% extra time. He still has extended time in college.

None had trouble with instruction or tests conducted with screens, however.

I think your kid's current problems stem from inattention, or other issues not directly to do with a socio-emotional communication disorder.

Maybe a more complete evaluation is in order.

With all due respect, your kids did not have to deal with the clusterf*ck that is computer based learning in 2026.

OP I think you need to get an IEP and the IEP needs to include home-school communication provisions that allow you to better monitor the in-class assignments on a daily basis and provide him with more *daily* checkins from the teachers to make sure he knows what he needs to do and has any issues with the app resolved. Getting the C in math shows he is not accessing the curriculum.

Excuse me, my youngest just turned 16 and has been learning on a chromebook since Kindergarten. My oldest lived through high school pandemic learning, exclusively on his chromebook, and did well.

I don't know why you think computer based learning in 2026 is worse than in previous years. It just isn't.

To OP, given your follow-up, he clearly has an attention problem. He needs to understand that when he works on a graded assignment in class, or has a test, he is NOT ALLOWED to do anything else during that time, until he hits submit. None of that "but I was working on something else" stuff. He needs to re-read each question at least twice, and ask for extra time SYSTEMATICALLY, or you need to change the 504 to get your kid on an automatic 50% extra time category. He's also not allowed to hit submit until he goes through the whole test/assignment to check he's completed all questions.

If he cannot follow-through, he needs an evaluation for ADHD, including a test of his processing speed (processing speed is tested on a WISC, ie, an IQ test).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two kids have HFA, and one of them had an IEP for severe ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and low processing speed on top of his autism. He was medicated for his ADHD all throughout middle and high school, otherwise his focus was non-existent. He also had 50%, then 100% extra time. He still has extended time in college.

None had trouble with instruction or tests conducted with screens, however.

I think your kid's current problems stem from inattention, or other issues not directly to do with a socio-emotional communication disorder.

Maybe a more complete evaluation is in order.

With all due respect, your kids did not have to deal with the clusterf*ck that is computer based learning in 2026.

OP I think you need to get an IEP and the IEP needs to include home-school communication provisions that allow you to better monitor the in-class assignments on a daily basis and provide him with more *daily* checkins from the teachers to make sure he knows what he needs to do and has any issues with the app resolved. Getting the C in math shows he is not accessing the curriculum.

Thanks for these suggestions. This is very helpful. I don't think that's ever come up and it's a key pare of the discussion-- is he even accessing the curriculum and if so, doing so correctly? We had an issue once where he confused two different assignments on two different apps and he received a zero because he was using the wrong app. The teacher said she'd give him another opportunity to correct the error and complete the work. She never did, he still has the zero.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two kids have HFA, and one of them had an IEP for severe ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and low processing speed on top of his autism. He was medicated for his ADHD all throughout middle and high school, otherwise his focus was non-existent. He also had 50%, then 100% extra time. He still has extended time in college.

None had trouble with instruction or tests conducted with screens, however.

I think your kid's current problems stem from inattention, or other issues not directly to do with a socio-emotional communication disorder.

Maybe a more complete evaluation is in order.

With all due respect, your kids did not have to deal with the clusterf*ck that is computer based learning in 2026.

OP I think you need to get an IEP and the IEP needs to include home-school communication provisions that allow you to better monitor the in-class assignments on a daily basis and provide him with more *daily* checkins from the teachers to make sure he knows what he needs to do and has any issues with the app resolved. Getting the C in math shows he is not accessing the curriculum.

Excuse me, my youngest just turned 16 and has been learning on a chromebook since Kindergarten. My oldest lived through high school pandemic learning, exclusively on his chromebook, and did well.

I don't know why you think computer based learning in 2026 is worse than in previous years. It just isn't.

To OP, given your follow-up, he clearly has an attention problem. He needs to understand that when he works on a graded assignment in class, or has a test, he is NOT ALLOWED to do anything else during that time, until he hits submit. None of that "but I was working on something else" stuff. He needs to re-read each question at least twice, and ask for extra time SYSTEMATICALLY, or you need to change the 504 to get your kid on an automatic 50% extra time category. He's also not allowed to hit submit until he goes through the whole test/assignment to check he's completed all questions.

If he cannot follow-through, he needs an evaluation for ADHD, including a test of his processing speed (processing speed is tested on a WISC, ie, an IQ test).

Thanks, this is also very helpful. He was actually checking in with a school counselor once a week but based on what he said, they're not meeting every week. I've asked the coordinator twice to get that back on track. It's feeling like a shXtshow at this point. I don't know what's going on anymore, why keeping these appointments isn't working out. One of the adults at school is dropping the ball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two kids have HFA, and one of them had an IEP for severe ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and low processing speed on top of his autism. He was medicated for his ADHD all throughout middle and high school, otherwise his focus was non-existent. He also had 50%, then 100% extra time. He still has extended time in college.

None had trouble with instruction or tests conducted with screens, however.

I think your kid's current problems stem from inattention, or other issues not directly to do with a socio-emotional communication disorder.

Maybe a more complete evaluation is in order.

With all due respect, your kids did not have to deal with the clusterf*ck that is computer based learning in 2026.

OP I think you need to get an IEP and the IEP needs to include home-school communication provisions that allow you to better monitor the in-class assignments on a daily basis and provide him with more *daily* checkins from the teachers to make sure he knows what he needs to do and has any issues with the app resolved. Getting the C in math shows he is not accessing the curriculum.

Excuse me, my youngest just turned 16 and has been learning on a chromebook since Kindergarten. My oldest lived through high school pandemic learning, exclusively on his chromebook, and did well.

I don't know why you think computer based learning in 2026 is worse than in previous years. It just isn't.

To OP, given your follow-up, he clearly has an attention problem. He needs to understand that when he works on a graded assignment in class, or has a test, he is NOT ALLOWED to do anything else during that time, until he hits submit. None of that "but I was working on something else" stuff. He needs to re-read each question at least twice, and ask for extra time SYSTEMATICALLY, or you need to change the 504 to get your kid on an automatic 50% extra time category. He's also not allowed to hit submit until he goes through the whole test/assignment to check he's completed all questions.

If he cannot follow-through, he needs an evaluation for ADHD, including a test of his processing speed (processing speed is tested on a WISC, ie, an IQ test).

Yeah you still may not understand what it means for math to be completely transitioned to a “flipped” or “modern classroom” - that is recent. It’s not just the use of the Chromebook we are talking about.

OP’s kid does not need any more testing (unless it is to help get the IEP). he already has an autism diagnosis. What he needs is much better structure in class and the teacher to check in daily to ensure he understands and has completed what he needs to do.

[Anonymous]

I have zero advice but plenty of commiseration with meeting ineffective stretched thin counselors and dealing with the push to learn everything on videos and apps while not sure where or what to submit, especially in middle school math.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it was a huge disaster for my son and it’s something I can become irate about still. I had to advocate so hard to get the school to block YouTube on his school computer (he was watching during the school day). I finally had to invoke a lawyer and his IEP to get it blocked.

It is a disaster for many kids with this profile. Try to opt him out of tech use if that’s a possibility in your district. (It isn’t usually).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My two kids have HFA, and one of them had an IEP for severe ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and low processing speed on top of his autism. He was medicated for his ADHD all throughout middle and high school, otherwise his focus was non-existent. He also had 50%, then 100% extra time. He still has extended time in college.

None had trouble with instruction or tests conducted with screens, however.

I think your kid's current problems stem from inattention, or other issues not directly to do with a socio-emotional communication disorder.

Maybe a more complete evaluation is in order.

For what it’s worth your experience seems like an outlier. I know so many kids with autism for whom apps/screens are difficult to navigate.

[Anonymous]

If a no screen, private school is an option, I’d do that. I wish I had.