Is my child's school correct

[Anonymous]

The schools usually have a fairly long process to go through before a child can get services. We're in Arlington and DS is going into second grade. He was always highly inattentive and nonparticipatory in preschool. When he got to K, the school started a series of interventions to see what might help -- reading tutoring, having a quiet place to do work etc. None of this made much difference and at the end of K, retention was raised as a possibility. We didn't think retention was a good idea in the absence of testing and the school agreed to do testing in first grade.

They did the testing early and our son got an IEP. During the testing process, we learned he had ADHD (which in hindsight made sense). For a child with ADHD but who is not behind academically, the school should give you section 504 accomodations.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

To 7:26 - have you tried working with an advocate/consultant? We went through something very similar to what you went through and I know how horrible it leaves you feeling. It's especially hard when your expertise doesn't lie early education. You know something can be done but you don't really know what. There have been a number of recommendations on this list for advocates/consultants and I encourage you to contact one. They may be expensive but it's cheaper than private school. We also think of it as spending our kids' college fund now because if we don't, they won't be going to college.

[Anonymous]

Ditto: spend now or there won't be college.
Thank you to everyone on this post. We are in the same boat: kid on grade level in 4th, supposedly reading on grade 5 level according to recent testing, but still can't read many books without struggling.

Much useful information

[Anonymous]

Not the OP, but I have benefited from the experiences shared on this thread. Thank you, all.

I sometimes think this is the only nice board on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

What accommodations might we request in a 504 for a child who has mild visual-processing-related dyslexia, inattentiveness/possibly ADD, and anxiety?

We tried for an IEP but, like many others in this thread, were turned down because she was at grade level in reading and above grade level in math.

[Anonymous]

Okay, this is probably a dumb question, but my child is 2 grades ahead in reading and 1 in math and we have an IEP. We are at a DC charter school and the diagnosis is Asperger's/PDD-NOS. Academic skills are above average FOR WHAT THEY TEST (which is hardly complete - there's a lot of the curriculum that gets missed though, as a result of his difficulty attending/focusing).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, this is probably a dumb question, but my child is 2 grades ahead in reading and 1 in math and we have an IEP. We are at a DC charter school and the diagnosis is Asperger's/PDD-NOS. Academic skills are above average FOR WHAT THEY TEST (which is hardly complete - there's a lot of the curriculum that gets missed though, as a result of his difficulty attending/focusing).

I'm sorry but I don't see a question in your post.

[Anonymous]

7:26 again. I suppose I should have tried harder or gone back to the school with a good consultant ... but frankly, I just have no confidence in the public schools ability and/or willingness to help. The people I met with HAD to understand what their "recommendation" meant for my child so I just have to assume that resources are so tight that next to nothing can be done for children like my own. Clearly, there are many children who need their services much more than mine and I hope those children are getting what they need ... I lack confidence on that one as well but I'm hopeful.

We continue to scrape together private school tuition and work closely with our child's teachers to identify any areas needing support. The small class size and willingness of the school to help us have so far kept our child happy and progressing. At some point, those efforts might not be enough but we are taking it one school year at a time.

We definitely view the investment as other posters ... necessary to keep college even in the picture. My heart breaks for those parents who simply do not have the option/resources to pay for needed services and are left waiting and hoping the school system will help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay, this is probably a dumb question, but my child is 2 grades ahead in reading and 1 in math and we have an IEP. We are at a DC charter school and the diagnosis is Asperger's/PDD-NOS. Academic skills are above average FOR WHAT THEY TEST (which is hardly complete - there's a lot of the curriculum that gets missed though, as a result of his difficulty attending/focusing).

I'm sorry but I don't see a question in your post.

Sorry, I phrased that poorly. I meant to ask if the diagnosis makes a difference, because we had no problem getting an IEP despite the fact that DC is reading and doing math above grade level. I think that reading and math get the most focus (as they should) but if a child isn't attending to the rest of the instruction (social studies, science, art, PE, etc.) then there is still academic impact. Maybe the OP can establish academic impact in non-tested subjects (where the students don't get the one-on-one support if necessary) to make her case.

I apologize if I'm explaining this poorly.