APS WL IEP for ADHD Inattentive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She has all A’s and B’s, so it’s hard to prove an educational impact that substantially limits a major life activity.

The definition of a disability is:
Have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; or
Have a record of such an impairment; or
Be regarded as having such an impairment.

I would go to Catholic school where there are more textbooks, workbooks, and clearer firm deadlines.

You have to prove life impact, not educational impact.

Regardless you won’t get what you want OP, go catholic.

Really? I keep hearing public school is best for ADHD, with coaching and accommodations— private schools quietly counsel out high need students like DD, right?

[Anonymous]

You might want to ask anonymously on the WL parent Facebook page. Somebody will know.

[Anonymous]

My DD went to WL with Inattentive ADHD. She had a 504 and accommodations included preferred seating, extra time and quiet room for tests, extra time for assignments. That was not unlimited but a certain number of days. Extra time is really a double -edged sword since it can just let them get deeper into a whole. She also wore noise cancelling headphones all the time but it wasn't written into the 504. We paid for external executive function support. You won't get an IEP or school-provided executive function coaching.

Her grades did go down in HS and it was a constant battle. She did always manage to pull up to a B by the end of the year even if some quarters had some Cs and once a D. For college she chose a small, quiet LAC that provides her a weekly EF coach.

I didn't know how big O'Connell is but it might be worth considering if it's not as big and loud as WL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD went to WL with Inattentive ADHD. She had a 504 and accommodations included preferred seating, extra time and quiet room for tests, extra time for assignments. That was not unlimited but a certain number of days. Extra time is really a double -edged sword since it can just let them get deeper into a whole. She also wore noise cancelling headphones all the time but it wasn't written into the 504. We paid for external executive function support. You won't get an IEP or school-provided executive function coaching.

Her grades did go down in HS and it was a constant battle. She did always manage to pull up to a B by the end of the year even if some quarters had some Cs and once a D. For college she chose a small, quiet LAC that provides her a weekly EF coach.

I didn't know how big O'Connell is but it might be worth considering if it's not as big and loud as WL.

All our neighbors love WL, and say with the tracking “colleges” it feels like a much smaller school. Out DD wants to do IB and her teachers say she has the potential smarts if she can just stay more organized.

There are really no supports at school? An external coach is okay, but we wanted an integrated approach and someone who knew her teachers. So students on IEPs do get coaching but not 504? But that only happens with poor grades? It feels short sighted to wait to give help until they have already fallen behind rather than keeping them moving forward?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After a hard year at Hamm, with tons of lost and late homework, last minute projects, and an exploding backpack and bedroom of papers we finally had DD evaluated for ADHD and she was diagnosed with mild inattentive ADHD and some difficulty with visual processing.

We didn’t get much hands on support from Hamm but we didn’t have an IEP; the PT conferences were student lead, so we didn’t seem to gain much insight into what goes into the classroom, but DD is at the highest level in math and has all As and Bs despite the disorder.

We are still at the submitting paperwork step with APS and they seem a bit backlogged with the end of the school year. What sort of individualized supports should we expect from WL while DD is there? Our counselor says there should be weekly executive function coaching meetings where they go through her planner and help her schedule, and some accommodations like having a seat near the front (though in high school I assumed kids pick their own seats right?).

What else would we be able to request for this diagnoses?

We were kind of hoping to get into HBW since it’s a smaller school and her counselor would have a smaller cohort even though they would also have teaching duties.

DH thinks we should go private and is pushing OConnell (we are Catholic so this is not unreasonable).

Can anyone help me bolster my case to DH that WL will provide a strong foundation and IEP implementation for getting DD to develop her skills and ready for college?

My son just graduated from WL, and I work at a FCPS high school about the same size as WL. I have never heard of students having weekly executive function coaching meetings. When would this happen during the school day? It’s possible she could go into a class like Strategies for Success which is a separate class that does give students extra time to complete work and get organized, but if she wants to pursue the IB diploma, I’m not sure it would fit in her schedule. As for seating, some teachers assign seats and others let kids pick their own seats. If the IEP says priority seating, we’ll give them priority seating. Lots of students also have extra time to complete assignments. I definitely think WL will provide the required IEP/504 supports, but I do not think there is any way they will be able to have weekly individual meetings with your daughter unless it’s part of a class. Case managers are swamped and class sizes are huge. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After a hard year at Hamm, with tons of lost and late homework, last minute projects, and an exploding backpack and bedroom of papers we finally had DD evaluated for ADHD and she was diagnosed with mild inattentive ADHD and some difficulty with visual processing.

We didn’t get much hands on support from Hamm but we didn’t have an IEP; the PT conferences were student lead, so we didn’t seem to gain much insight into what goes into the classroom, but DD is at the highest level in math and has all As and Bs despite the disorder.

We are still at the submitting paperwork step with APS and they seem a bit backlogged with the end of the school year. What sort of individualized supports should we expect from WL while DD is there? Our counselor says there should be weekly executive function coaching meetings where they go through her planner and help her schedule, and some accommodations like having a seat near the front (though in high school I assumed kids pick their own seats right?).

What else would we be able to request for this diagnoses?

We were kind of hoping to get into HBW since it’s a smaller school and her counselor would have a smaller cohort even though they would also have teaching duties.

DH thinks we should go private and is pushing OConnell (we are Catholic so this is not unreasonable).

Can anyone help me bolster my case to DH that WL will provide a strong foundation and IEP implementation for getting DD to develop her skills and ready for college?

My son just graduated from WL, and I work at a FCPS high school about the same size as WL. I have never heard of students having weekly executive function coaching meetings. When would this happen during the school day? It’s possible she could go into a class like Strategies for Success which is a separate class that does give students extra time to complete work and get organized, but if she wants to pursue the IB diploma, I’m not sure it would fit in her schedule. As for seating, some teachers assign seats and others let kids pick their own seats. If the IEP says priority seating, we’ll give them priority seating. Lots of students also have extra time to complete assignments. I definitely think WL will provide the required IEP/504 supports, but I do not think there is any way they will be able to have weekly individual meetings with your daughter unless it’s part of a class. Case managers are swamped and class sizes are huge. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I thought most students at a study hour, like Phoenix Hour at DHMS, in high school isn’t there a block like that? Also block scheduling is very long, why not break off the second half of one of those when teacher has assigned classwork to be done independently?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After a hard year at Hamm, with tons of lost and late homework, last minute projects, and an exploding backpack and bedroom of papers we finally had DD evaluated for ADHD and she was diagnosed with mild inattentive ADHD and some difficulty with visual processing.

We didn’t get much hands on support from Hamm but we didn’t have an IEP; the PT conferences were student lead, so we didn’t seem to gain much insight into what goes into the classroom, but DD is at the highest level in math and has all As and Bs despite the disorder.

We are still at the submitting paperwork step with APS and they seem a bit backlogged with the end of the school year. What sort of individualized supports should we expect from WL while DD is there? Our counselor says there should be weekly executive function coaching meetings where they go through her planner and help her schedule, and some accommodations like having a seat near the front (though in high school I assumed kids pick their own seats right?).

What else would we be able to request for this diagnoses?

We were kind of hoping to get into HBW since it’s a smaller school and her counselor would have a smaller cohort even though they would also have teaching duties.

DH thinks we should go private and is pushing OConnell (we are Catholic so this is not unreasonable).

Can anyone help me bolster my case to DH that WL will provide a strong foundation and IEP implementation for getting DD to develop her skills and ready for college?

My son just graduated from WL, and I work at a FCPS high school about the same size as WL. I have never heard of students having weekly executive function coaching meetings. When would this happen during the school day? It’s possible she could go into a class like Strategies for Success which is a separate class that does give students extra time to complete work and get organized, but if she wants to pursue the IB diploma, I’m not sure it would fit in her schedule. As for seating, some teachers assign seats and others let kids pick their own seats. If the IEP says priority seating, we’ll give them priority seating. Lots of students also have extra time to complete assignments. I definitely think WL will provide the required IEP/504 supports, but I do not think there is any way they will be able to have weekly individual meetings with your daughter unless it’s part of a class. Case managers are swamped and class sizes are huge. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I thought most students at a study hour, like Phoenix Hour at DHMS, in high school isn’t there a block like that? Also block scheduling is very long, why not break off the second half of one of those when teacher has assigned classwork to be done independently?

Yeah Generals Period?

https://wl.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2023/04/UPDATED-Student-Handbook-22-23.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After a hard year at Hamm, with tons of lost and late homework, last minute projects, and an exploding backpack and bedroom of papers we finally had DD evaluated for ADHD and she was diagnosed with mild inattentive ADHD and some difficulty with visual processing.

We didn’t get much hands on support from Hamm but we didn’t have an IEP; the PT conferences were student lead, so we didn’t seem to gain much insight into what goes into the classroom, but DD is at the highest level in math and has all As and Bs despite the disorder.

We are still at the submitting paperwork step with APS and they seem a bit backlogged with the end of the school year. What sort of individualized supports should we expect from WL while DD is there? Our counselor says there should be weekly executive function coaching meetings where they go through her planner and help her schedule, and some accommodations like having a seat near the front (though in high school I assumed kids pick their own seats right?).

What else would we be able to request for this diagnoses?

We were kind of hoping to get into HBW since it’s a smaller school and her counselor would have a smaller cohort even though they would also have teaching duties.

DH thinks we should go private and is pushing OConnell (we are Catholic so this is not unreasonable).

Can anyone help me bolster my case to DH that WL will provide a strong foundation and IEP implementation for getting DD to develop her skills and ready for college?

My son just graduated from WL, and I work at a FCPS high school about the same size as WL. I have never heard of students having weekly executive function coaching meetings. When would this happen during the school day? It’s possible she could go into a class like Strategies for Success which is a separate class that does give students extra time to complete work and get organized, but if she wants to pursue the IB diploma, I’m not sure it would fit in her schedule. As for seating, some teachers assign seats and others let kids pick their own seats. If the IEP says priority seating, we’ll give them priority seating. Lots of students also have extra time to complete assignments. I definitely think WL will provide the required IEP/504 supports, but I do not think there is any way they will be able to have weekly individual meetings with your daughter unless it’s part of a class. Case managers are swamped and class sizes are huge. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Strategies for Success is an excellent option. Pursuing the IB Diploma should not be the priority unless that’s desired. A relatively small (but impressive) number of highly motivated students, many of them transfer students, pursue the actual IB diploma. An AP course path for any advanced coursework, or a mix of AP, IB, and gen ed classes are also appropriate options. College stats this past year were impressive for both AP and IB diploma students.

Re adjusting socially, W-L has an excellent freshman mentorship program where incoming 9th graders are paired with upperclassmen. The school does a good job with the transition to high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After a hard year at Hamm, with tons of lost and late homework, last minute projects, and an exploding backpack and bedroom of papers we finally had DD evaluated for ADHD and she was diagnosed with mild inattentive ADHD and some difficulty with visual processing.

We didn’t get much hands on support from Hamm but we didn’t have an IEP; the PT conferences were student lead, so we didn’t seem to gain much insight into what goes into the classroom, but DD is at the highest level in math and has all As and Bs despite the disorder.

We are still at the submitting paperwork step with APS and they seem a bit backlogged with the end of the school year. What sort of individualized supports should we expect from WL while DD is there? Our counselor says there should be weekly executive function coaching meetings where they go through her planner and help her schedule, and some accommodations like having a seat near the front (though in high school I assumed kids pick their own seats right?).

What else would we be able to request for this diagnoses?

We were kind of hoping to get into HBW since it’s a smaller school and her counselor would have a smaller cohort even though they would also have teaching duties.

DH thinks we should go private and is pushing OConnell (we are Catholic so this is not unreasonable).

Can anyone help me bolster my case to DH that WL will provide a strong foundation and IEP implementation for getting DD to develop her skills and ready for college?

My son just graduated from WL, and I work at a FCPS high school about the same size as WL. I have never heard of students having weekly executive function coaching meetings. When would this happen during the school day? It’s possible she could go into a class like Strategies for Success which is a separate class that does give students extra time to complete work and get organized, but if she wants to pursue the IB diploma, I’m not sure it would fit in her schedule. As for seating, some teachers assign seats and others let kids pick their own seats. If the IEP says priority seating, we’ll give them priority seating. Lots of students also have extra time to complete assignments. I definitely think WL will provide the required IEP/504 supports, but I do not think there is any way they will be able to have weekly individual meetings with your daughter unless it’s part of a class. Case managers are swamped and class sizes are huge. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I thought most students at a study hour, like Phoenix Hour at DHMS, in high school isn’t there a block like that? Also block scheduling is very long, why not break off the second half of one of those when teacher has assigned classwork to be done independently?

There is a General’s Period, but as far as I know the teacher who your child gets is random. They also are not expected to work with students.

As for block scheduling, I’m not quite sure what you mean by break off the second half? What do you want to happen at that time? It is very rare that even in a 90 minute block, there is just 45 minutes of independent work time. Even with that, the teacher is still monitoring the class and doing other things.

I’m not sure you quite get the challenges of a high school classroom. Often they are 30-32 students and the teacher needs to work with all of them. That’s why a Strategies for Success class might make more sense - it’s a specific class to work on study skills and get work done.

However, you mentioned WL being wonderful because of the “tracking” in one of your posts above so maybe that sort of class won’t work for you as it would probably be comprised of kids who aren’t necessarily on the AP/IB track.

It sounds to me like a smaller school environment might be more what you’re looking for.

[Anonymous]

It should be noted that sports can help students with ADHD with organization, focus, deadlines, etc., both from a biological standpoint (re neurotransmitters and the ADHD brain), and from developing good habits around discipline and self control.

W-L has plenty of no-cut sports options like Ultimate Frisbee, Crew (rowing), Cross Country, Rifle, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After a hard year at Hamm, with tons of lost and late homework, last minute projects, and an exploding backpack and bedroom of papers we finally had DD evaluated for ADHD and she was diagnosed with mild inattentive ADHD and some difficulty with visual processing.

We didn’t get much hands on support from Hamm but we didn’t have an IEP; the PT conferences were student lead, so we didn’t seem to gain much insight into what goes into the classroom, but DD is at the highest level in math and has all As and Bs despite the disorder.

We are still at the submitting paperwork step with APS and they seem a bit backlogged with the end of the school year. What sort of individualized supports should we expect from WL while DD is there? Our counselor says there should be weekly executive function coaching meetings where they go through her planner and help her schedule, and some accommodations like having a seat near the front (though in high school I assumed kids pick their own seats right?).

What else would we be able to request for this diagnoses?

We were kind of hoping to get into HBW since it’s a smaller school and her counselor would have a smaller cohort even though they would also have teaching duties.

DH thinks we should go private and is pushing OConnell (we are Catholic so this is not unreasonable).

Can anyone help me bolster my case to DH that WL will provide a strong foundation and IEP implementation for getting DD to develop her skills and ready for college?

My son just graduated from WL, and I work at a FCPS high school about the same size as WL. I have never heard of students having weekly executive function coaching meetings. When would this happen during the school day? It’s possible she could go into a class like Strategies for Success which is a separate class that does give students extra time to complete work and get organized, but if she wants to pursue the IB diploma, I’m not sure it would fit in her schedule. As for seating, some teachers assign seats and others let kids pick their own seats. If the IEP says priority seating, we’ll give them priority seating. Lots of students also have extra time to complete assignments. I definitely think WL will provide the required IEP/504 supports, but I do not think there is any way they will be able to have weekly individual meetings with your daughter unless it’s part of a class. Case managers are swamped and class sizes are huge. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I thought most students at a study hour, like Phoenix Hour at DHMS, in high school isn’t there a block like that? Also block scheduling is very long, why not break off the second half of one of those when teacher has assigned classwork to be done independently?

There is a General’s Period, but as far as I know the teacher who your child gets is random. They also are not expected to work with students.

As for block scheduling, I’m not quite sure what you mean by break off the second half? What do you want to happen at that time? It is very rare that even in a 90 minute block, there is just 45 minutes of independent work time. Even with that, the teacher is still monitoring the class and doing other things.

I’m not sure you quite get the challenges of a high school classroom. Often they are 30-32 students and the teacher needs to work with all of them. That’s why a Strategies for Success class might make more sense - it’s a specific class to work on study skills and get work done.

However, you mentioned WL being wonderful because of the “tracking” in one of your posts above so maybe that sort of class won’t work for you as it would probably be comprised of kids who aren’t necessarily on the AP/IB track.

It sounds to me like a smaller school environment might be more what you’re looking for.

So strategies for success will be mostly non AP/IB students. What do most Gifted ADHD (“twice exceptional”) students do for support? DD is a strong student, very bright, but organization and distraction are becoming impediments, so were hoping school could provide supports to scaffold her success? If the Strategies for Success is geared towards a GenEd audience, I’m not sure it will be a good match to her needs? Am I understanding you correct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did they approve her for an IEP? Or are you still at the evaluation stage?

We are just putting together the paperwork

I honestly thought an IEP was automatic with ADHD, But I just have been thinking of 504.

So we won’t get any coaching with a 504? Is that just additional test time?

Oh OP you have a lonnnnng way to go. I have a kid with a genuinely needed IEP since age 4 and nothing is automatic. Nothing. And even if you manage to get an IEP (which seems doubtful) the supports are not going to do what you think they are going to do.

This is a parenting issue - you need to learn how to work with your DD on organization and not expect the school too. because they will not, and her issues are by definition mild. You have a child objectively doing fine who you want to learn more skills. Great. But you need to take the lead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She has all A’s and B’s, so it’s hard to prove an educational impact that substantially limits a major life activity.

The definition of a disability is:
Have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; or
Have a record of such an impairment; or
Be regarded as having such an impairment.

I would go to Catholic school where there are more textbooks, workbooks, and clearer firm deadlines.

Well we expect in high school she will end up with Cs. Will that be enough to trigger IEP by seconds semester Freshman year??

OP with kindness - please do some research on the IEP process. nothing triggers an IEP in the way you seem to believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kid was diagnosed with inattentive ADHD and dyslexia in 7th grade. She was having panic attacks in school when she was asked to read out loud. APS refused to give her a 504 or an IEP because she is an A student. They said there was no evidence that she was having trouble accessing the curriculum. We only got some light reading supports after the Swanson reading specialist independently confirmed that she was, in fact, dyslexic. We were told that she would not qualify for any supports at Yorktown based on her grades. This is all likely illegal, but I am too tired to fight APS. We enrolled her in O’Connell for high school, and they have been wonderful. What I love about DJO is that they are committed to helping every student reach their full potential, as opposed to APS that just wants to get every kid to benchmark— which is so, so low.

That’s nice. My kid who actually has a needed IEP would likely never be admitted to O’Connell. There is nothing illegal about applying the actual IDEA standards which is what it sounds like APS did here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She has all A’s and B’s, so it’s hard to prove an educational impact that substantially limits a major life activity.

The definition of a disability is:
Have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; or
Have a record of such an impairment; or
Be regarded as having such an impairment.

I would go to Catholic school where there are more textbooks, workbooks, and clearer firm deadlines.

You have to prove life impact, not educational impact.

Regardless you won’t get what you want OP, go catholic.

Really? I keep hearing public school is best for ADHD, with coaching and accommodations— private schools quietly counsel out high need students like DD, right?

Ok. Listen up. YOUR CHILD IS NOT HIGH NEEDS. your child is a normal child who needs some more time and support to develop study skills and organizational skills.

I truly do not know where you are getting your ideas about what public schools provide. When you read about parents saying their kids got services at public schools they couldn’t get at private, that is because they had kids with high support needs that private schools do not admit or kick out. Or they are so visibly autistic (my kid!) that they do not get admitted because they are the “weird kid.”

The kids getting lengthy IEPs in public schools generally have some pretty serious and well established needs and nothing you describe about your DD matches up to that.

Can you eke out a 504 and get some extended test time for her? Sure. Can you get her admitted to a private school and maybe get some extra test time and then be one of those parents claiming “private schools are full of kids with SN!!” Probably!