Meeting with school about possible ADHD issues

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for the prayers, and thank you all for the responses. We had the EMT meeting. Fortunately, although I think they were pretty much going to try and move us along without a 504 or anything of the sort I managed to use the correct phrasing to get an evaluation from the school psychologist. They were basically telling us that the accomodations the teacher is giving her are "best practices" and that even without them she'd be succeeding at the grade level expectations. The teacher then said she thought maybe my kid wouldn't be suceeding at the grade level expectations if she weren't using these accomodations (like checking in frequently with her, breaking up assignments into smaller parts, having a classmate give her a cue to get up and join groups etc...) because she wouldn't be completing her work so there would be nothing to grade. Her major problems are in writing though and not reading or math. The problem is right now, in third grade, even without accomodations and being very distracted or whatever she can do the grade level material because she is working above grade level. They stressed how they are not required to support her in above grade level material. It's very dispiriting. Basically if she could walk in the class room right now and get a P in grade level material (which in 3rd grade work she could) they don't need to offer formal support because they aren't required to help her do accelerated work. One thing is she will be going to one of the gifted centers next year...maybe this will help. Not sure. But for now at least the psychologist will observe her. At least that's something! We are just trying to help her after constant complaints from her teacher all year that she isn't completing work and is having problems.

This is what you want to make sure the psychologist does for assessment at a minimum -- IQ, broken down into 4 subscores, with a FSIQ or GAI, the latter if the subscores are too far apart. You also want some kind of ADHD checklist given to the teachers, and the parents. You also want testing that goes to executive function, like the Ray-Osterreith, Tower of London and/or ToVA. School psychs generally don't do the last two, but ask for it anyway and let them tell you no. You want a full academic achievement assessment in your areas of concern -- reading (including decoding of known and nonsense words), fluency, comprehension and accuracy), spelling, essay writing, you might also want to ask for math achievement because your child has writing problems. Writing problems can stem from fluency or rapid naming or slow processing issues which can also show up in certain low math achievement subscores which depend on rapid recall of basic math facts and computation.

The underlying reasons for problems in writing are complex. They can be related to processing speed, lack of decoding/encoding knowledge, attention, physical/mechanical (i.e. handwriting) or language processing issues. In 3rd grade, the writing demands are increasing but still low, and kids are still considered to have a wide span of what is "normal development". So, it can be difficult to sort out all the reasons behind the writing problems.

If she is going to a gifted center, that is a plus. Those teachers are much more knowledgeable about special needs because there are some kids in those programs who are 2E -- very smart but also having ADHD, or some kind of LD.

Your school is wrong when they say that they are not required to help her do accelerated work. Gifted but disabled students have the same right to advanced/accelerated work that other students have. There are many kids in the HGC and MS magnets who have IEPs and 504 plans. Being in a gifted program or accelerated work is not a bar to receiving supports or specialized instruction. In the bad old days, students were forced to give up supports or IEPs in order to gain entrance to advanced programming. The DoE prohibited this a long time ago. Conversely, your child can't be barred from advanced instruction if something related to the disability is holding her back. For example, it's common that kids with dysgraphia can't pass the written comprehension Qs on reading tests to advanced to the next level. If your child has dysgraphia but clearly is a strong reader, then they are entitled to help with the dysgraphia and not to be held back from accelerated reading instruction just because of the dysgraphia.

Also, a student does not have to be "failing" to receive help. Per the IDEA statute, "as stated in Sec. 300.101, the fact that a child is advancing from grade to grade does not make a child with a disability ineligible for special education and related services." Just because your child is getting Ps doesn't mean she doesn't need help.

I strongly suggest you google for the GT/LD network and read some of their website and begin attending meetings. Also Wrightslaw and Hoagies are good websites.

There is a GT/LD instructional specialist in the AEI office in MCPS. The old one was great, Marisa Stemple, but she left after a number of years and has been replaced. Not sure of the new name. You can ask for this person's support in participating in IEP meetings.

When you get the school's assessment report, look closely at the testing on your own. Look for spreads of 22 points or more between any of the standard scores, either within tests or across tests. Compare also IQ vs. achievement. This will clue you in to areas of weakness.

If you don't agree with the school's assessment report, you can inform the school that you disagree with the assessment and are requesting an "Independent Educational Evaluation" (IEE). The school pays for an IEE, but you choose the person who does the assessment. This process is complicated, so come back and post if you get to the point of going thru this.

The teacher is being VERY helpful to you. You are lucky. Keep her in the loop and ask specifically that she attend the next IEP meeting when the assessment is presented and the IEP determination is made.

FYI, here are some forms of "special instruction" that are very common for kids with ADHD -- how to breakup big projects into little parts and track and plan for completion, how to make sure all parts of a question are answered, how to use a planning binder to write down assignments and create a system to ensure completion, how to self-advocate. And for kids with writing difficulties -- how to select and use various graphic organizers for writing, how to generate topics/brainstorm, how to use technology to assist, explicit/repetitive instruction in spelling, special reading instruction that focuses on sound/symbol relationships, grammar or punctuation instruction, creation and use of checklists and the editing process.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. PP thank you so so much for your VERY helpful post. I am going to save it an re-read it. Thanks again so much!

[Anonymous]

I had my eyes closed when I wrote the check for a psychoeducational evaluation and occupational therapy evaluation for my DS. It was money well spent. I came to MCPS with the results of both tests, along with the lists of DS' weekly therapy schedules. I also hired an education lawyer. Barely a month after DS transferred to the MCPS school (I pulled him out of a private school), we got a "screening meeting" where we reviewed DS' behavior in class, as well as the results of the psychoeducational evaluation and OT evaluation. Two weeks after the screening meeting, a 504 meeting was held. We got DS a 504 about 4 weeks after he started in this new school. I brought our lawyer to both meetings. Both meetings were VERY pleasant -- something my lawyer said doesn't happen quite often in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

OP, this is poster 2:18 again. Poster 3:56 is correct regarding the type of test results that you would want to present to the school. Those scores were exactly what we got for DS' psychoeducational evaluation. DS was in the 98 percentile in 4 out of 5 areas of WISC-V (his FISQ was in the 98th percentile, and GAI was in 99th percentile). His "decoding" was low (due to his attention problems). The psychologist (private) and the school agrees that based on these results, DS is indeed a 2E; and I think that is why we were given a 504 and not the "best practices" response.

You'll have to prove to them, in EVERY POSSIBLE WAY, that if they don't help your child, there is a chance that your child won't succeed. If you can prove that your child is 2E, they are required by law to give your child proper accommodations.