Is this normal for child with ADHD

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone

My child is in the 1st grade and we just had a meeting with his teacher and his IEP coordinator/Aid that is with him in the classroom. My son has had an IEP starting in late kindergarten, around May. He was approved for 10 hours a week for someone to be in the classroom with him. Well they want to increase it to 20 hours a week. He receives other services as well, some outside of the school and some inside. We had had him evaluated and he is on medication for ADD/ADHD. So basically he will have someone with him all the time in the classroom. Is this normal for a child that was diagnosis with just ADHD/ADD? He does go to OT every week and he is in a social skills group. The school evaluation came to the conclusion that he might be on the ASD scale and also his private evaluation thought so as well. However they both thought he was on the spectrum.

I am all new to this so any insights would be appreciated. We are in the process of having another evaluation at Kennedy. It just seems a lot of services for someone with just ADHD/ADD

Thanks

[Anonymous]

My son had no services like that. He just had OT for handwriting.

[Anonymous]

Previous Poster. Both private evaluation and school evaluation though he was NOT on the spectrum, despite scoring in the range.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Which school system are you in?

[Anonymous]

Hi we are in FCPS. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

In my experience, this isn't typical for a child with ADHD. My guess is that it's related to ASD.

[Anonymous]

My kid with ASD/ADHD gets 20 hrs a week with the SN teacher which basically means he is in the same room with her. She is not his one-on-one aide and he does not need academic supports. She basically helps as needed.

The school gets funding depending on how many hrs of Sp Ed support is provided so that is why they want to bump up his hours from 10 to 20.

Personally, I love that the SN teacher is in the classroom. They help ALL the students not just the ones with IEPs. When my DS was in 1st grade, this meant that there were 2 teachers at least 1/2 the time for 18 students.

This is an inclusive model that works well. We are at an immersion language charter and we were fortunate that our SN teachers in k, 1 and 2 were bilingual in the immersion language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid with ASD/ADHD gets 20 hrs a week with the SN teacher which basically means he is in the same room with her. She is not his one-on-one aide and he does not need academic supports. She basically helps as needed.

The school gets funding depending on how many hrs of Sp Ed support is provided so that is why they want to bump up his hours from 10 to 20.

Personally, I love that the SN teacher is in the classroom. They help ALL the students not just the ones with IEPs. When my DS was in 1st grade, this meant that there were 2 teachers at least 1/2 the time for 18 students.

This is an inclusive model that works well. We are at an immersion language charter and we were fortunate that our SN teachers in k, 1 and 2 were bilingual in the immersion language.

My son needs help for things like staying or starting on task. It does not matter whether your child has ASD or not if he needs the help.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the information. Im the dad in the situation and I do like that they are increasing the time. Basically they already doing this and they just want to make it official. My son is also in a duel language program.

If anyone has any more information that would be great!

Many Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi we are in FCPS. Thanks!

I'd say this is not typical in FCPS. I've only seen one on one supports for children with autism and even that was only for part of the year.

I don't think it's necessary for one to one aid with ADHD (I have 2 with ADHD and learning disabilities), but I also don't think it will hurt in the lower grades at least. He does need to be able to work independently so weaning off of those services would help him as he gets into the upper grades.

[Anonymous]

OP. We have the same situation, basically someone is with or ADHD kid practically the whole day.

In our car, because he is ADHD, he could never really focus long enough to learn so he is severely behind in his studies
Also, he needs the special ed to keep him focused long enough to understand what's being taught.

So for us, it's a combination of trying to catch up to his peers and having his attention focused throughout the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Previous Poster. Both private evaluation and school evaluation though he was NOT on the spectrum, despite scoring in the range.

Thanks!

OP, in answer to your question, yes, my non-spectrum kid with ADHD and other things was given an aid for the classroom about the # of hours suggested for your kid. So yes, it is done. Do not be surprised if the school district doesn't mention autism at some point down the line (even if he isn't).

But really the main issue is, what does your kid really need? The public school aids, don't get a heck of a lot of training and is more of a bandaid, one-size-fits all approach. They may help redirect a kid back to his seat who has regulatory issues for example. I feel like the schools often assign them b/c it's cheaper than hiring additional STs, OTs, and actual teacher's aid, and basically helps with crowd control in overcrowded schools.

Your kid needs to be learning the skills that can help him learn to do this on his own. You need to ask questions like, how does having an aid help him meet his educational and behavioral goals? How will he learn to transition off use of an aid. Can they show you evidence that using an aid for ADHD is best practice? Are there other type of interventions that can also help him meet his goals, e.g., social skill groups, lunch bunch, preferential seating, frequent physical breaks, modifications to his chair like a wiggle seat or stretch band on the legs?

So fine if they want to provide an aid but that shouldn't be the end of the story. It might not hurt, but there's probably more that can be done to help. Find an advocate who can help you get a half decent IEP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Previous Poster. Both private evaluation and school evaluation though he was NOT on the spectrum, despite scoring in the range.

Thanks!

OP, in answer to your question, yes, my non-spectrum kid with ADHD and other things was given an aid for the classroom about the # of hours suggested for your kid. So yes, it is done. Do not be surprised if the school district doesn't mention autism at some point down the line (even if he isn't).

But really the main issue is, what does your kid really need? The public school aids, don't get a heck of a lot of training and is more of a bandaid, one-size-fits all approach. They may help redirect a kid back to his seat who has regulatory issues for example. I feel like the schools often assign them b/c it's cheaper than hiring additional STs, OTs, and actual teacher's aid, and basically helps with crowd control in overcrowded schools.

Your kid needs to be learning the skills that can help him learn to do this on his own. You need to ask questions like, how does having an aid help him meet his educational and behavioral goals? How will he learn to transition off use of an aid. Can they show you evidence that using an aid for ADHD is best practice? Are there other type of interventions that can also help him meet his goals, e.g., social skill groups, lunch bunch, preferential seating, frequent physical breaks, modifications to his chair like a wiggle seat or stretch band on the legs?

So fine if they want to provide an aid but that shouldn't be the end of the story. It might not hurt, but there's probably more that can be done to help. Find an advocate who can help you get a half decent IEP.

I agree with this. OP, I'm assuming it is an aide in the classroom with him? The aides are basically just adult bodies. They don't have any special training.
What is going on in the classroom where he needs the support? Do you think he would do better being pulled out for instructional time with the special ed teacher?

[Anonymous]

I'm wondering if the school is trying to build a case for moving this kid into a self-contained class or a program at another school. A full-time aide is a lot of special ed hours. But if the aide isn't well-trained, the aide won't make any difference. Then the school will say that he isn't learning in the general ed class despite having full-time "support".

OP, have they mentioned anything to you about other programs or classrooms?

[Anonymous]

Original Poster Here...My wife and I actually did meet with the school and they gave hints that dual immersion program might not be best for him.