Help with Dyslexic/ADHD son's teacher!!

[my3beasties]

Hi all...my sweet DS is 6 and in Kindergarten. He is dyslexic, ADHD, and when stressed displays alot of Asperger's symptoms & anxiety. We have a tutor working with him who specializes in right-brained kids, and it's helped tremendously with his reading & writing,  and self-confidence.  The tutor met with Michael's teacher, principal & special ed director to come up with a coordinated approach to help him in class...but it seems his teacher has misinterpreted the advice and flat out doesn't understand the way Michael's brain operates!

One of many examples: She sent home a note on his classwork saying "It took Michael 12 minutes to write this sentence. I am trying to allow him to do less work than his peers, but he needs to show more effort than this."  (Since when are they being timed? And we never said he had to do so much less than his peers, only to be sensitive to the fact he gets stressed when he's nit-picked & can't focus as long!)  Right behind it was another note saying he attempted to bite another student (probably because he was frustrated with school work and suffers from lack of impulse control), and stapled to it was a paper where she made him write "I will not bite" 5 times.  WTF?! How long did it take him to write that?? And what is this, the 19th century, where she's gonna stand him up at the chalkboard with a dunce cap and expect his behavior to improve? Ugh! 

So I set up a meeting with her tomorrow after school, and wondered if anyone has some good resources to help her understand how the brain of a dyslexic child works.  I was hoping to find some research and/or informative articles I could give her, so that a) she will take it seriously and b) I don't blow a gasket trying to explain things that are so obvious and emotionally charged for me.  Thanks so much!

Adrianne

[Emmeline II]

"Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy" has a lot of advice on dealing with the school/teachers, how to approach them when things are not going well, and have meeting planning forms and agendas to help you organize and convey what the issues are.

If he does not yet have an IEP you could write a letter of consent to special education evaluation which would lead to an IEP. If he does have an IEP it sounds like it may lack specific and measurable IEP goals and objectives.

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I recommended reading "Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy"; the information from the book can be found on their site as well (Table of Contents). Reading "Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition," would be a good idea as well). Wrightslaw also has a book entitled "All About IEPs" and endorses "Writing Measurable IEP Goals & Objectives".

Under IDEA/IEP, if your child has a disability that adversely affects educational performance, your child is entitled to an education that is designed to meet the child's unique needs and from which your child receives educational benefit.

A 504 is helping your child get the same education that everyone else is getting--more for a student that needs accommodations to help them learn (like sitting next to the teacher) or for behavior, and that they are not punished for things that they cannot control due to the ADHD (like needing to work standing up or not sit inside a group).

[A IEP or 504 is not an escalation or punishment for the teacher/school. It's more about getting all appropriate parties involved and on the same page. The student, parent/legal guardian, teachers, principals, Pupil Services administrators, support staff (i.e. nurse, counselor, psychologist, language/speech pathologist) as well as the student's physician or therapist may be involved in the placement process including the 504 meeting.]

Eligibility under IDEA for Other Health Impaired Children

Key Differences Between Section 504, the ADA, and the IDEA.

(http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/sec504.summ.rights.htm)

If you decide to request the school do education/learning disability testing, you need to "start the clock" in your letter of request; the school has 60 days from the date they received parental consent for evaluation to do one; your written request should note that this letter is the consent for evaluation. (And, if you did not do it in writing, it never happened!).

Determining Eligibility: How Many Days is 60 Days? - Wrightslaw

The Art of Writing Letters by Pam and Pete Wright - Advocacy ...

[karne]

In addition to the above, excellent, resources, I would suggest involving either the school counselor or psychologist in some sort of a team meeting.  If your ds carries an official dx, and has an IEP for it, it is within your rights to request an IEP team meeting to discuss your concerns.  If your ds does not have an IEP, or 504, and has been dx with the conditions you describe, now would be the time to request an eval to begin the process, in writing.

You probably already recognize this, but kindy is extremely early for much of what you describe.  Kindy kids are all over the place in terms of their development, even at this point in the year.  It sounds like you, the teacher, and the support/special ed folks need to all be on the same page about your sons strengths, needs, and realistic plan and goals.  I would not go this alone with the teacher-it's not appropriate if your son's needs are as you describe them.

[fiddlefern]

All I can say about this teacher is YIPES!

I am a public middle school teacher, so I am biased _towards_ teachers, and I think this is pretty weird behavior (eta- the TEACHER's behavior).  I mean, writing complete sentences in Kindy at all is pretty awesome.  Who cares how long it takes?  And if the task is stressful, why not take a break and come back to it?  I honestly think she attached the two notes because she _realizes_ at least unconsciously that the bad handling of the schoolwork lead to the biting, and she's documenting because she's on the defensive. 

Unfortunately, her documentation inadvertently shows how poorly she's handling his needs.  I completely agree with others who suggest not meeting with her alone, but inviting a wider circle to discuss this.  Bring the notes with you.

[melissa17s]

It has been my experience that most teachers are not prepared for dyslexic students and do not have a clear curriculum with in the classroom for these students that transfers from grade level to grade level.  

I think that the assignment/punishment of writing lines that the teacher gave your ds was inappropriate for most kindergarteners and not just dyslexics.  In terms of his disability, in the future push for a writing accommodation that would include either the teacher or staff helping him with writing assignments.  Then she can write the lines for him.  

There is a fact sheet with a section for guidelines for professionals/educators at the international dyslexia site: http://www.interdys.org/FactSheets.htm  I would hope that the teacher would read it, but as stated before, you need to have the school evaluate your ds and have the school design an iep to meet his needs and academic goals.  Teachers are required to follow the iep, but not required to follow through on parental and personal requests to adjust curriculum.  To get accommodations, he needs an iep.   

[my3beasties]

Thank you so much for the advice! I haven't had a chance to reply sooner, but in the last week have made some good steps in the right direction. 

I met with his teacher & discussed his needs - the main things she told me were that she couldn't make many accomodations without them being spelled out in an IEP, but she'd do what she could, "keeping in mind that he's 1 of 21".   I asked her to speak with the special ed coordinator regarding having an evaluation done, and what we need to do from here to get an IEP.  I hadn't heard anything by Thursday, so I called the principal (who is awesome!) and asked him about the process...he said to email the SPED coordinator myself, and that I should be involved in the initial meeting, but that his team at school wasn't qualified to diagnose anything.  So I said, leave that to me....

I proceeded to get DS an appointment for an evaluation at a child development center here - but they can't see him until May. So I also met with his pediatrician yesterday, and had him write a letter saying Michael has ADD and likely has dyslexia, it has a significant impact on his education, and while we will not start him on meds, he would definitely benefit from special accomodations in class.  I sent an email to Michael's teacher, the SPED coordinator, and principal stating this, and put in my written request for an evaluation and IEP.  I also mentioned that he's been seen by multiple mental health professionals and was found to have a great deal of anxiety, which has been exacerbated by his frustration and feelings of failure at his school work.  Figured I'd just lay it all out and see what I can shake up! 

Here's hoping...thanks to everyone for the encouragement & advice! I will let you know how it goes!

[my3beasties]

Thank you so much for the advice! I haven't had a chance to reply sooner, but in the last week have made some good steps in the right direction. 

I met with his teacher & discussed his needs - the main things she told me were that she couldn't make many accomodations without them being spelled out in an IEP, but she'd do what she could, "keeping in mind that he's 1 of 21".   I asked her to speak with the special ed coordinator regarding having an evaluation done, and what we need to do from here to get an IEP.  I hadn't heard anything by Thursday, so I called the principal (who is awesome!) and asked him about the process...he said to email the SPED coordinator myself, and that I should be involved in the initial meeting, but that his team at school wasn't qualified to diagnose anything.  So I said, leave that to me....

I proceeded to get DS an appointment for an evaluation at a child development center here - but they can't see him until May. So I also met with his pediatrician yesterday, and had him write a letter saying Michael has ADD and likely has dyslexia, it has a significant impact on his education, and while we will not start him on meds, he would definitely benefit from special accomodations in class.  I still hadn't heard anything by today, so I sent an email to Michael's teacher, the SPED coordinator, and principal stating this, and put in my written request for an evaluation and IEP.  I also mentioned that he's been seen by multiple mental health professionals and was found to have a great deal of anxiety, which has been exacerbated by his frustration and feelings of failure at his school work.  Figured I'd just lay it all out and see what I can shake up! 

Here's hoping...thanks to everyone for the encouragement & advice! I will let you know how it goes!