Help last min cry for IEP HELP

piolin

New Member
I everyone... I am a reader and today I need your help.. My daughter has iep in place and she has ALWAYS had a hard time turning in homework every year iep team discusses the many ways to help her but she ends up not turning in work she does and this cases her to fail. She is in the 11th grade and last summer did summer school because she failed 2 classes ...she went everyday to summer school but failed summer school because of not turning in work mind you we me and iep team did not put anything into place to help her... This yr she failed 2 classes first semester... she is in jeopardy of not graduating high school:( I have an iep meeting Tomorow and don't know where to start... Everything else she does... goes to school everyday sits in class passes all tests but homework does not get turned in...all state tests she has high scores but will fail hs do to homework Any ideas please
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Trying to get someone on the autism spectrum - even very high functioning - is... to put it politely, very difficult. WHY should they have to hand it in, when the whole point is to learn this stuff and be able to write the exam? (Unfortunately, they have an excellent point. Which makes it harder, of course, to convince them of the need to "just do it")

One thing that helped somewhat, was to have a resource room period every single day... and homework was done in that period. It never left the school, and the resource room teacher handed in the assignments.
 

piolin

New Member
Thank you I'm sitting here wondering what to ask for Tomorow that can help her... I ask her what can I ask the team to help her she stares blankly She gets everything in her classes (general population)but turning in homework she just can't follow through since kindergarten if I read all ieps same .. "Does not turn in homework "!
 

nlj

Well-Known Member
I'm a private tutor.

One of my parents has a child who doesn't complete homework for similar reasons.
I go once a week for an hour and we do homework together, complete some and organise the rest into small manageable chunks and complete a homework timetable together for getting it done. It removes all the nagging from the parents, provides support and gives the child joint responsibility in getting the rest completed and a say in when that will be done.

It's not ideal, and I don't know what private tutors charge in your area, but it might take the stress off you and help a bit. It took a while to build up a good relationship with the child, but it works well now.

He likes the fact that it's every week at the same time as he feels comfortable with reliable routine. He also likes the colour-coded timetable with small chunks of time for different subjects and the fact that it is organised (by him) and follows a pattern.
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
I like both ideas noted above. I would worry that even doing the work with a private tutor she might find a way to not get the work in.

Could the resource teacher help her devise a schedule so she could do her work in bits? The hour a day resource hour sounds promising, with the accommodation that she can turn in her work each day. What she finishes that day, she submits, and the teacher is responsible for gathering it. Not her.

It sounds like she is so bright, that even if this system is rough around the edges, she will be doing enough to pass.

Another idea I just thought of is working directly on a computer. This way she could print out the work for the day, and submit it, supervised by the teacher. At the same time the work would be maintained on the computer for her to work with it, like a long essay, to be submitted at the end of the work.

In any event, I would take the actual submission out of your daughter's hands and make it the responsibility of the teacher to gather it, and to record it.

You might review each of these ideas with your daughter to see her thinking on them.

I think the school is irresponsible to have let things get so out of control. Clearly, they know the problem. They bear responsibility. Clearly this is related to a disabling condition. They better get it together.

I would make a stink. Really, I would. This should not have been allowed to happen to your daughter and you. I would ask for IEPs at least every month to see that whatever plan is adopted is working.

COPA
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
If they cannot find a way to support your daughter in her current educational setting, they need to be put on notice that you will require she be transported to non-public school.

The school district must pay. My son got sent in a private taxi back and forth. Quite convenient for me. It will cost them thousands of dollars, like 25k to 35k. Maybe that will motivate them.

I am getting mad here.
 

piolin

New Member
Thank you all for the advice I am so tired of the same results in iep meeting they give her a calendar invite her to stay after school and that's it... I dropped the ball summer school nothing was put into in place I was so exhausted and so was she with her poor grades I did not think to ask for any accommodations summer school teacher was so condescending when I called several times to express concern I explained her needs but teacher said no school officials told her my daughter needed accommodations and due to no homework turned in she was failing her an entire summer down the drain
 

piolin

New Member
Nlj we tried tutor 2 yrs in a row and she still wouldn't get organized and did not turn in work ... Tutor told me he felt bad charging me because she is so bright he felt he was not helping herAnd she was doing her work... It is so frustrating and her blank stare and sad look she cannot explain why she won't turn in her work ... She was diagnosed also ODD she is calm quiet and causes no problems has no friends but everyone at school knows her and treat her great ...her social skills are young for her age but I feel she chooses to be alone all of her teachers tell me she is very smart but they need her to show her work
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
they need her to show her work
Put it on them to solve it.

After all, they have made it her responsibility solely. Has that worked? Not at all. They cannot blame her or be indifferent. The law says they cannot.

They are the ones who have to come up with solutions. Not you. Not her. This is related to her disabling condition.

What do you think about the one hour of resource every day with a teacher taking responsibility for helping her organize her work into bits, and gathering it every day, (or printing from computer) and again at the end of each week?

That way your daughter will not have to handle something for which she clearly does not have a solution.

I give her loads of credit. Getting along with peers and liked by them. Doing well in tests. No behavior issues.

The teachers need to take responsibility to seeing her work. Not her engaging them to show her work, or turn it in.

The tables need to be turned here.

We have already tried it their way--indifference.

COPA
 

UpandDown

Active Member
My son who also is a junior very rarely turns in homework,even when he spends hours working on it. He has a 504 not an IEP. This has also been a problem for him since the early grade school years. We have tried the tutor route to help him get organized and do his homework. He too is very bright and if the grade is based on class work and tests he gets As. It is the most maddening thing. I was told if he had an IEP(he in their eyes does not qualify), we could request services that would involve a teacher or aide following through with him on his homework. I have also heard of people who have the IEP state that homework is not factored into his grade and all grades are based on classwork and test scores. The only thing with a 504 that have worked for us is to have a directed study hall everyday. I think you have teeth with that IEP and I would demand a solution, even if it means not signing the IEP until they find a satisfactory answer for your daughter. The website www.wrightslaw.com has been very helpful for me in understanding things. I wish you luck and strength today!!
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
If your school is not cooperative, and due to costs and the hassels of special rules for one child, they don't like to, be sure to have an Advocate with you when you go in. Call your state's Dept. of Education and ask for the person in charge of Special Needs. I've done this many times. The Advocate is free, will meet with you, and is on your child's side, not the school district's side and will show some teeth. Many school districts bully parents into signing for less than their child needs and that's not fair for the child. You have to have a strong personality to take on a school district and even then I think an advocate helps. It took me several tries to force our school district to taxi cab my Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) son to another public school nearby that suited his needs. I have never heard of anyone, at least in my area, sent to a private school, but many are sent to more suitable public schools and each state is probably different. My son got a good education an d is exceeding the expectations professionals had of him when we adopted him as in "He will just b e a vegetable. There is nothing we can do for THESE kids!!!" Ugh. He is now living alone and is 90% self-supporting and, most of all, is happy. He was exposed to his birthmother's drugs in utero so I guess they all thought he'd have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), but he has autism, probably caused by that, but no symptoms of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Haha, Professionals :p
Often it is a fight to get what you know your child needs that's why I highly recommend not to go in alone. Even when I went with husband, in two states (Illinois first, then Wisconsin) my son's needs were sugarcoated until I took in our advocate Ms. Teeth, who was known for taking school distracts to court and winning. That scared our administrators into not breaking the disability laws. Nobody wanted to mess with her. My son got everything he needed. Didn't cost us a nickle.
It's sad that sometimes we have to go to lengths to get what our children deserve, but that's often a reality.
On the homework front, my son was sent to a study hall for kids who needed extra help and he did his homework there. It was recommended by OUR professionals that he not have to do homework AT HOME as his autism makes it hard for him to extend the school day. This worked out perfectly, but not all schools have this sort of study hall, which he greatly liked and could pretty much complete his homework in on his own just knowing a teacher was at hand. This was one reason we switched his schools and they also had a very good Special Education department so they understood his particular needs and he had a very good school experience and even was well liked amongst his typical peers. Find your advocate. Every district has one, but the school district won't telll you about it. They don't like advocates so you have to dig yourself.
Good luck.
 
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UpandDown

Active Member
Call your state's Dept. of Education and ask for the person in charge of Special Needs.

Excellent advice. I wish I had known this. We paid for an educational consultant to help us.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
What she finishes that day, she submits, and the teacher is responsible for gathering it. Not her

In any event, I would take the actual submission out of your daughter's hands and make it the responsibility of the teacher to gather it, and to record it.
It works better if it is a resource teacher, and not the classroom teacher, doing these things. Otherwise, the student tends to get pushback from the teacher.
 

piolin

New Member
Thank you all very much! Meeting is in an hour ... After reading all of these responses I do not feel alone and have good requests for iep team... But most importantly I know I have you as a strong team thank you thank thank you
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
Meeting is in an hour
I hope you let us know how it goes. And keep us in the loop so we know how she is doing.

There is no reason she should be failing. It is not her fault. I hope we can stay on the school to get them to do their job to support her.

COPA
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
I have never heard of anyone, at least in my area, sent to a private school,
My son went to two different non-public schools in two different school districts. He did so from 7th grade through 12th grade except for when we were living out of the country.

There seems to be no need for your daughter to do so because she is treated well and is an excellent student in her current setting.

The failure here is the school's not hers. I mentioned non-public school as a demand you could put on them that they might fear if they continue to allow this absolutely ridiculous situation to continue.

COPA
 

piolin

New Member
Thank you all for the support... we had the meeting this morning sorry for late update I had to run to work right after... the school did not have any resource teachers that could pull her out to help her with homework or what they called "Pull out program" but they did give her study skills with a group of 5 other students and the teacher in there will help her get on track with homework assignments and class work . The Vice principal was a bit defensive luckily the IEP coordinator kept bringing her back to my daughters needs there were no accommodations in her IEP because we were trying to allow her more independence and the accommodations that we had in place before were to help her behavior which improved 100% so the IEP coordinator kept telling her that so the VP wanted me to allow her to go to special-ed and that was her solution. My husband said "NO" what can her current teachers do to help her she then said we can put her in study skills and go from there and if does not work then we meet again to see how we can help her. I reminded them my daughter is doing great in all areas and great in classes where HW is not a big factor in her grade there was a teacher present that agreed with me. The VP was really not very happy she was pretty much saying "there is nothing we can do so Special Education is where she belongs"! I then repeated what she said " so you are saying the school is not equipped to help her only Special Education"? Then she said "yes"! I responded so if I contact State department of ED that is what they will say that this school has nothing other than Special Education to help my daughter... she then said "there is no need to threaten us"! I was like "really why is that a threat to you please explain"? Then she said "okay lets do this we want her to succeed she is an awesome young girl no problems scores high on all her tests so lets do "Study Skills" and we will switch her Spanish class for "Study Skills" and its not going to hurt her because the semester just started.
 
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