W
WearyWoman
Guest
Hi all,
This is my first post in this forum, and I'm hoping some of you veterans can make suggestions for IEP requests, as we have a meeting coming up. Our youngest boy, Bubby, age 9, is in third grade, and he has an IEP for his apraxia of speech and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) - not otherwise specified diagnoses. Presently, he is receiving speech therapy, limited Occupational Therapist (OT), and Special Education for spelling help only.
We have our annual IEP meeting coming up shortly, and we'd like to be prepared with ideas for modfications to the plan, specifically, relating to additional accommodations for his autism spectrum disorder.
Bubby has quite severe ADHD, and after school = after medications, and he is very overactive until bedtime. Homework is a real challenge in the evenings. His schedule is quite packed, as he has in-home and after-school therapy almost every night for 20 hours per week, and he goes to church class on Wednesday nights. His autism therapists help him with homework immediately after school most days when he is in after-school childcare waiting for us to pick him up after work. They have been semi-successful with helping him get homework done at that time, however, as I said, it's an overwhelming challenge for us later in the evening when we get home after work (5 p.m. or later). Bubby also needs a LOT of help with his social/emotional/behavioral/sensory issues. We constantly struggle to keep up with everything the school requires plus getting in time for his additional therapies.
Academically, I think Bubby is falling more and more behind. He is having trouble getting his work done fast enough in school, and that's why he's bringing work home every night.
While he definitely needs some help with reading and math, he struggles most with handwriting (he hates writing, probably because it is so hard for him), focusing on completing tasks, and spelling.
Am I the only person who thinks that nightly homework assignments are over the top for kids this age? To do the required reading (20 minutes), math, show-and-tell, spelling sentences, etc., would take us an hour and a half easily with Bubby. It's just too much. He's at school 7 hours per day. I sure wish they could ensure that he gets his work done there because his medications wear off and it's next to impossible any other time.
In addition to the homework issues, we're wondering what other reasonable accomodations would be helpful. Is it reasonable to request that he be allowed to type versus write sentences, stories, etc.? How much should we push for him to have an aide or more Special Education services? What about social skills assistance, especially at recess time or free play time, etc.? Boy, if anybody can provide some guidance here, I will be so grateful. We don't know what to ask for, and it seems like the school system does not go out of its way to serve in these cases.
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing your ideas.
Weary
This is my first post in this forum, and I'm hoping some of you veterans can make suggestions for IEP requests, as we have a meeting coming up. Our youngest boy, Bubby, age 9, is in third grade, and he has an IEP for his apraxia of speech and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) - not otherwise specified diagnoses. Presently, he is receiving speech therapy, limited Occupational Therapist (OT), and Special Education for spelling help only.
We have our annual IEP meeting coming up shortly, and we'd like to be prepared with ideas for modfications to the plan, specifically, relating to additional accommodations for his autism spectrum disorder.
Bubby has quite severe ADHD, and after school = after medications, and he is very overactive until bedtime. Homework is a real challenge in the evenings. His schedule is quite packed, as he has in-home and after-school therapy almost every night for 20 hours per week, and he goes to church class on Wednesday nights. His autism therapists help him with homework immediately after school most days when he is in after-school childcare waiting for us to pick him up after work. They have been semi-successful with helping him get homework done at that time, however, as I said, it's an overwhelming challenge for us later in the evening when we get home after work (5 p.m. or later). Bubby also needs a LOT of help with his social/emotional/behavioral/sensory issues. We constantly struggle to keep up with everything the school requires plus getting in time for his additional therapies.
Academically, I think Bubby is falling more and more behind. He is having trouble getting his work done fast enough in school, and that's why he's bringing work home every night.
While he definitely needs some help with reading and math, he struggles most with handwriting (he hates writing, probably because it is so hard for him), focusing on completing tasks, and spelling.
Am I the only person who thinks that nightly homework assignments are over the top for kids this age? To do the required reading (20 minutes), math, show-and-tell, spelling sentences, etc., would take us an hour and a half easily with Bubby. It's just too much. He's at school 7 hours per day. I sure wish they could ensure that he gets his work done there because his medications wear off and it's next to impossible any other time.
In addition to the homework issues, we're wondering what other reasonable accomodations would be helpful. Is it reasonable to request that he be allowed to type versus write sentences, stories, etc.? How much should we push for him to have an aide or more Special Education services? What about social skills assistance, especially at recess time or free play time, etc.? Boy, if anybody can provide some guidance here, I will be so grateful. We don't know what to ask for, and it seems like the school system does not go out of its way to serve in these cases.
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing your ideas.
Weary