Need advice on what to do about school system

[raregem]

Little background:
my difficult child is 8 and is currently in 2nd grade. He failed first grade once and the second year he did not pass but was "placed" in 2nd grade as a child cannot fail twice in the same school. (the school he is in now i grades k-3). He has no problems with going to school and he has always liked his teachers. We had a 504 plan put in place at the end of last year. He has been diagnosed with ADHD and ODD. At this age there isn't a lot of accomodations on the 504 that the teacher does not do already. He does not have a whole lot of behavior issues at school (none severe), never physical. His academics are TERRIBLE, especially his reading. He had help with reading in kindergarten and the first time in first grade. We were told that there was no help available the 2nd time in 1st grade because of him repeating it. There is also no help this year. His lack academics in reading is now effecting math and his other subjects because of having to read questions. He has no self confidence in reading because he feels he is not good at it. The school stresses for him to read at home every night which we do (usually). We met with the school this morning as ODD is now on the 504 plan and can have accomodations made for it. I am so aggravated with the school system in the town that we live in. We built our home here 13 years ago because of the good school system. Is there a next step that I need to do? What is the difference between and IEP and a 504. We asked about having him placed in Special Education for reading but they said that he does not qualify, that he is very intelligent but just doesn't want to take the time to do the work. He is currently on Adderol, Intuniv and Risperdal.

Any suggestions or ideas will be greatly appreciated.

 

[ShanDiann]

The fact that there is no help because he repeated....What, that doesn't even make sense....It's craziness like this that frustrates me to no end with schools. Has he been previously tested for reading difficulties, if not they do not know if he qualifies or not. You can request this testing in writing and the school has 90 days to complete it. (I am in the middle of this with my 2nd grader). Another question to ask the teacher is, What interventions is she using to help him learn to read?
Also checkout www.starfall.com at home. It is a great website for helping kids learn to read, and since they get to use the computer it sometimes helps motivate reluctant readers.

 

[TeDo]

You definitely need to ask for a full evaluation. There is obviously some reason he is not learning to read well. If you request it, they cannot deny to do the testing. If you disagree with the test results they provide to you, you have the right to ask for an independent evaluation at school expense. Do not let them tell you they can't continue with the services your difficult child had last year. That is absurd. I would also call the Department of Education in your state and ask for an advocate. It sounds like your SD just doesn't want to provide services. I am having similar issues with my 12 year old right now. An IEP is similar to a 504. You might want to post this question in the Special Education 101 forum here. They will have answers for you there.

Good luck and don't give up. If we don't fight for our difficult children, no one else is going to.