Our Initial Team Meeting....Any Tips???

justinemtp22

New Member
Our 9yo who is diagnosed with ADHD has just started running into some difficulties at school this year especially with Homework and understanding what is expected of her by the teacher.

We sent a letter requesting the evaluation and we have our first meeting with the Evaluation Team on Tuesday. Any Hints, Tips, Tricks that anyone could share? What are some things we should bring?

Thanks in advance,
Justin
 

Ropefree

Banned
Enjoy the process. What I found is that here is where the strengths your learner does have will be visible, and the way your learner is learning is visible, and what areas are showing needs for supportive learning oppertunities.
Also you will be meeting the people who are going to be testing and have tested your learner, and you will get a lot of information.
If you have a choice on anything and are uncertain, ask. I prefer the IEP to 504 as the goals and benchmarks are very clear...
What I wanted, and recommend is that your learners IO, and not some school policy, set the benchmark...your learner need for support for completion, focus, redirection, who IS going to engage him IN SCHOOL to set the learning
pattern...for adhd completion is the ticket. If your learner is quick the fact is they will follow the pattern and avoid redoing work.
IF your learner is high IQ then eventually enrichment is the challenge.
What was not helpful were provisions where teacher does not follow through.
Telling the adhd and then TELLING THEM LOUDER (like talking loudly to the deaf or a forgien language speaker) is not a provision.
Passing the hot potato (ie, mom, you do it) and admiring the problem(the adhd person does that) are not solutions. The aids are in the steps where the learner IS engaged.
Get in home help asap if/when assignments are problematic. The side effect of
an adhd, or any, learner who is learning to act up to avoid is just bad practise.
Exhausting and futile.
The improvements possible are simply out of this world joyful for a parent.
When the As start up it is all parental joy all the time.
It could happen to you.
 

TheOnlyMe

Relentless Warrior Mom
Well I suggest you go to websites like http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/add.index.htm and here another good page from there http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/iep.index.htm

I always go with an IEP worksheet, specific area of concern and document on it while in the meeting. If you want to private email I can send you a copy of the spreadsheet.

I always use a digital tape recorder and listen to the conversations after reviewing the documents. like this one you can get at most Wal-Marts http://www.rcaaudiovideo.com/product.aspx?product=393

I wish you the best experience and much cooperation and collaboration with the SD!
 

smallworld

Moderator
Two things that have helped us:

1) A daily homework log kept by the parent(s) that includes date, subject matters, time homework took, whether the child completed the homework, any reactions by child (for example, meltdowns, getting up and down from seat), whether child brought all materials home, whether child had difficulty understanding concepts. This log demonstrates educational impact of the disability (in your case ADHD) that the school can't necessarily see.

2) A letter (our psychiatrists have called theirs "Psychiatric School Summary") written by the prescribing physician detailing clinical history, diagnosis, treatment (both medications and therapy) and school accommodations/services the doctor feels would be helpful to the child.

Sometimes our psychiatrists have accompanied us to school meetings (obviously, we pay them for their time). We have also hired an educational advoctate to help us in the process because our school district tends not to want to give IEPs. Our advocate has always done a school observation (unbeknownst to the child) to see how the child is truly functioning in school. The advocate then writes a report that we also submit to the school.

Good luck Tuesday.
 

Sheila

Moderator
This sounds like a meeting to determine what type testing the sd will perform -- not to review an evaluation report that's just been completed?

Your response to this would be different depending on the your answer.
 
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