Redoing the IEP for difficult child 3, need advice.

OK i'm going to have to make the new school redo difficult child 3's IEP...he'll be in the sped room for math, reading, writing and science. 4th grade. I'm not sure how many kids and teachers are in the class yet, and he'll be with the regular ed class the rest of the time.

So far the main complaints have been that he doesnt do Any work, has to have someone right ontop of him constantly redirecting him to get anything out of him. He's flighty and doesnt pay a bit of attention to class. Homework is impossible. he's on the IEP for writing troubles, his handwriting is like a first graders still. When he's pushed or upset he gets ornery with other kids...bugging and pestering and trying to trip them and stuff. He does get violent with other kids occassionally if they call a name, he'll hit for instance. Honestly never known him to get that way with an adult but that's what the school is claiming now.

He's very artistic and loves manipulatives...needs to move around a lot. Try and put him at a desk writing...and there's basically no chance of cooperation no matter what you threaten or promise.

He's incredibly smart, but his memory stinks.

Where he was before he had an aide anytime he was in the regular ed classroom except for gym and recess and lunch (tho he prolly should have had one then too since he still got bullied and gave it right back then.

So, i'm open to suggestions on what to ask for, I have a feeling this school district is completely new at dealing with a kid like mine. they get simple ADHD and mild autism from what i hear.
 

Sheila

Moderator
I flew through this and will reread tomorrow if I get a chance.

Could be a lot of reasons he appears to be avoiding work, but the mechanics of writing jumps out at me. When something is hard to do, our kids are no different than the majority of us -- we don't want to do it. Has he had Occupational Therapy for writing? If not, why not? If yes, has he been dismissed from Occupational Therapist (OT) and by whom?
 
no he hasnt had Occupational Therapist (OT), and the schools historically havent wanted to give it. However it isnt the writing that's the whole problem. Yes, he's Incredibly hard to get to write...even his math which he's great at. Honestly it doesnt matter What it is, if he doesnt want to do it he'll refuse, cry, run off, break things, pout, whatever. He'll have a major meltdown over having to pick up his pj's and put them on his bed or write a sentence or comb his hair. Or even NOT doing something he wants to. Anger or crying like someone's ruining his life over the smallest things. It's no wonder a teacher cant deal with him along with a whole class.
 
Oh and another question. If the school district tells me that they dont Have an Occupational Therapist (OT) and Cant give him a 1:1, what do i say to that? This really is a small district, 4 elementary schools, 2 jr highs and a highschool...the highschool has the most with 600 students. The bussing to the new school i know i can make them provide, what about the other stuff? They'll try to cop out i'm sure saying they cant afford it and dont have the staff.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
If you request that his fine motor be evaluated, they have to evaluate it. Period. Just because they don't have someone on staff at the district doesn't mean they can't find a resource to do it. Our district contracts out to an Occupational Therapist (OT) company for these services.

Write the letter asking for the Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluation, just like you did for the IEP.

My difficult child 2 had a lot of fine motor issues for a few years due to a temporary neurological problem. Last year they evaluation'd him and determined he was not severe enough for therapy, but he did qualify to use an Alphasmart device (like a portable word processor) to use for writing assignments and even math.

Sheila's right about the avoidance behaviors when something is too hard to do. My difficult child 2 did similar things when it came to writing when he was having problems. He wouldn't even play video games or Legos because it was just too hard to do.

His attention and impulse control issues may also be related to the bipolar. My difficult child 2 has similar problems. And he can't take ADHD medications because they make him too jittery and shaky (and thus worsen his handwriting). Until you get him stabilized, it's probably going to be an ongoing problem.

So while you are working on the stabilization issues, the school should be figuring out how to make it easier for your difficult child to do the work he needs to do. I'm not saying make the content easier, just make it easier for him to learn it. Does that make sense?

As for the reactive behavior, ask if they have a social skills program, and if not, how about a mentor who can hang out with him and help model appropriate playground behavior. We had the same issues with difficult child 2 being bullied and acting out with other kids. It all comes back to impulse control and social skills. Our school speech/lang specialist conducts a social skills class with difficult child 2 and a few other kids twice a week. Before that, he was in a mentor program and met with older kids a few times a week at recess for some positive social interaction. It helped his self esteem a lot. And now the social skills class is helping in the other areas as well.
 
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