Special Needs

Finding a balance?

Haven't been here in quite a while. My son has dx of PDD-NOS and ADHD. He recently had the ADOS completed through the school district and did not meet the cut off for autism or an ASD.  The district attributes most of his problems to ADHD, although knowing my son and through therapy, we strongly disagree. Most of his behaviors are anxiety driven . 

Trevor currently has 3.5 hours of pull out services for ELA and math. He has reduced assignments and a much smaller class size. He is doing well, but I've noticed he is also not being challenged.  It's frustrating to me that he can do the work the rest of his peers are if only there were not 31 kids in the room.  Is there anything we can do to challenge him academically a bit more? We have a meeting on 11/2 to  discuss the ADOS and other issues.

Re: Finding a balance?

  • image-auntie-:
    imagemeghans30:

    Haven't been here in quite a while. My son has dx of PDD-NOS and ADHD. He recently had the ADOS completed through the school district and did not meet the cut off for autism or an ASD.  The district attributes most of his problems to ADHD, although knowing my son and through therapy, we strongly disagree. Most of his behaviors are anxiety driven . 

    If you disagree with their findings, you can ask for an IEE.

    It can be really hard to parse out what behaviors are strictly driven by ADHD and what ones are soley ASD. DS is 19 and I still can't always sort out what condition is derailing him at any given time.

    IME, his ADHD, which I didn't buy into early on, was a bigger problem for him at times than his Aspergers. AS tends to impact more how he processes information. Inattention and executive function glitches come from both issues.

    Trevor currently has 3.5 hours of pull out services for ELA and math. He has reduced assignments and a much smaller class size.

    Why? Why does he need his work load modified? Does he need extra time to process or complete the work? Does he not need practice to master the material? Is this a standard mod for any kid with his issues at his school?

    I think sometimes schools have a one size fits all to IEP accommodations- like all kids with ADHD need to have extra time for tests or go to a smaller class to take them- instead of looking at exactly what a kid needs. Are all the kids in the resource setting on reduced workloads?

    He is doing well, but I've noticed he is also not being challenged.  It's frustrating to me that he can do the work the rest of his peers are if only there were not 31 kids in the room.  Is there anything we can do to challenge him academically a bit more? We have a meeting on 11/2 to  discuss the ADOS and other issues.

    Sometimes you have think about what you want. Do you want him to feel successful or challenged? Because it might not be possible to do both across the board in a public elementary setting. He might do better in a private LD-type school for now, but these are prohibitively expensive. You might consider meds if that helps him access the mainstream more successfully. You could drop the mods if he doesn't need them. In 5th and 6th, DS did  6th grade ELA and math in resource, but had the same work load as the mainstream class. He didn't love it because the other resource kids had different mods.

    It got better in middle school where he had classes set up with mainstream academics and small class sizes with dually certified teachers. But then the bump up to high school was greater.

    Excellent points Auntie. Last year was so difficult for all of us. His anxiety was through the roof due to both being overwhelmed academically and the huge class size. I think I will just let the academics slide just a little this year and focus on the social difficulties (no real services in place arghh). The school does seem to have a one size fits all IEP, which should not be the case, but as a teacher I know just comes with the school being overwhelmed. In general, I am happy with the progress he has made since last year and Trevor seems to enjoy school.  

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