Janey has been diagnosed with ADHD and her doctor has suggested she be given a 504 plan. I've heard that the Roland-Story Middle School is not the easiest to work with when it comes to these things. And, yes, I realize that posting that ion the internet may get me into trouble -- but I really don't care. I want to work WITH them, but if they start to give us the run around, I want to be prepared.
They won't just start the plan -- I know that. Even though she has been through 6 hours of academic and psychological testing with a psychologist, they are not required to put her on a plan. They will have to do their own evaluation (I guess)
I am exasperated with this because Janey has already missed (I believe) 2 years of academics. This isn't her fault, or the fault of her teachers. I feel like it's my fault because I should have realized that she was in need of more help a lot earlier than I did. But now that we know, I want to be sure we get her caught up and continue to build her self confidence.
So here are my questions...
How long should it take to see a 504 plan in place for Janey?
How long should we give the plan a chance to work before we take other action?
Our back up plan would be for her to complete 5th grade (and possibly more) in a home school setting. Does anyone have any experience with homeschooling an ADHD child and what curricula are recommended? I know that Roland-Story won't let you use their curricula.
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3 comments:
I don't have any experience with the 504 plan. But I do have experience with highly energetic people with difficulty paying attention. Maybe homeschooling isn't a bad idea. That way you can work with Janey to figure out a way she can learn in any environment. For example, perhaps, she needs to be doing two things at once. While someone is lecturing, maybe she needs to be drawing or jumping rope or riding a stationary bicycle or knitting. And then Janey needs perhaps to learn to teach herself things. She needs to learn to manage herself, because I think that is the most valuable skill people with ADHD can develop. People with ADHD aren't retarded, they are just very high functioning. I think people need to optimize that and not treat it as an illness!
Well, that's my two-cents. I hope you find a good solution that works for you.
PS My sister and her kids would fall under that category or very close to it, and what helps most is physical activity interspersed with timely and optimistic learning experiences. For example, in the middle of shopping, you can use your location, say the produce aisle, to do a little math. While driving around, you can find other creative ways to symbolize the lesson. I'm not sure if it would work for Janey but it sometimes works for my sister and her kids. It really lodges it in their brain if they can feel it, touch it, smell it, etc. You are probably well aware of all the things I've said, so I hope I don't come across as sounding like I know anything. I only have my experiences to go on, and I don't know what your experiences are. But I do know that you are an intelligent, creative, compassionate, and talented woman!
oops by optimistic i meant to say opportunistic! but optimistic is good.
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