Desperately need ideas for our in between situation

[Guest guest]

I hope I can make sense here, I'm rather confused myself. My 14yo, 8gr

Asperger son has the following 504 Plan.

-----504 Plan-----

The physical or mental impairment is listed as academic functioning,

with the impairment/condition being autism. No identified support

services. No behavior intervention plan. All of the accommodations

are for all core classes, except the 3 writing prompts, which is

language arts only.

Adapt assignments by providing:

- extra day to turn in assignments

- redo on assignments where directions were not understood or printed

- writing checklist for long writing assignments

- chunking long assignments with staged due dates

Adapt instructions by providing:

- preferential seating in front of class

- frequent checks for understanding

- agenda checked by teacher/parent

- choose from 3 different writing prompts (language arts only)

Adapt materials by providing:

- hard copy of notes

- use of graphic organizers

- ability to use word processor on written assignments

Adapt tests:

- Allow more time for tests if student has not completed test by end

of the class.

------------------

This 504 Plan is not working. For one thing, either the teachers can't

or won't follow it.

It appears they pick and choose what works for them. He is doing

better in class, so I think they may be doing the things that apply to

in-class.

But they aren't doing any of the things that would help him work

outside of class. They don't have him write down enough detail for his

assignments so he can tell what to do, don't make sure he has his

materials and written directions (or not in enough detail), no writing

checklists for long assignments, aren't helping him stay organized,

don't chunk things for him. They let him hand things in more than one

day late but don't communicate when the new due date is and he gets

very confused. All the other kids are told they can't hand in late

assignments at all. It took half the year for me to convince him that

" he " could hand his assignments in late and still get credit since the

teachers don't know how to communicate with him.

They don't understand why I can't just " make " him do his homework like

a normal kid. They don't understand why we can't just sit down and

discuss the school day and do whatever needs to be done. In other

words--they don't know much about autism and don't seem to have any

inclination to try to learn. I'm sure they will accuse me of not doing

anything, and I will come back with " there isn't anything I can do

with so little support from school. " Which they will take as

criticism and decide not to listen to anything else I have to say.

I really don't know what to do with this. When the school district

refused to do any serious evaluating, I had detailed neuropsych,

occupational therapy, and speech evalulations done at very reputable

places. The neuropsych eval in particular gave very detailed

observations and recommendations, along with some great reading

suggestions. It's really helped me at home.

But, the school doesn't understand them and hasn't done much with

them. They took the recommendations and simplified them to the point

where they aren't the same recommendations. For example, the

neuropsych report gives a long explanation on how simply giving my son

a planner isn't enough--he needs everyday coaching long-term. They

translated this into " agenda checked by teacher/parent " , which in turn

has translated into teacher having student write down one or two words

in the assignment columns and teacher and parent initial. Doesn't help

my son at all!

I'm sorry, this is getting kind of rambling--I'll try to wrap it up.

I kept pushing them, he's getting worse and worse, they did an

observation, and they are finally letting him be evaluated by the

school district Autism Team. My issue--what to we do in the time

until whatever the Autism Team decides to do?

I don't imagine anything different will happen until next year, and

meanwhile this 504 isn't working at all. I see my son's education

going down the drain. There is absolutely no reason for someone with a

130 verbal IQ and a 125 non-verbal IQ to flunk 8th grade.

I'd love to hear any ideas on how to present this. How can I make

them DO something instead of just shuffling him along until this

Autism Team takes over?

Ruth

[Guest guest]

Dear Ruth,

I think your son needs an IEP, not a 504 plan. With an IEP, the school would be required to actually take action, such as providing him with a monitor or a personal assistant to help him write down his assignments, complete them on time, etc. The IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), a federal law, also requires them to come up with a positive behavior plan if they are not satisfied with his behavior. You can request that his teachers receive in-service training to increase their understanding of autism spectrum disorders. Also, the most important, but difficult, thing you can do -- which helped my son more than anything else -- is to find an ally or allies on the school staff, who will understand that educating your son is a team effort, and that you will work with them to help him get the education he is guaranteed by law. You have to send them the message "We're all in this together. Let me know what I can do to help you." Of course there are some teachers who will never "get it," either because they are unwilling to go the extra mile or because they just have no comprehension of autism spectrum disorders. But don't give up! I had to go back over and over again to many of my son's teachers, especially in middle school, to explain what was difficult for him and how he could be helped to produce his best work. Sometimes I proposed substitute assignments for assignments I knew would be difficult or impossible for him. You would be amazed how grateful some of his teachers were!

One example you mentioned of a seemingly helpful 504 accommodation that doesn't help your son, and wouldn't have helped mine, is allowing him to choose between three prompts in writing class. What if none of the three prompts works for him? My son once had an English teacher who gave the students three choices for a project on the play "Macbeth." They could act out one of Macbeth's soliloquies (in character); they could design a book cover about the play; or they could construct a stage set for the play. My son has no acting ability or artistic ability. So I sent her an e-mail saying "I assume that the purpose of your assignment is to let the students show that they read the play and understand it. Since Owen has no acting ability, and any art or craft project is extremely difficult for him due to his disability, perhaps he could do an alternative project. He tends to see the world very literally, and deals with facts better than fiction. So how about giving him the assignment of making a poster comparing the life of the real, historical Macbeth with the fictional character in the play?" She said this sounded fine to her, so I helped him look up facts about the real Macbeth on the Internet, and he made the poster and presented it in class. I can't remember his grade, but I think the teacher was very happy with the result.

You say he is doing better at school and it's homework that's the big problem. Is there any way he could get tutoring? I'm embarrassed to admit that I relied on my daughter (five years older than my son) to help him with writing assignments. Somehow her approach just worked better than mine. Then she went away to college and I had to learn how to encourage him myself!

Jill

[Guest guest]

>

> I think your son needs an IEP, not a 504 plan.

Yes, that is the whole idea behind having him evaluated by the Autism

Team. But that puts something new in place towards the end of the

school year, maybe not even until next year--depending on how much we

have to argue about it. My problem is getting them to do something in

the meantime so this entire school year is not a total loss. That and

coming up with Plan B in case they decide to do nothing different. In

our neck of the woods school districts don't have much experience with

the upper end of the spectrum since such kids are usually blown off as

behavior problems. So, this is a very real possibility. I hope to be

proven wrong.

>

> With an IEP, the school would be required to actually take action,

such as providing him with a monitor or a personal assistant to help

him write down his assignments, complete them on time, etc.

You're lucky if you live in a place where things go like this. Where

I live the school district may or may not decide to follow the law; a

lot of it may depend on whether the parents are affluent enough to

hire an attorney to " make " them follow the law. And they know it, and

they've learned all the loopholes very well. So, sometimes being

affluent doesn't even help. There are private therapeutic schools

popping up all over our city because of the way public schools don't

even come close to educating these kids (way too expensive for most

people, unfortunately) and many are homeschooling. Another reason why

the school district Autism Team may not have much experience with the

upper end of the spectrum.

>

> You have to send them the message " We're all in this together. Let

me know what I can do to help you. "

Well, I spent years playing that game. I think it would only work if

the teachers and administration were properly trained in autism, which

in my case they aren't. When I try to explain autism to them or offer

suggestions, they look at me like I'm crazy, for the most part. I

certainly don't get appreciation, and they certainly don't follow any

of my suggestions. I don't think they care at all about him doing his

best work; as long as he is passing, he is " doing really great " --this

regarding a child with a 130 verbal IQ and a 125 non-verbal IQ--can

you believe?!

And in any case, I think the teachers and school district need to

learn to find their own resources and do their own jobs. Personally,

my son is severe enough that school needs to be done at school so we

have time to work on his home program at home--as well as simply relax

and have some down time as a family. It is not workable to re-do

several hours of school every night because my son's teachers don't

know how to communicate with and teach him. It got to the point where

by the beginning of 7th grade I was doing hours and hours of work

every week figuring out what my son needed to do and serving as his

interpreter and resource teacher. I simply couldn't do it any more; I

would have lost my job and our family would have fallen apart.

Luckily an assistant principal--like you said, you have to find your

allies--helped me step back so she could see what the teachers could

do on their own. That was what got him at least a 504.

Of course there are some teachers who will never " get it, " either

because they are unwilling to go the extra mile or because they just

have no comprehension of autism spectrum disorders. But don't give

up! I had to go back over and over again to many of my son's

teachers, especially in middle school, to explain what was difficult

for him and how he could be helped to produce his best work.

Sometimes I proposed substitute assignments for assignments I knew

would be difficult or impossible for him. You would be amazed how

grateful some of his teachers were!

>

> One example you mentioned of a seemingly helpful 504 accommodation

that doesn't help your son, and wouldn't have helped mine, is allowing

him to choose between three prompts in writing class. What if none of

the three prompts works for him? My son once had an English teacher

who gave the students three choices for a project on the play

" Macbeth. " They could act out one of Macbeth's soliloquies (in

character); they could design a book cover about the play; or they

could construct a stage set for the play. My son has no acting

ability or artistic ability. So I sent her an e-mail saying " I assume

that the purpose of your assignment is to let the students show that

they read the play and understand it. Since Owen has no acting

ability, and any art or craft project is extremely difficult for him

due to his disability, perhaps he could do an alternative project. He

tends to see the world very literally, and deals with facts better

than fiction. So how about giving him the assignment of making a

poster comparing the life of the real, historical Macbeth with the

fictional character in the play? " She said this sounded fine to her,

so I helped him look up facts about the real Macbeth on the Internet,

and he made the poster and presented it in class. I can't remember

his grade, but I think the teacher was very happy with the result.

>

> You say he is doing better at school and it's homework that's the

big problem. Is there any way he could get tutoring? I'm embarrassed

to admit that I relied on my daughter (five years older than my son)

to help him with writing assignments. Somehow her approach just

worked better than mine. Then she went away to college and I had to

learn how to encourage him myself!

>

> Jill

>