What things to request at an ard meeting for special education?

Question

Our son (2nd Grade) meets special education requirements for ADHD and Dyslexia. What are some of the special things we should ask for in the ard meeting that the teacher can do for him in the classroom? (He will be pulled out of the classroom twice a day for special tutoring.)

Answer 1

The colored transparencies are Irlen lenses.  My son uses Orton-Gillingham multisensory approach for reading (he is HFA high functioning autism).  Ask for materials to be sent home to pre-teach.  Sterck-Vaughn has textbooks that are written in short sentences and at any grade level.  You can get 11 grade US history written on a 4th grade level and the average sentence is 6 words instead of 10-12.  The core material is the same.  If he has trouble with handwriting, orientation and perception, highlighted paper is helpful.

Answer 2

Other states DO recognize dyslexia as a category for special education. Please disregard the 'advice' of people who attempt to wrongly insist otherwise.

My friends with dyslexia have found colored overlays (colored transparancies) placed over what they read helped them read. Maybe your son could do this during his reading--including with the tutor. Since reading is going to be a challenge, she emphasized finding ways to make the challenge creative and fun.

Answer 3

Tutoring is great, but sometimes kids with Dyslexia or who fall into OHC guidelines (other health impairment, IE ADHD) also qualify for MAC lab - a work room with aids that will help him with directions and assignment completion.  Since state testing begins in 3rd grade, you can request writing and additional reading assistance.  The difficulty that schools face is that the IDEA act, that IEP and ARD reviews are based on states that children have to be in the least restrictive environment, and many educators will feel that time out of the class room is not in the child's best interest.  If you don't agree with the decisions of the ARD committee, you can sign DO NOT AGREE on the form you sign at the end, and you can request an advocate from the school district.

Hope this helps - I have an autistic son with ADHD, and a daughter that is emotionally disturbed, and I am a special ed teacher as well as a college instructor... so I understand both the parental and educator perspective on these matters.  Good luck!

Answer 4

Hmm, you must be in Texas. This is the only state that legally recognizes Dyslexia as an eligilbity category for special ed.

I am not sure what to ask for , but make sure that what ever you ask for  is written on the IEP plan IF everyone agrees to it.  

If it's not written in the plan they don't have to do it.

Answer 5

For LD in reading (dyslexia) I liked to stipulate no penalty for spelling errors on written work except spelling tests. This would be helpful if your son has difficulty with spelling as well.

I also used limited, lengthy reading assignments. (Reading for an hour is like taking a five mile hike for dyslexic students. - physically exhausting)

I used dictation to a scribe for lengthy written assignments, because it would take forever to try to spell things correctly and get thoughts down on paper. My son dictated to me through middle school.

Ask if his pullout tutoring will include a multi-sensory or multi-disciplinary approach to reading - like Orton -Gillingham methods, or Wilson Language, or SRA Reading Mastery. Usually methodology is not written in to an IEP but I know this method works. It does not cure, but the student will learn strategies to approach reading tasks.

He needs to learn to write in cursive as soon as possible. It helps with keeping letters grouped together to form words (spacing) and seeing the word as a whole entity not just random letters. I use D'Neillian cursive which has fewer loops and all lower case is learned with connector lines so stringing letters together in words is natural. That does not have to be in there either, but it would not hurt.

Separate setting, extended time, and read tests aloud - other than reading tests works well; or, you could try oral retests on missed test questions.

Have you tried including a little caffeine with no sugar during the day? We had a student that used to drink a little black coffee a couple times a day to keep him calm - no meds. Some students do well with meds, some do not.

Helpful aids: books on tape while student read book with eyes, Franklin speaking spelling ace, 10 minutes on a task with two minutes off to satisfy need for movement, visual aids are helpful, flashcards work for words, chunks, prefixes, suffixes, word processing on the computer, peer in class that keeps him on track with assignments that he can ask questions without penalty (he needs to pick from a couple of students)

My son favors the Egyptian method of multiplication which was easy for him, and I liked touch math, and still use Excel math pages. He also favors using science books or social studies - something your son enjoys - for his reading lessons.

Answer 6

You know your child the best and his current teacher should be a help for you in determining his needs and how to meet them.  If he needs anything to accomodate his disabilities to help him be successful, you need to request it.  Do some research on the disabilities and really watch your child and see what would help him.  Ask his current teachers and/or therapists what kind of suggestions they have to help improve his abilities.

Answer 7

You need a school psychiatric evaluation which they should provide to you at no cost.  You need to be guaranteed that they will treat him with the best possible education despite his disabilities and if he needs extra time or a space away, he is not punished by late points or holding him down or putting him in a padded room.  Believe me some school do this.

Answer 8

Most states recognized dyslexia as SLD (specific learning disability)

Itis legally recognized as a learnign disability eligible for special ed in tehse states..

You can ask for specialized reading instruction using a multi sensory approach like Wilson or Orton gillingham.

possibly a behavior plan