Keeping Supports in Place

My kids have an amazing school. We agree there is no point in services that aren't needed but the problem is sometimes something stressful pushes them off course. To add back a service at that point is nearly impossible, at least not in the time frame.

I wish I had the IEP with me so I could quote the exact wording but what they do is put the service on a school year time frame, not daily or weekly. Then add something like as needed. That way they aren't getting unneeded services but if they do suddenly need them, boom, right there! Then if it needs to continue we have the time to adjust the IEP.

There is no testing out, just we meet, for what seems like forever, we figure out what is needed, what is not, then we adjust the IEP.

Just about everything in an IEP is pieces. My daughter is just straight up ADHD, her testing accommodation was the last to go. Oddly she was testing average with the accommodations, now she is off the charts without. Guess it was holding her back. My son is a sophomore, very few things are left on his IEP either. Still we keep some for him, just in case.

Both of my boys are ADD..they have an IEP in place.

We go to the school and meet with the teachers and counselors regarding improvement, areas that need help, etc.

My oldest has just started his first year of High School. He is doing well. However, this is just the beginning. In his IEP we have what SHOULD be done, allowances, etc. on as needed basis. This does not mean he must utilize those allowances - in fact - my son doesn't even KNOW his allowances - he lets me know if he is having a problem and we address it. He's in Honors courses - but he does get preferential seating in class and longer to take a test. This year we are trying to see how he does with the rest of the class and IF he needs more time, he will get it.

What would I do? I would make sure that the IEP reads and states what he needs - AS NEEDED. And keep him in the mainstream, supporting him and the teachers to ensure there is a balance for my child.

My oldest son (16, 11th grade) "tested out" of his learning disability diagnosis last year but still very clearly struggles with ADHD. I was afraid that without the LD diagnosis that he would no longer qualify for an IEP and would instead be pushed back to a 504. Obviously I was happy that he no longer is performing in the bottom 25% of his peers and of course the goal is to have fully functioning, independent children but I was afraid that without his accommodations and support, he would fall back academically. To my relief, the psychologist had no intention of dropping his IEP and said that she would have no problem justifying the fact that his ADHD affects his learning. In truth, he hasn't used many of his accommodations (such as longer times for tests, reading through a transparency, using a word processor for essay exams, etc.) in years but they are still there "as needed." He does still have academic support for one period a day and later this year will experiment with dropping that in favor of an elective so we'll see how that goes.

It's common that as kids work through their issues they don't need to use every support that will benefit them, but you can have the important ones left in the plan to be used as needed.