Back to school—hurray! I say that now with a sigh of relief, but not for long. I hate getting up and rushing out the door, I DETEST homework and projects with a passion, and I don’t enjoy the constant monitoring of my children’s progress.
What I do enjoy about my children being in school—besides watching them learn to think critically and advocate for themselves—is the structure and the return to routine after the lazy chaotic summer days. During the school year, there is no argument about bedtimes, bath nights or reading (well, not too much, anyway).
There are so many routines that can help with the school year stress—from having appropriate accommodations on the IEP to setting up a homework system.
Some of the accommodations that are helpful to many families include:
- Extended time on homework or modified homework: a child in elementary school should not have to struggle with homework for 3 hours!
- Copy of textbooks at home: no more driving back to school 3+times per week to pick up those “forgotten” textbooks; also, no more skipping homework because the book isn’t at home
- Weekly communication from teachers: if you can get this, great; if not, it can be a struggle to find out about those missing or incomplete assignments
- Scribe: someone to write down what the student dictates—vital for those with fine motor problems
Our kids with autism aren’t the only ones who benefit from structure and routine; it sure helps me to feel more organized. Here’s hoping all of our children and students have a successful school year!
p.s. Here are some books from our fabulous bookstore that Melanie recommended:
- The Integrated Self-Advocacy Curriculum by Valerie Paradiz
- Communication: What Does It Mean to Me? by Catherine Faherty
- I Need Help with School! by Rebecca Moyes
- Fighting Invisible Tigers by Earl Hipp
- Getting Organized without Losing It by Janet S. Fox
My 9 yo son and I moved here from another state right before school started. He had a 1:1 aide where we came from, though I truly believe he can function in a classroom without one, was told he would be doing science and social studies in the classroom, other academics in sp. ed classroom until he was evaluated. It\’s been nearly a month: No IEP, no meeting, I can\’t get an answer, but get the impression he\’s now getting all academics in sp ed class, have had minimal response to my communication. I try not to ruffle feathers, but is this acceptable that we have had no program meeting? Is he not in a more restrictive environment, going from 1:1 with classroom participation to special ed classroom? He does do \”enhancements\” with his class. Also can\’t get answer as to why he\’s not doing SS & science as discussed (strongly suspect it\’s the sp. ed teacher). Any suggestions as to how to approach this? Thanks.
Susan: I would recommend that you contact one of our Parent Advocates to discuss this in detail. Superficially, I can say that schools are required to provide comparable services when a student moves from another state. The school system has 90 days within which to evaluate a student (if needed), convene an IEP meeting, and write a new IEP. We\’d be happy to talk with you and make more specific suggestions in the meantime.