Hi,
We are in the process of writing a new IEP for our son, 9 yrs 7 mnths old. He will be entering 5th grade next year in a new town since we are moving in a few weeks. He is gifted, LD (with features of a NLD), has ADHD and, not surprisingly several subtle but pervasive difficulties with executive functioning. Here is what we struggle with:
His teachers are very clear that, given the support of the classroom he is doing well. But, these successes do not carry over to independent work or homework because he has not internalized the structure he is given at school and so, is still dependent on others to show him how to get started, how to self-monitor etc. His teachers says, since they never seen him struggle, they have no idea what else she needs to do. Although he is on an IEP, he gets all his support in the classroom from an aide who circulates among the children because this is how his school is set up. As a result, our son is not getting systematic strategy instruction that is designed to make him more independent. In addition, no one can explain, document or in anyother way show us specifically what support he is given in the class so we are unable to help him develop mnemonics or any other way to remember strategies and procedures. We’ve tried to make this distinction between systematic cogntive strategy instruction that walks the scaffolded structure into the child and helps the child to integrate and access the structure independently versus merely supporting and helping the child in the classroom. Somehow, we are not getting through. I’ve just come home from a frustrating IEP meeting where much time was spent discussing if he really needed more than the modeling and practice the classroom teacher offers, where in the IEP to include this information, whether it was a regular ed responsibility or a special ed one to address the EF difficulties and so on. The way I understand it, strategy instruction cannot be done properly in a group setting (especially for children like my son), proper strategy instruction requires that time be spent on helping the child become self-aware and teaching them how to consciously choose approaches that maximise their strengths and by-pass their weaknesses. To me, this seems to be a specialised type of instruction.
Does anyone in the LD Online community have experience with this issue, any ideas or solution, or any suggestions to share? I would really appreciate hearing back from you.
Thanks so much!
-Kalyani
Re: IEP supporting executive functioning weaknesses
Teachers and admins are often very reluctant to provide the kinds of structures and supports that students need when they “need to learn to be responsible.” It’s very tricky because, in fact, they *should* learn to be responsible. Some students learn to be responsible no sooner than when they are forced into the position and have negative consequences when they don’t; others, unfortunately, don’t learn from negative consequences any more than I could learn to do a cartwheel from negative consequences.
What can often bring them ‘round, or at least make them willing to compromise, is to show a path towards that independence & responsibility. Try picking a single kind of assignment or subject area to target for a quarter and working towards independence there — choosing one that is likely to be a successful venture, of course.
Strategy instruction can be done in groups, though I suspect that most of us who struggle with such things end up with a coach along the way who helps meet our individual needs and makes up further strategies & structures. I do know it’s really hard to get an unstructured teacher to become structured — but perhaps you can work with them or with another teacher to impose structure on the stuff.
Again, though, I would target a single kind of skill — writing assignments, perhaps — because not only are you going to be figuring out what works for your student, if it’s successful it may be a real eye-opener to the teachers. I know I was quite seriously amazed at how important that structure stuff was to my LD students.
I get to see first hand the effects of structure vs. non-structure in tutoring math — several teachers have all kinds of strategies & structures worked into every lesson, including an extra “lecture guide” packet for students to follow during lessons. A couple of teachers think they’re unnecessary baggage… and don’t understand hwy their students are so frustrated (well, unless they’re in the “if you can’t figure it ouit yourself, you really aren’t smart enough to be here” camp… hello, what are TEACHERS for?) Unless you see both sides, though, it can be hard to believe how important it is.
In my own semi-formal way I do a lot of strategy teaching.
Just today I was making student copies out of the antique math book that I learned from myself; it includes specific lessons on how to problem-solve, what are the various meanings of division and fraction, is the answer reasonable, avoiding the traps of “key words” and how they can be misleading, which operation to use, using diagrams to help — and that is only one chapter. This stuff *can* be (and was) taught in the classroom, but it takes organization and planning of the curriculum and teachers who know what to do and how to do it.
Yes, aides can offer too much of the wrong kind of help, short-circuiting independence instead of developing it, all with the very best of intentions and the hardest of work.
Sometimes it is actually better to cut back on the extra help and push the student to do things for himself.
You can try to find a mean nasty tutor like me who will pucsh him to reach that next stage for himself.