With Dyslexia and ADHD - 504 Plan or IEP

A parent recently asked -- we are
considering a 504 Plan or an IEP
for my child - which would you
recommend?

The 504 Plan is really an
agreement for the school
to help your child -- without
any legal goals, commitment
or legal obligation

The IEP is a contract with the
school - that must include
written goals, there is a legal
commitment, and money comes with
it

We strongly favor the IEP or
Individual Education Plan

The only negative impact
is that the student is
"labeled" as a Special
Education student -- which
some parents want to avoid

We want to make three key points
1- There is real money and services
that come with the IEP

2- There is no obligation to be
in separate class rooms -- and
small group help is often
available

3- An IEP is very helpful in
getting accommodations for
regular tests, state mandated
tests and the SATs

One other point is that scholarships
are available for college if you
have an IEP

We also encourage parents to set
ambitious goals, make sure
commitments are clear and that
you check up to make sure
they are followed

Retention, Dyslexia + ADHD

A mom wrote
My child has mild dyslexia, a
learning disability she is very
well behaved and wants to
learn just learning is very
difficult for her.

She struggles with everything
in school especially reading
and spelling. She's already
failed once and on the
verge of failing again.

Response
There is very little evidence
that retention addresses
the learning or attention
challenges -- and it certainly
can impact self-esteem

The key is to get to the root
causes -- which typically
include:
- Trouble with sight words
-- students cannot create
a picture for what the word
means and they get lost in
reading, word problems ...

- Pattern recognition -- they
may not recognize when a
word is spelled correctly,
when a math problem is
done correctly, or what a
word is when they see a
"new" word -- even if they
just saw it on a previous
line

- Visual perception issue --
they often skip words and
lines when reading, have
difficulty copying off the
board or reversing letter
and numbers

- Attention t that which is
boring or frustrating

- Anxiety and frustration
then dominate

The key is to isolate the issues
and then address them -- the
anxiety and frustration tend to
evaporate when the real issues
are addressed

For a more in-depth assessment
go to On-Line Assessment