Ninth grade is a big leap for kids with ADHD, whose emotional maturity and executive functioning may lag a few years behind that of their neurotypical peers. Your teen will be navigating a new school (and the stress of finding classrooms), new teachers, new peers, and more advanced classwork while undergoing hormonal changes and new social dynamics. These pressures can exacerbate ADHD symptoms or reveal related difficulties.

6 Tips for 9^th Grade

Help your teen meet the new challenges of high school with the following tips:

[Free Download: Transform Your Teen’s Apathy Into Engagement]

1. Build skills. Identify your teen’s true emotional maturity. For example, does your 8th grader relate to others on a 5th-grade level? Consider what skills will be essential in high school and what you can do together to build them. For example, you might coach your teen on how to respond to teachers and role-play the interactions so he can practice using a respectful tone. Reflecting on situations your teen has navigated successfully in middle school also builds confidence. Offer reassurance and support.
2. Get organized. Buy school supplies early, if possible, and set up a desk or a quiet place in the home for your teen to do his schoolwork. Create a routine for organizing your teen’s backpack and notebooks. Get familiar with the school’s website and apps for viewing classes, assignments, events, and grades.
3. Review accommodations. You and your teen should review his IEP or 504 Plan before school begins to ensure he has appropriate accommodations. If these supports fall short, your teen should be prepared to advocate for himself.
4. Listen up. After a tiring day of holding it together in school, your teen’s anxiety may worsen when he gets home. Be calm and accepting. Ask open-ended questions to gain insight. Create an atmosphere where your teen feels heard and can safely express his fears and concerns.
5. Work on time management. Help your teen assess the time required to complete a project or assignment. Then use time-tracking apps that let your teen set time markers for each step of a task from beginning through completion.
6. Encourage study buddies. Study groups and tutors can help lighten your teen’s memory load. Peer support and mentor programs may also help teens with ADHD navigate the social dynamics at school. Is your teen interested in tennis or swimming? Joining a sports team and pairing up with an older student on that team can foster a feeling of belonging and support.

9th Grade Readiness: Next Steps

• Learn: 50 High School Accommodations for Every ADHD Challenge
• Read: Your High School Get-It-Together Guide
• Free Download: Boost Your Teen’s Executive Functions
• Watch: High School Success: How to Prepare for the Transition from Middle to High School
• Sign Up: ADDitude’s Free Parenting Class: Everything You Need to Know About Raising a Child with ADHD 

Caroline Maguire, M.Ed., ACCG, PCC, is the author of Why Will No One Play with Me?

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It’s hard to know the prevalence of twice-exceptionality, but a report from the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) estimates that 6% of U.S. students receiving special education services are also academically gifted.¹ Patience, persistence, and advocacy are key to improved outcomes for this largely underserved school population.

If your child is twice exceptional, did you first notice their strengths or their weaknesses? We asked ADDitude readers this and more: Did the school system acknowledge and support all the aspects of your child’s learning profile? How does this affect their academic performance and friendships? Scroll down to the Comments section and add to the conversation.

“We recognized the gifted attributes first, which ‘hid’ the ADHD until fifth grade. Teachers have high expectations, but they often do not consider [my daughter’s] ADHD when she forgets something or needs reminders because she performs well. She is still doing well, and they have a great resource department. She has a small group of friends who have ADHD too, and who are also doing extremely well in school.” — An ADDitude Reader

“My 12-year-old son has ADHD, developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and is gifted. The DCD was diagnosed first. The ADHD diagnosis came much later. Because he is bright, an introvert, and not hyperactive or impulsive, he flew under the radar. He does very well in math and reading, but just average on written tasks, which he finds harder because of his motor difficulties and his struggle to make decisions about what to write! He has always had friends but is shy. He finds it hard to initiate social interaction.” — Emily, Australia

 [eBook: Signs & Symptoms of Learning Disabilities]

“We had our daughter tested for ADHD after her brother’s diagnosis. We always felt she wasn’t reaching her full potential at school. They came back with a diagnosis of ADHD and giftedness. I think the diagnosis improved her self-esteem and helped her better understand how she learns, but she experiences a big social and academic disconnect. At school, she hangs out with kids on the fringe but takes AP courses. Her classmates are always surprised that she’s smart because they don’t perceive her that way. She feels that many of her teachers don’t, either. She’s a really bright kid who acts impulsively. Luckily, medication and therapy are helping her make better decisions and focus on her future.” — An ADDitude Reader

“Both of my children are 2e and I couldn’t be prouder of that fact! It’s difficult to distinguish which I noticed first, as both were very bright little people who never stopped moving. The ADHD diagnoses came first and helped push toward a 504 Plan. Once they were old enough for thorough testing and evaluation, high intelligence and specific learning disabilities (SLD) were indicated. Before that, though, there were areas of concern that the school consistently dismissed as typical for the age (which was not the case). Once the documentation showed otherwise, the IEP process began for the SLD need, but all ADHD supports were stopped. It wasn’t totally understood by the teachers involved why an IEP was necessary. Their “low” is average and average is what they were aiming for, but it wasn’t allowing the children to reach their potential. With administrative support at a new school, supports to address their attention and focus were added back in and things have been positive overall.” — Rebecca

“I have three gifted children. They’re all amazing, but two of them are 2e. My oldest was recognized as academically gifted in some subject areas, but the inattentive ADHD wasn’t until much later. I was diagnosed first and it became obvious to us that she had it too. It took three years of work and ‘second opinions’ to get a diagnosis at age 17, with only 5 months left of her school life… My youngest 2e child has been recognized by adults as gifted since he was a toddler. Individual teachers would recognize it, but… we had to pay for an external evaluation to get a diagnosis: first of severe dysgraphia, then combined ADHD. The school now acknowledges the diagnoses and provides minimal support for the dysgraphia during assessments only… I am extremely proud of my middle child, but I look at what she has been able to achieve at school and in the community and wonder what the other two could have done, or could be doing, if they received the support they needed.” — Lisa, Australia

“From the time he was 2 or 3 years old, my son’s incredibly bright mind was obvious to me as a parent. Unfortunately, his keen intelligence left me questioning my parenting when he couldn’t do simple things like stay close to me in the grocery store or listen when he was told not to touch something… He thrived academically but had a lot of trouble adapting to all the rules in a classroom. That’s when we knew something wasn’t lining up. He was diagnosed with ADHD in first grade. His psychological evaluation confirmed his high intelligence, but also revealed a rather low processing speed. Suddenly everything made sense, and I cut myself some slack as a parent. There is no perfect place in school for a 2e child, but he is currently thriving in advanced classes with a 504 plan in place. He has healthy friendships with other bright kids, many of whom are a year older than him.” — An ADDitude Reader, Michigan

[Read: Slow Processing Speed — Signs & Solutions for a Misunderstood Deficit]

“Both of my kids are 2e. In the oldest, IQ masked ADHD (without hyperactivity). We didn’t get a diagnosis until things fell apart in sixth grade. It was hard for my child to cope with always being ‘the professor’ who had no trouble in school to suddenly being the kid who couldn’t find homework or keep up with busy work. In my youngest child, ADHD masked her IQ, so school wouldn’t allow her in the gifted program despite testing from a psychologist. The psychologist didn’t want to ‘label’ my child as ADHD until they were in the correct academic setting, so we wasted a lot of time begging for help and cooperation while my child suffered. Now they are both getting what they need and doing well, but it’s sadly always a gamble: Will they get a teacher next year who doesn’t get them and their strengths or needs? Thankfully, both kids have good friends that got them through their difficult times. I wish teachers would be more knowledgeable and aware of 2e kids so it wouldn’t be such a big ordeal.” — An ADDitude Reader

“A few of [my daughter’s] recent teachers don’t understand her ADHD. She has been in gifted or honors classes since middle school and is now a sophomore… They don’t understand how hard it is for her to stay focused long enough to complete her assignments, which are longer in advanced classes. They don’t know how that goes into getting [assignments] done — taking medication in the morning and afternoon at the right time, being able to fall asleep so she can function the next day… Listening to music on her phone with earbuds helps her focus, but that isn’t usually allowed in school. Sending a text to her dad or I about something important before she forgets gets her in trouble. I think she’ll do better in college, where she can control her course load and have more autonomy to take care of her needs. One advantage of her being 2e is that she has a better understanding of her ADHD and how to manage it. This helps her advocate for herself better.” — Kim, California

“My 16-year-old son is 2e. His IQ is over 130, but he also has ADHD… We recognized his 2e diagnosis in second grade. Although he had read most of the books in the Harry Potter series by age 7, his teacher (in a dual language immersion school) said that she did not think he needed any accelerated or differential teaching. He has had particular issues with teachers who were not trained in the U.S. (Latin America and Europe) and his current high school supports are completely teacher dependent. His private college prep school refuses to give him any accommodations around decreasing homework or allowing additional time on assignments due to slow processing speed (he only receives extra time for tests)… Although transferring schools would probably benefit him, he is adamant to stay at this school. He has had substantial issues with friendships. He currently does not have many good, long-term relationships after starting high school and floats from group to group. He has a lot of social anxiety and difficulty ‘reading’ both his peers and school teachers or administrators.”

2e Students and ADHD: Next Steps

• Free Download: Fight for Your Child’s Rights at School
• Read: Encourage Success, Overcome Struggles
• Replay: The 2e Playbook for Nurturing Gifted Students with ADHD
• Read: Twice-Exceptional and Thriving — At Last

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Sources

¹Baird, L. L. (2022, April 20). How to support your twice-exceptional child. U.S. News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/articles/how-to-support-your-twice-exceptional-child

Hi IEP Parent:

I appreciate how much you want to support your daughter. And the best way to do so is to ensure she gets the support she needs at school. However, as you’ve realized, getting the information you need can be frustrating and overwhelming and depends on good communication with her teachers.

It’s important to know what the modifications and accommodations from your daughter’s IEP look like, how they are being implemented and measured for progress, and how this information will be communicated to you.

I suggest sending each teacher a list of specific questions to gather this data. You want to know if your daughter is performing at grade level, what teaching methods are used in the classroom, and where they see any struggles.

I’ve put together a list of seven questions to help guide the discussion.

[Bring This Form to Your Parent-Teacher Meetings]

7 Questions to Improve Communication with Teachers

1. Have You Read My Child’s IEP or 504 Plan?

You don’t want to assume that your daughter’s teachers have a copy of her IEP or that they have read it. I recommend forwarding a copy of her IEP and a one-page summary detailing your daughter’s strengths and weaknesses to each of her teachers. Don’t forget to include her elective or special-area teachers in physical education, music, art, health, etc. Also, include your contact information, so the teachers will know the best way to get in touch with you. Then send a follow-up email to each teacher a week later to confirm that they received and read the report.

2. Can You Tell Me About Your Teaching Style?

Each individual instructor’s teaching style will differ. Finding out how they teach is critical to her success in the classroom. For example, if your child is a hands-on learner and her chemistry teacher is strictly an old-school lecturer, additional support and scaffolding may be necessary. In other words, you want to know what a typical class period looks like.

3. What Supports Are in Place for My Daughter, and How Are You Specifically Implementing Them?

Academic and behavioral support can be provided in many ways, so you need to get detailed here. What do the IEP accommodations and supports look like in each class? Are they a pull-out model (where a student is removed from class for support) or a push-in model (where support staff blends in with the rest of the class to offer support)? Is the teacher providing her with copies of the class notes? Supplying double desks? Applying homework modifications or offering directions in more than two modalities?

4. Does My Daughter Need Extra Help in Any Areas? If So, How Are You Working with Her to Address Them?

This is a softer way of asking what your daughter may be struggling with and what her teacher is doing to support her.

5. What Type of Progress Can I Expect to See?

It’s not enough for your daughter’s teachers to tell you what accommodations or modifications they are implementing. You also need to know what type of progress to expect and how it will look. Use the following questions to get clear answers.

• What should healthy progress look like?
• What are some key signs that we are moving in the right direction?
• What should I watch out for at home?

[Free Checklist: 12 Parent Advocacy Secrets]

6. How Can I Communicate to You What Works Best for My Daughter at Home?

It’s crucial to give your daughter’s teachers a clear view of what is working at home. Maybe your daughter needs to doodle to focus or move around while learning. Perhaps she needs to listen to music while doing “desk work.”  These strategies need to be communicated to her teachers so they can possibly incorporate them into their classrooms.

7. How Can We Support Classroom Goals at Home?

For students to make the best progress possible, goals must be fluid between school and home. To that end, make sure there is a clear communication plan in place. How will you communicate with your student’s teacher? How will they communicate with you? How often? Do you want to know about specific criteria, milestones, or setbacks? The more specific you make your communication plan, the fewer things will be left to chance, and the most success your daughter will achieve!

Good luck!

Communication with Teachers: Next Steps

• Learn: How to Improve Parent-Teacher Communication
• Read: Don’t Wait for the Parent-Teacher Conference! 11 Year-Round Cooperation Rules
• Download: How to Make School Meetings Count: Your Free Guide

ADHD Family Coach Leslie Josel, of Order Out of Chaos, will answer questions from ADDitude readers about everything from paper clutter to disaster-zone bedrooms and from mastering to-do lists to arriving on time every time.

Submit your questions to the ADHD Family Coach here!

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Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

Hi FrustratedMom:

I totally understand your frustration, especially if you and your son are doing everything you can to stay on top of his homework and class assignments. You have many different concerns: You don’t know soon enough when homework is missing, your son thinks he’s getting everything turned in, and you’re also worried about his grades.

Some seventh graders don’t need help remembering homework. However, for students with ADHD and executive functioning challenges, being organized, remembering to do homework, and knowing how and even where to turn it in are all tasks that can be extremely difficult to manage. So, your son may really need help! Seventh grade, for many kids, is a transition year — from elementary school to middle school, from childhood to adolescence. There’s much more going on than just weekly homework. In other words, it can be an overwhelming time.

[Free Download: Proven Homework Help for Kids with ADHD]

The good news is that because you already have a 504 Plan in place, you can expect his seventh-grade teacher to implement a system to help him remember to do and turn in his homework.

Before I suggest changes to your son’s 504 Plan, I think it’s important that your son knows you believe he is doing the best he can. It can be really demoralizing for a child to feel like he’s doing everything he’s supposed to, only to discover something went wrong. It could be that your son is turning in the work, but it’s going to the wrong spot, or the teacher has misplaced it. And while it’s possible that your son hasn’t turned in anything, avoid placing blame and instead focus on establishing a system that will help your son be more successful, more accountable, and keep his teacher accountable, too.

Begin by contacting your CSE (Committee for Special Education) point of contact to request an amendment to the 504 Plan. Depending on the district, this may require a CSE meeting, but in some schools, they can just add the amendment and send it to the teachers.

Top 504 Plan Homework Accommodations for ADHD

Here are 504 Plan accommodations that I recommend:

1. A prompt from the teacher to turn in assignments. A 504 Plan is not an IEP — it has fewer teeth. 504s work more like recommendations than the enforced rules of an IEP, but it’s often enough to have it in writing that the teacher should prompt the student to turn in work.
2. A homework checklist can also help keep your son accountable — not just the online grading system but a physical piece of paper that the student has the teacher initial when he turns in the assignment.
3. A paper planner that is checked daily by the teachers to ensure your son has all his assignments noted as well as completed and turned in.
4. A special accommodation, such as taking a photograph of his homework or submitting homework via email to eliminate that extra step in class the next day.
5. Communication! You can build it into your 504 Plan to have the teacher reach out to you promptly if a certain number of assignments are missing or your son’s grades have dropped to a certain GPA.

[Free Download: Sample Letter to Request an IEP or 504 Plan Evaluation]

You can also talk with your son’s team about having extended deadlines for turning in assignments if your son is feeling overloaded and overwhelmed. And many schools offer a second set of textbooks to keep at home to ensure the student has what they need to do homework.

As your son gets older, you may find that the 504 Plan simply isn’t enough. Then you may need to move to an IEP, which gives you more tools to help support your son’s educational needs and stronger requirements for following the ADHD accommodations. Remember, any accommodation that makes it more likely your son will succeed is worth putting in writing!

It sounds like you’re doing all you can from your end. Hang in there, FrustratedMom.

504 Plan: Next Steps

• Free Download: Sample 504 Plan for Students with ADHD
• Learn: “Is My Child with ADHD Entitled to a 504 Plan?”
• Read: Common Problems & Helpful Solutions for Your IEP/504 Plan
• Sign Up: Free Back-to-School Master Class for Parents and Educators

ADHD Family Coach Leslie Josel, of Order Out of Chaos, will answer questions from ADDitude readers about everything from paper clutter to disaster-zone bedrooms and from mastering to-do lists to arriving on time every time.

Submit your questions to the ADHD Family Coach here!

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

A: Annual IEP meetings are a minimum, and you have the right to convene an IEP meeting at any time, not just once a year. That said, it is not always necessary to hold a meeting to make changes to an IEP. If you and the school agree that changes are needed, these can be made in writing without a meeting.

The school should add these changes to the existing IEP and share a copy of the updated IEP with you. This process is generally used for minor adjustments, such as adding or reducing the frequency of services like speech or occupational therapy.

For more substantial changes, like changing a classroom setting or adding completely new services, you likely will need a meeting. Start by communicating with the IEP team to see if the changes you want to make can be done without a meeting.

IEP Meeting Requests: Next Steps

• Read: IEP Meeting Advice — How to Get the ADHD Accommodations Your Child Needs
• Q: What Is Your IEP Meeting Agenda?
• Download: How to Create a IEP/504 Plan for Your Child with ADHD

Susan Yellin, Esq., is the director of Advocacy and Transition Services at The Yellin Center for Mind, Brain, and Education in New York City.

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Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

Welcome to ADDitude’s self-guided master class designed to explain and solve the Top 10 learning hurdles facing students with ADHD and other learning differences.

This course, featuring instructional videos from the world’s foremost experts in neurodivergent education, will guide parents and educators through a full syllabus of 51 webinar replays, 72 essential articles, 33 expert Q&As, 39 downloadable resources to share, 17 self-tests, 33 expert Q&As, 15 supplemental videos, and more.

Each lesson revolves around a common challenge for neurodivergent students:

• Learning Hurdle #1: ADHD Misinformation (How to educate educators on ADHD and recognize early signs of ADHD in the classroom)
• Learning Hurdle #2: ADHD Accommodations (How to advocate for your child, secure an effective IEP or 504 Plan, and ensure it’s being followed)
• Learning Hurdle #3: Distractibility and Inattention (How to help students hear and follow directions without losing focus or interest)
• Learning Hurdle #4: Weak Executive Functions (How to bolster executive function skills commonly impacted by ADHD, including working memory, prioritization, and time management)
• Learning Hurdle #5: Behavior Challenges (How to address and prevent the classroom behaviors that interfere with learning such as interrupting, hitting, and fidgeting)
• Learning Hurdle #6: Homework Problems (How to help students accurately log, prioritize, complete, and hand in assignments on time)
• Learning Hurdle #7: Learning Differences (How to best serve and teach students who have dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, auditory processing, dyspraxia, and other learning differences)
• Learning Hurdle #8: Social Struggles (How to teach social and emotional-regulation skills so that kids can make and keep friends more easily)
• Learning Hurdle #9: School Collaboration (How to facilitate and participate in parent-teacher-student cooperation and communication, particularly around accommodations)
• Learning Hurdle #10: Motivation and Resilience (How to build internal and external motivation to encourage resilience in students when they face school challenges)

NOTE: This resource is for personal use only.

Hi BacktoSchoolMom:

Getting ahead of back-to-school preparation is an overwhelming concern felt by many parents — regardless of their student’s age. We are very good at knowing we need to purchase school supplies (usually because we’ve been given a list). However, few of us instinctually know how to truly get our students and homes back-to-school ready.

Here are my top 10 tried-and-true back-to-school tips to prepare your student (and you!) for the new school year.

10 Back-to-School Tips for a Successful Year

1. Make Study Playlists. Music can help activate the ADHD brain. It can also bolster attention and focus. Some students need it to drown out distracting sounds. Others need it to get their adrenaline going. If your daughter needs music to get activated, suggest that she create a playlist of familiar songs that is 30 to 45 minutes long. (Some of my older students create different playlists for different subjects.)

My students tell me that this is one of their favorite tools for getting started on homework. It acts as a true motivator and timekeeper, it’s portable, and the list goes on and on. When it’s time for your daughter to begin her homework, switch on the playlist, and she’s ready to (literally) rock!

[Free Resource: Back-to-School Playbook]

2. Create a Personal Homework Profile. Homework is the last thing any child wants to do after a long school day, especially if the child has attention deficits and learning challenges. Creating a < ahref="https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-homework-plan-for-child/">Personal Homework Profile will help strengthen her homework muscle. Your daughter can note what strategies, tools, resources, environment, etc., she needs to get started, stay on task, and feel more productive. Having a plan when she begins homework takes the guesswork out of “What has worked for me before?”

Download a free copy of our Personal Homework Profile (additu.de/personal-homework-profile).

3. Review your daughter’s IEP or 504 Plan. A new school year ushers in change — new classes, new teachers, possibly a new school, etc. Now is the perfect time to review how your daughter’s learning needs have changed. Make sure her IEP or 504 Plan clearly states the goals, accommodations, and services you want for the coming year.

4. Set up a meeting with her guidance counselor or related professionals to start school on the right foot. Address expectations and concerns that you might have for your daughter during the upcoming school year and formulate a plan together. If it’s a new school, arrange a tour before the first day so your daughter can familiarize herself with the building.

5. Choose organizing supplies WITH your student. I know. I know. Most teachers send home a supply list. However, just as every student learns differently, not every organizing system works for every student! I firmly believe that teachers would prefer students use a system that allows them to be organizationally successful rather than use supplies that simply don’t work. If the suggested system doesn’t fit your daughter’s needs, have her explore alternatives. Visit an office supply store or order supplies online, so she feels and sees different options firsthand. Trust me. Students have a real sense of what feels “right” to them. Once she finds what works for her, compose an email to the teacher with all the details.

[Free Download: The Big List of ADHD School Resources]

6. Hang analog clocks in every room of your house where your daughter spends time. Analog clocks help you see the actual passing of time, allowing her to see the overall sweep of time as it passes. Why is this important? Because your daughter needs to be able to SEE her time so she can manage it. And a digital clock or phone only gives you one time: the present.

7. Create a landing zone. Every student needs a landing zone — that one place in the home where every item that travels in and out of the house lives. Think backpacks, soccer bags, dance tote, clarinet… you get the idea. Hang a whiteboard and clock in your landing zone, and make sure there is an outlet nearby for charging devices like phones and tablets. A landing zone will help improve organization for the entire family!

8. Set up the calendar. Whether your daughter chooses a planner, calendar, or electronic app, it’s the perfect time for her to load up her calendar with back-to-school plans, dates, appointments, after-school activities, etc.

9. Purchase alarm clocks. Yes, alarm clocks. Your daughter should NOT be using her phone as an alarm clock. Just make sure to choose one without a snooze function. My favorite is the Sonic Boom (#CommissionsEarned). It gets even the deepest sleepers out of bed!

10. Create a school supply zone. How will you know if your child is prepared for school? When your daughter finally sits down to do her work, does she have everything she needs? All in one place? Most likely not. There is a simple solution: Your daughter needs a school supply zone. This is not necessarily where students will do homework (You know I like students to move around while working), but a place in the house where their printer, textbooks, and supplies are located.

And a tip within a tip! When shopping for back-to-school items, stock up on all the essential supplies to avoid late-night trips to the store.

The first days of school are challenging for most students as they adjust to new routines and surroundings. Getting your “sea legs” takes time. I hope these tips help make the transition easier for you and your daughter.

Good Luck!

Back-to-School Tips: Next Steps

• Free Download: Sample Schedules for Reliable Family Routines
  
• Learn: Back-to-School Guide for ADHD Families
• Read: 3 Back-to-School Assignments for Parents

ADHD Family Coach Leslie Josel, of Order Out of Chaos, will answer questions from ADDitude readers about everything from paper clutter to disaster-zone bedrooms and from mastering to-do lists to arriving on time every time.

Submit your questions to the ADHD Family Coach here!

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Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

#CommissionsEarned As an Amazon Associate, ADDitude earns a commission from qualifying purchases made by ADDitude readers on the affiliate links we share. However, all products linked in the ADDitude Store have been independently selected by our editors and/or recommended by our readers. Prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication

Here, learn how other ADDitude readers answered the question, Which classroom accommodations for ADHD or learning differences have been most helpful for your children?

Accommodations for Inattentive ADHD

“A ‘check-in’ with the teacher at the end of the day helps. She summarizes what my child did that day. I ask how she and the teacher feel about it, and we discuss unfinished projects.” — An ADDitude Reader

“My kids’ teachers use subtle hand signals instead of verbally redirecting (and identifying) them in class. It also helps for my kids to sit next to focused work partners.” — An ADDitude Reader

“Taking tests in a separate space and using headphones to block out noise when working on classroom assignments, works for my kids.” — An ADDitude Reader

[Download: Classroom Accommodations for ADHD]

“We get videos of lectures so we can rewatch them, pause to take notes, and then continue. Also, having access to notes taken by classmates, and verbal testing one-on-one with a proctor, helps.” — An ADDitude Reader

“My daughter’s accommodations give her preferential seating in the front row, which has been most effective because the teacher can more easily recognize when my daughter is struggling and get her back on track.” — An ADDitude Reader

“Having all assignments in writing, reading instructions out loud, and having my child repeat them back, helps. Also, audiobooks and graphic organizers work well.” — An ADDitude Reader

“The most important thing a teacher can know about inattentive ADHD is that you can be drawing or fidgeting and listening.” — An ADDitude Reader

[Free Downloadable Chart: IEP vs. 504 Plans]

Accommodations for Hyperactive ADHD

“Using a stress ball and not being required to sit while doing his work has been most helpful for my child.” — An ADDitude Reader

“Running errands for the teacher always helps get extra energy out.” — An ADDitude Reader

“My daughter has a hall pass that she can use whenever she needs to take a ‘body break.’” — An ADDitude Reader

“My daughter’s can stand at her desk, use a fidget tool, sit on a wiggle seat, walk to the water fountain, etc. But she doesn’t always think of these classroom accommodations at the moment, so having a visual list taped inside her desk helps.” — An ADDitude Reader

“Honestly, the only thing that made a difference was medication.” — An ADDitude Reader

“The teacher gives my son little jobs as movement breaks: locking the classroom windows, counting all the pens in the classroom, and checking all the printers to make sure they have paper.” — An ADDitude Reader

“My son has always ‘thought on his feet,’ pacing more and more rapidly as he gets into whatever is engaging his mind. His teachers know this and allow him to move around in the classroom.” — An ADDitude Reader

“It helps my son to sit on a wobble cushion, near the teacher, in the front of the class, and by other children who are less disruptive.” — An ADDitude Reader

Classroom Accommodations for ADHD: Next Steps

• Read: Classroom Accommodation That Target Common ADHD Challenges
• Read: IEP Accommodations That Really Work
• Download: Free Guide: 40 Best Accommodations for Children with ADHD or LD

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Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

It is not uncommon for students to feel embarrassed when they are pulled out of the classroom for any kind of learning difference (LD) or ADHD accommodations. No student wants to feel “exposed” for their neurodivergence. To avoid this, some kids deny the critical need for additional services or question whether the payoff is worth the emotional price of getting assistance. For either group, we suggest our WORD model for engaging kids in IEPs and 504 Plans.

Willingness

As parents, we spend a lot of time thinking about what our children want. Does any teen really want to go to school, much less a resource room? Most kids are willing to go to school because they have friends there, and they know there’s a higher purpose in learning. Willingness means tolerating painful feelings because you value what you can get from the experience.

On the Team

In my practice, we achieve high compliance, both in the use of medication and psychotherapy, because we tell teens at intake that they are not only on the team; they are the team leaders. If you don’t have a teen’s membership on the team, you don’t have buy-in or willingness, and you’re sunk. Likewise, we encourage teens to lead their IEP or 504 Plan meetings and, with adult support, to express their needs, critiques, and concerns. They should always be taken seriously.

Teens smell inauthenticity a mile away, so an invitation to lead the team must be genuine, even when it hurts the adults to relinquish control.

[Self-Test: Do I Have ADHD? The Ultimate Quiz for Teen Girls]

Reward vs. Risk

Perpetually assess the value added (or lost) by using LD or ADHD accommodations. If your teen uses the resource room for one grading period and it isn’t paying off, then change the plan. Using rewards to persuade your child to attend and participate in the IEP or 504 Plan can work well.

The most profitable thing I’ve ever done with my kids is pay them for behaviors I wanted to reinforce — and schoolwork is front and center in that plan. This is not “bribing” kids. It’s behavior modification, and it works if the reward outweighs any painful or uncomfortable downside so that the teen becomes willing.

Discretion

Inclusion room teachers are rarely trained in special education. Some are great at quietly supporting students who need to step out for services. Others are far from subtle, calling out, “Jordan, it’s time for your reading class!” If your teen reports the latter, talk with the teacher and include in the IEP that the dismissal will be done with minimal interruption. If a prompt is needed, a tap on the shoulder or a hand gesture would work.

Teens thrive when they understand and accept the value of IEP support services. For parents, it’s important to accept that, in the end, teens really are in charge of their own willingness and participation.

[Free Download: IEP vs. 504 Plan – What’s the Difference?]

ADHD Accommodations: Next Steps

• Read: 50 High School Accommodations for Every ADHD Challenge
• Free Download: Best Accommodations for Children with ADHD or LD
• Read: Is 16 Too Old for a 504 Plan or IEP for ADHD? 

Wes Crenshaw, Ph.D., co-author of ADD and Zombies: Fearless Medication Management for ADD and ADHD, and author of I Always Want to Be Where I’m Not: Successful Living with ADD and ADHD.

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Even with adequate services and accommodations, your child’s IEP will come undone without clearly defined and appropriate goals that reflect their learning needs. Keep these factors in mind as your child’s learning team works to outline their IEP goals.

3 Questions Answered by Good IEP Goals

1. What are the child’s specific, objective, and quantifiable goals? How can you measure a student’s progress against vague IEP goals that are subjective and easy to ignore?

Take, for example, this IEP goal: The child will write a complete sentence 80% of the time. What exactly does a complete sentence look like? How will that 80% threshold be determined — per assignment? Per day? Per semester? When unhelpful goals like this go unchallenged and continue to form part of a student’s IEP, they influence how the team perceives the child’s progress and could possibly set them back. Remember, when you next sit down with the committee, you will want clear answers to the following questions:

• Has the IEP goal been achieved?
• If not, how can the IEP be modified going forward?

Too often goals are ambiguous or subjective, and ineffective IEP’s are simply rolled forward because there is no data to create the impetus to modify the program.

[Get This Free Download: How to Create and Maintain Your Child’s IEP]

If you come across a goal in your child’s IEP that you don’t understand, push back. Ask the team to explain specifically how the goal will support your child’s needs and how it will be evaluated. Optimally, a good set of IEP goals will include standardized measures for determining progress. Your goal should be to clearly understand what constitutes sufficient progress on a particular IEP goal.

2. Who is responsible for measuring progress? The IEP team should clearly identify who will measure your child’s progress on an IEP goal, and how frequently they will perform assessments. Depending on the goal, this person may be your child’s teacher, a paraprofessional, or a specialist who is knowledgeable about the skill in question.

3. How will the school communicate your child’s progress to you? Progress reports, which include updates on goal performance, are required with IEPs. It’s important to establish how often you’ll receive updates and just how you’ll receive this information about your child – written reports, phone calls, and emails are some options.

It typically takes months to measure and report a child’s progress toward their IEP goals. In the meantime, notice how your child is feeling about school. A happier, more confident outlook toward school is a sure sign that the IEP and its goals reflect your child’s needs and that educators are following the plan.

[Read: Common Problems & Helpful Solutions for Your IEP/504 Plan]

If you don’t see progress and things don’t seem to be going well, know that you can meet with the IEP team at any time to revisit the plan. It may also be possible to make slight changes to an IEP goal without a formal meeting. Remember that the IEP is a living document, and it’s important that the team consistently revisit the plan.

IEP Goals for Students with ADHD: Next Steps

• Free Download: 8 Rules for Productive IEP and 504 Meetings
• Q&A: What Makes an Academic Goal Appropriate?
• Read: What To Do When the IEP Stops Working

The content for this article was derived, in part, from the ADDitude ADHD Experts webinar titled, “Making the Classroom Work for Your Student: How to Build a Better IEP or 504 Plan for Your Child” [Video Replay and Podcast #227] with Susan Yellin, Esq. and Paul B. Yellin, MD, which was broadcast live on August 21, 2018.

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Hi 504Mom:

I’m so happy you could get an ADHD diagnosis for your son. I tell parents that it is never too late – even if it’s senior year.

Whenever I suggest to a parent that their child may benefit from an IEP or a 504 Plan for ADHD, I usually know more about the child’s diagnosis and difficulties, as well as the type of services the school offers. Based on the information you provided, my advice is to update your son’s current 504 Plan to reflect his ADHD diagnosis.

I don’t think it makes sense at this point to go through a lengthy IEP process for what might be just a few weeks of additional services, as your son is graduating in a few months. In addition, a diagnosis of ADHD does not guarantee an IEP. Children with disabilities — including ADHD — can receive an IEP only if there’s evidence that the condition affects their ability to succeed in school. That is another factor to take into consideration, if you haven’t already.

However, your son may be eligible to receive additional accommodations under an updated 504 Plan. These could include reduced homework, extended test-taking time, intensive tutoring, access to teachers’ notes or outlines, or a study-skills class that focuses on organization and time-management skills. You should discuss what might be beneficial and available under the 504 Plan with your son and the school.

[Free Chart Comparing IEPs to 504 Plans]

Whether a 504 Plan or IEP carries more importance in college, the answer is simple: Neither do, as there are no IEPs or 504 Plans in college.

Colleges can provide “504-like” accommodations, but the burden of ensuring that any accommodations are provided shifts to your child. Your son will need to ask for his services and support, and provide documentation such as past copies of his 504 Plan that describes the services he received in high school. You can find out how your son’s (prospective) college provides accommodations by reaching out to its office of student/disability services.

Life Skills for College

Speaking of college, here’s my suggestion to you: With only a few short months until your son’s high school graduation, I would focus on making sure he has the life skills needed to be successful in college.

As an academic/life coach for students with ADHD, I’ve seen many of my high school coaching students develop good study habits, practice planning their time, and learn to write persuasive papers, all in preparation for attending college. However, their day-to-day success in college truly depends on the life skills they develop prior to leaving for school.

[Self-Test: Does My Child Have an Executive Function Deficit?]

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• Can your son get up on his own in the morning, get himself ready, and get out the door in time for class?
• Can he articulate his challenges and the accommodations he needs to his teachers and/or the school administration to ensure he receives them? And if not, does he know who and how to ask for help?
• Does he practice self-care? Shower every day? Eat healthy, balanced, regular meals? Do his laundry? Know how to take his meds properly? Prepare a few basic dishes? Keep his room relatively clean and organized?

Having these types of skills before heading off to college is critical to your son’s success. Remember, college is not about knowing all the answers or earning a perfect score on a calculus quiz. It’s about identifying and establishing the strategies to succeed, and then communicating that plan to those who can ensure it happens.

504 Plan vs. IEP: Next Steps

• Learn: Is an IEP or 504 Plan Best for My Child?
• Download: Easy Accommodations to Help Students with ADHD or LD
• Read: IEP Meeting Advice: How to Get the ADHD Accommodations Your Child Needs

ADHD Family Coach Leslie Josel, of Order Out of Chaos, will answer questions from ADDitude readers about everything from paper clutter to disaster-zone bedrooms and from mastering to-do lists to arriving on time every time.

Submit your questions to the ADHD Family Coach here!

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Parenting a student with an IEP or 504 Plan sometimes feels like playing a game of “Whack-a-Mole” – resolve one issue, and another one pops up screaming for attention.

You work hard to ensure that your student is getting the best possible education, with a full array of appropriate supports and services, and it’s not easy. Sometimes, schools balk at setting up an IEP or 504 Plan. Other times, a student’s IEP or 504 just isn’t working. And, often, what worked last year is no longer leveling the playing field. When you add in related problems, like schools refusing to evaluate students with suspected disabilities or doing poor evaluations that don’t pinpoint what a student needs to succeed, things get even more complicated.

The IDEA (which provides for IEPs) and Section 504 share many similarities, but they also differ in a number of important ways. Parents need to have a firm understanding of each of these two avenues for school accommodations and services — and a roadmap for what to do when things don’t go right. Only when parents understand their legal rights, the provisions of these two laws, and when and where each is available, can they take the steps to help their child get what they need to succeed.

In this webinar, we will look at the top 10 issues that parents encounter with IEPs and 504 Plans. Parents will get answers to these common questions:

• How are an IEP and a 504 Plan similar — and different?
• How can I get the school to evaluate my child?
• Which program is best for my child?
• What can I do if my child’s IEP or 504 Plan isn’t working?
• What if my child has a teacher who is not following their IEP or 504 Plan?
• How can I make sure the school sets the right goals for my child’s education? And how will those goals be measured?
• What kind of accommodations and supports can I expect from each law?
• Do IEPs and 504 Plans apply to students in private schools?
• How can I decide which of these laws can best help my child?

Watch the Video Replay

Enter your email address in the box above labeled “Video Replay + Slide Access” to watch the video replay (closed captions available) and download the slide presentation.

Download or Stream the Podcast Audio

Click the play button below to listen to this episode directly in your browser, click the symbol to download to listen later, or open in your podcasts app: Apple Podcasts; Google Podcasts; Stitcher; Spotify; Amazon Music; iHeartRADIO.

More on IEPs and 504 Plans

• Free Download: Comparing IEPs to 504 Plans
• Read:9 Ways IEPs Fall Apart – A Troubleshooting Guide for ADHD Accommodations
• Read:Every 504 Plan Should Include These ADHD Accommodations

Obtain a Certificate of Attendance

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Meet the Expert Speaker:

Susan Yellin, Esq., is the Director of Advocacy and Transition Services at The Yellin Center for Mind, Brain, and Education, an innovative learning support and diagnostic practice in New York City. She co-authored the award-winning book, Life After High School: A Guide for Students with Disabilities and Their Families (#CommissionsEarned), and was the founding director of The Center for Learning Differences, a nonprofit dedicated to helping families dealing with learning and attention difficulties find resources in their communities.

#CommissionsEarned As an Amazon Associate, ADDitude earns a commission from qualifying purchases made by ADDitude readers on the affiliate links we share.

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It is important to understand the differences between an IEP (Individualized Education Program) — which arises under the IDEA, a federal education law — and a Section 504 Plan, which arises under a different federal law that bars discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Both laws can apply to students with ADHD and, depending upon your child’s needs, you may decide to pursue one or the other.

Obtaining an IEP requires that you go through a formal process, which begins with an evaluation of your child by a professional who will look at “all suspected areas of disability.” Then, your school district will determine if your child falls within one of the mandated classifications under the IDEA, usually “other health impairment” for a student with ADHD. More importantly, the school will determine whether he is in need of special education or related services (things like speech therapy). The school will create a menu of accommodations and services, along with goals to be met in his education.

[Get This Free Download: Comparing IEPs to 504 Plans]

Creating a 504 Plan is generally a simpler process. Although a full evaluation may be required, schools will often accept a statement from the diagnosing physician, explaining the ADHD diagnosis, how the student’s ADHD impacts his learning, and which accommodations he requires to “level the playing field” with students who do not have ADHD. A 504 Plan generally does not include placement in a specialized class, use of a resource room, or modifications in the curriculum.

Schools are often reluctant to provide an IEP for a student whose primary issue is attention and will urge families to accept a 504 Plan. The reasons for this are complex and include the fact that the IDEA has a funding component that requires schools to account for the number and nature of the IEPs they provide. If a student does not have a learning problem beyond ADHD, families sometimes decide to go the route of a 504 Plan rather than getting into a conflict with the school about whether an IEP is required. For some students, that works fine. For other students, the accommodations under a 504 Plan prove to be insufficient. Maybe the student needs reading support, or a smaller classroom setting that a 504 Plan doesn’t provide.

It is important for parents to know that accepting a 504 Plan does not preclude seeking an IEP at any time if things aren’t working out with Section 504 accommodations.

IEP vs. 504 Plan: Next Steps

• Free Download: How Do I Create an IEP for My Child?
• Read: Is My Child with ADHD Entitled to a 504 Plan?
• Read: Step-by-Step Guide for Securing ADHD Accommodations at School

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It’s the Fall of 2005 and I’m in hell. After dropping out of high school once and college twice, I am now a matriculated student at the University of Delaware. I have a 3.5 grade point average, but I am now facing my biggest academic obstacle: learning French.
French class presents two obstacles that are exasperated by my ADHD.

1. I don’t have much intrinsic interest in learning the language, which makes studying painful.
2. I am constantly frustrated by how hard French class is compared to my other classes. My sigh-to-answer ratio in class in non bien (not good).

In the middle of class, one in which I have long since lost the thread of a conversation, my professor calls on me to answer a question with “Monsieur Osborn?” I respond with the first phrase I learned in French, “Je ne sais pas” (I don’t know) but, on this occasion, I also add “Je suis mauavise en français” (I am bad at French). My exceedingly kind and patient professor responds by saying, “No, you are not bad at French; you are learning French.” And her words penetrate.

I realize that thinking that I am bad at French is not actually helpful in learning, and passing, French. This change in attitude helped me get through the three French classes I needed to graduate with a degree in history.

My Strength-Based Approach to Writing IEPs

Six years later, I became a special-education teacher. The IEP process I implemented for students then again challenged the way I innately thought about skill building. Instead of centering my efforts around what my students, or myself, were bad or good at, I began to think of skills in terms of strengths and needs.

[Get This Free Download: How Do I Create an IEP for My Child?]

ADHD or not, people need to develop strong self-awareness — a thoughtful understanding of their strengths and needs — to maximize their potential. Thinking yourself bad at something is not going to help you become better at it. Understanding you have a need in an area, and having a desire to improve, is a healthier way to approach challenges. And sometimes, with enough work, a need can be turned into a strength.

I came to teaching through an alternative certification program called the Philadelphia Teaching Fellows. My training in the Fellows did a great job of getting me ready for the classroom in a short period (a 5-week training institute), but I arrived in the classroom with a relatively limited knowledge of IEP (Individualized Education Program) writing. To even finish my first IEP I had to sit down with my SPED supervisor and write it with her.

I knew other teachers (even some with similarly limited experience) wrote better IEPs than I did, but I just kept pushing myself to write better ones. I implemented feedback, and over time my IEP writing became a strength rather than a need — to the point where I was tasked with helping other teachers write their IEPs. This was a process that took four years.

On the ADDitude Support Group for Adults Facebook page, people sometimes ask, “Are you bad at…?” questions, and I think that’s unhelpful. Instead, we should ask, “What are my needs?” and look to use strengths and strategies to build ourselves up rather than letting our self-esteem take unnecessary hits from our own self-talk and self-perceptions.

[Read: Your Own Worst Enemy: Silencing Negative Self Talk]

The world works to put enough limits on us; we should not put limits on ourselves. I would not be where I am today, a special education leader, if I had decided and told myself I was bad at writing IEPs. C’est vrai (It’s true)!

Strength-Based Approach for Students with ADHD: Next Steps

• Free Download: 5 Steps to More Forceful ADHD Self-Advocacy
• Read: 7 Self-Defeating Behaviors That Aggravate ADHD – and How to Fix Them
• Blog: Moms and Dads: Let’s Turn All Those Can’ts into Can-Dos

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Hi!

I so appreciate that you want to support your child. And the best way for you to support your daughter from home is to make sure she gets the support she needs at school.

Since I don’t know any specifics, I’m going to start by suggesting that you request a 504 Plan, through which you can request special in-school accommodations if your daughter qualifies. For reference, this ADDitude article offers a step-by-step guide to securing accommodations at school.

You also mention that your daughter is having a hard time accomplishing work in class. Have you spoken directly to her teachers? Or is your daughter sharing this information with you alone? If that’s the case, it’s time to request a meeting with everyone on your child’s team – teachers, guidance counselor, etc. – so you can convey your daughter’s struggles at school and at home as well.

Take this opportunity to brainstorm effective solutions and strategies to support her during the school day. Her teachers may be able to institute some informal accommodations, like seating her near the front of the room, splitting assignments into smaller parts, or even monitoring her understanding of instructions and material.

[Get This Free Download: A Teachers’ Guide to Executive Dysfunction in Students with ADHD]

Prior to the meeting, I recommend sending a list of questions/concerns to each teacher to gather specifics beforehand. You want to know if your daughter is performing at grade level, what teaching methods are being used, and what specific struggles they’re seeing.

What I’m trying to discern is this: Checking your child’s work at night or providing her with accountability might be helping your daughter in the short term. However, in the long term, the school needs to know where your daughter is struggling so that it can provide strategies and support during the day to create a successful learning environment.

Good Luck.

Executive Dysfunction and ADHD: Next Steps

• Free Download: Schoolhouse Blocks: A Guide to Building Foundational Executive Functions
• Read: The Educator’s Guide to Executive Functions
• Read: Every 504 Plan Should Include These ADHD Accommodations

ADHD Family Coach Leslie Josel, of Order Out of Chaos, will answer questions from ADDitude readers about everything from paper clutter to disaster-zone bedrooms and from mastering to-do lists to arriving on time every time.

Submit your questions to the ADHD Family Coach here!

SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.