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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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!

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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.

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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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.

2e is a term used to describe “twice-exceptional” students who are academically gifted and also living with ADHD or another diagnosis like autism or learning differences. 2e students are undeniably bright, but often plagued by inconsistent performance at school due to other interfering symptoms. These students seldom receive special-education services, or they are considered “lazy” because they excel in some areas yet appear to lack the motivation to excel in others. The secret to unlocking greatness in a 2e student is recognizing their areas of giftedness by making work more challenging, while simultaneously identifying their areas of greatest need and inserting helpful accommodations and supports accordingly. Understandably, this can be difficult for parents or teachers.

In this webinar you will learn:

• How Lisa Dieker and her 2e son identified his greatest skills as well as the challenges that stood in his path
• Techniques, ideas, and approaches that teachers can use to help students identified as 2e to strive and thrive in the classroom
• How to ensure future pathways to college and careers among gifted students while effectively addressing areas of challenge
• How parents can partner with educators to ensure success from preschool to college

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 2e Students and ADHD

• Download: Overcoming Common Learning Challenges
• Read: Unlocking the Potential of Gifted Kids with ADHD
• Read: “Twice Exceptional Is a Cruel Double-Edged Sword”

Obtain a Certificate of Attendance

If you attended the live webinar on September 27, 2022, watched the video replay, or listened to the podcast, you may purchase a certificate of attendance option (cost: $10). Note: ADDitude does not offer CEU credits. Click here to purchase the certificate of attendance option »

Meet the Expert Speaker

Dr. Lisa Dieker is a Pegasus Professor and Lockheed Martin Eminent Scholar in the College of Community Innovation and Education at University of Central Florida (UCF). She serves as the director of the UCF/Lockheed Martin Mathematics and Science Academy, program coordinator for the Ph.D. program in special education, and co-director of the UCF Center for Research in Education Simulation Technology. Her research focuses on harnessing the power of teachers working across disciplines in inclusive settings in teacher education, special education, and simulation. She is leading work in creating artificial intelligence agents to support students with disabilities in inclusive settings. She holds three patents in simulation and education.

Joshua Dieker is beginning a new position in a management role for Trek Bikes in Leesburg, Virginia. Prior to this, he was the customer experience manager at Summit Ropes in Sterling, Virginia. He is an avid sportsman and enjoys biking, rock climbing, and camping. Joshua received a bachelor’s degree in recreation and management from Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 2018. In college, he competed as a gymnast and was a four-time NCAA qualifier, Collegiate All-American, and Academic-All American athlete. He also was the Florida state all around gymnastic champion and won a medal at the Junior Olympics. He is diagnosed with Tourette syndrome, dyslexia, and dysgraphia. He just completed a term serving as an ambassador for the Tourette Syndrome Association.

Webinar Sponsor

The sponsor of this ADDitude webinar is…

Brain Balance is an integrative cognitive development program designed to help kids with ADHD, Learning Differences, Anxiety & beyond. An exploratory study with Harvard’s McLean Hospital found the Brain Balance Program to be as effective as low-dose stimulant medication in alleviating ADHD symptoms in children. Visit brainbalance.com to learn more about Brain Balance today.

ADDitude thanks our sponsors for supporting our webinars. Sponsorship has no influence on speaker selection or webinar content.

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Practical Strategies for Teachers and Parents

This free learning resource includes the following articles:
– 5 Surprising Ways ADHD Shows Up in the Classroom: These behaviors and challenges associated with ADHD are commonly misunderstood at school

– How to Build a Better IEP: Make sure goals are specific, quantifiable, and clearly defined. Here’s how.

– Directions for ADHD Brains: A teacher’s guide to giving instructions that students with ADHD can follow.

– The Power of Service: Trust a child with ADHD to help in the classroom, and watch self-esteem rise.

– 4 Ways to Win Over Your Teachers: Students with ADHD shine brightest when teachers are in their corner.

How Learning Disorders Breed Shame

We, as parents, know all too well the stress, anxiety, and physical and emotional symptoms associated with learning challenges. We understand the frustration of trying to turn around woeful school engagement in our kids and their educators, too. When my children are denied the accommodations they need, this quickly leads to anger, battles about going to school, and self-talk that includes “stupid” and “I know I have to try harder.”

I have seen how difficult it is to enlighten school district personnel and explain that a student’s poor behavior and negative self-talk are the direct result of not receiving the accommodations that are appropriate and necessary for academic success. When I asked for support and a 504 Plan, school administrators said to me: “Suzy knows what she needs to do.” As if my daughter chooses not to do it. As if any child chooses ADHD, dyslexia, or any other learning challenges.

[Download: What Learning Disabilities Look Like in the Classroom]

In another 504 Plan meeting, I asked the teacher if my child, who had just received a good grade for an assignment, had used any accommodations. The teacher’s response: “No, she did not cheat.” How can my child feel good about using the services she needs if this is the prevailing opinion of her teacher?

It’s a devastating blow when teachers and administrators fail to provide adequate assessments and resources — whether due to budget issues, staffing shortages, ignorance about ADHD, or the pandemic — to support a child’s academic success. As parents, we watch as these interactions project shame and blame onto our children, who suffer through years of negative experiences in school. More awareness and an investment in teacher training would go a long way toward improving academic success in students with learning differences.

The Social-Emotional Impact of Learning Disorders

After living through three academic years impacted by the pandemic, all parents understand the heartbreak of witnessing their students’ social-emotional struggles, learning loss, and mental health conflicts. Let this experience be a window through which parents and educators gain insight into the too-often unmet needs of kids with learning differences.

Most students with learning challenges have long struggled with the emotional and social toll resulting not from the disability directly, but from a school system that limits or creates barriers to accessing the full suite of accommodations kids need to engage fully in learning. We must all speak up to help our local educators and policy makers see this important connection.

Learning Disorders and ADHD: Next Steps

• Download: IEP vs 504 – What’s the Difference?
• Watch: Securing Accommodations – Working With Your Child’s School
• Read: When Learning Differences Are Embraced, Not Shunned

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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.

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.

Prompting students and teaching them self-management strategies reduce disruptive behaviors and increase classroom engagement in adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD) more effectively than do allowing frequent breaks or fidgets, according to a small study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders.¹

The study found that redirecting students with ADHD back to a task (prompting) and teaching them strategies to independently regulate their behavior (self-management) decreased disruptive behaviors and task initiation time and increased task engagement more than implementing popular classroom strategies such as breaks or use of sensory items or fidgets.

According to the study’s authors, prompting, taking breaks, and sensory proprioception are widespread accommodations used for students with ADHD. The first two often appear as part of Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). On the other hand, self-management strategies are a frequently recommended intervention that is not typically found in IEPs. The authors noted that research supporting specific practices over others is lacking, and such research could inform IEPs.

The researchers evaluated the efficacy of prompting, teaching self-management, encouraging sensory proprioception, and taking breaks in 15 sixth and seventh graders during 20 sessions, each one lasting 20 minutes.

Students were randomly assigned one of the following four strategies in each session.

• Prompting condition: Researchers pointed to the task or told a student to continue working if they went off-task for five seconds.
• Self-management condition: Students checked “yes” on a paper form if they stayed on task for five minutes (indicated by a timer alarm) or “no” if they were off task when they heard the timer ring.
• Sensory proprioception: Students selected a sensory item (fidget toy, stress ball, etc.) to use throughout the task.
• Breaks: Students took a five-minute break after working for ten minutes.

Data analysis showed that prompting and self-management strategies delivered the most desirable outcomes in student behavior and engagement, while sensory proprioception resulted in minor or no desired effects.

However, researchers noted that participants were not “fans” of prompting or self-management, viewing the former as “annoying” and the latter as “distracting” (even though it encouraged them to pay attention to their work).

According to the study authors, the effectiveness of self-management aligns with recent research indicating that teaching students with ADHD how to independently manage their behavior is more effective than implementing strategies such as allowing extra time on tasks or distributing a copy of the teacher’s notes.

The findings of this study also build on research supporting prioritizing classroom interventions for students with ADHD above accommodations.

Source

¹ Harrison, J. R., Evans, S. W., Zatz, J., Mehta, P., Patel, A., Syed, M., Soares, D. A., Swistack, N., Griffith, M., & Custer, B. A. (2022). Comparison of Four Classroom-Based Strategies for Middle School Students With ADHD: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Attention Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1177/10870547221081108

There are no IEPs in college. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the federal law that provides for IEPs, only applies through high school graduation. Post-secondary schools instead adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504. Both laws require that students with disabilities receive reasonable accommodations, but they don’t wield the same power as an IEP. For example, they cannot require modifications in the curriculum, such as language waivers.

There is no standard for documenting a disability in college, though many follow guidelines set forth by the Association on Higher Education and Disabilities (AHEAD) that require an evaluation no more than three years old. Conditions change over time, and current performance is key.

Once a college has reviewed a student’s evaluation, its Office of Disability Services works with the student to define accommodations that will “level the playing field.” This is a good time to share an old IEP and discuss what helped. But, ultimately, the offerings will hinge on the student’s needs and what the college is willing to provide.

Community colleges may be more informal and flexible in accepting an older evaluation, and may rely on a student’s high school IEP as a guide.

The principles are the same in both situations, with colleges looking at documentation of a disability and determining what will give the student the best chance of success.

IEP in College: Next Steps

• Read: Will My Child Have an IEP in College?
• Download: Free Guide to the 40 Best Accommodations for ADHD or LD
• Understand: College Accommodations Aren’t Like High School Accommodations

Susan Yellin, Esq., is an attorney and mother of three. She is the director of Advocacy and Counseling Services at The Yellin Center for Mind, Brain, and Education, a New York City-based practice that provides educational evaluations, management, and guidance for students from grades K through graduate school.

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The school may have ideas for managing your child’s behaviors. But management alone is not enough. To truly and effectively help a child with school behavior problems, you must teach them new skills to ultimately reduce interfering behaviors. You cannot punish the problem away.

Parents play an important role in driving the conversation and the problem-solving process. From requesting school meetings to brainstorming behavioral strategies and monitoring progress, here’s a detailed step-by-step guide for working with educators to improve your child’s classroom behavior.

How to Help a Child with Behavior Problems at School

Step 1: Connect with the School

• Assume this isn’t the first time. It’s not easy to receive the dreaded school phone call or email about your child’s behaviors. You may be tempted to push back. But schools often contact parents only after observing a pattern of behaviors. That doesn’t mean your child is demonstrating these behaviors every day, or at the same intensity each time.
• Request a meeting with the teacher to investigate what’s really going on. Ideally, the meeting should occur within a week after the incident. Make the request via email; written records are important.
• If your child has an IEP or a 504 Plan, invite the case manager, other teachers who encounter the challenging behaviors, and anyone else who can provide valuable insights about your child’s behavior, like a therapist or a related service provider, to the meeting.
• Avoid problem-solving over email or phone. It’s almost impossible to do so effectively. Plus, you and the school will need time to gather questions and information.

[Free Download: Solving Behavior Problems Rooted in Executive Function Deficits]

Sample Outreach Email

Thank you for contacting us today about _____. It is clear we need to meet as a team as soon as possible to discuss in more detail what is happening and how to help. We are formally requesting we meet with yourself, principal ___, and ___ as soon as possible. Please ensure their availability for a meeting. See below for dates and times we are available within the next week. Thank you again; we look forward to problem solving together.

Email Tips

• Be professional, clear, and strong in your request
• Include other caregivers in the email chain

Step 2: Prepare for the Meeting

Set an Agenda

Agendas are often overlooked by all parties, but they provide structure and give parents some control over the discussion. Create and provide an agenda via email to the school team once a meeting date and time are set. Recommended agenda:

• Parents will provide further information about [child’s name] to the school team. The purpose of this step is to remind every person in the meeting that your child is more than their interfering behaviors.
  • Hobbies and interests may help teachers bond with your child and figure out creative ways to engage them
  • Strengths and dislikes may also help teachers determine how to best work with your child
  • If your child has a disability, describe how it impacts them
• School will describe the interfering behaviors and answer parent questions (sample questions in step three below)
  • Ask the school to provide data or written reports regarding the behavior ahead of the meeting
• Collaborate on potential strategies to reduce target behaviors, teach new skills, and prevent other interfering behaviors
• Create an action plan that the school will implement and monitor to change interfering behaviors
• Develop a communication plan
• Set a follow-up meeting in one month to discuss progress

[Read: Talking With Your Child’s Teacher]

Remember that the point of the meeting is not to hear about how difficult your child is, but to discuss what teachers have observed and to share ideas for moving forward. Parents should not passively listen with minimal participation. What the school has to say is important, but you can offer a lot in the process.

Step 3: Meeting Day

Questions

These questions yield clarifying answers that allow the school to go beyond generic behavior solutions and develop individualized ones for your child.

1. Can you tell me more about my child’s behaviors? Describe the latest incident.

• Make sure you understand the problem behaviors exactly. Vague words like “defiant,” “bad,” or “difficult” do nothing to describe the actual behavior. Ask teachers to list specific actions, like yelling, leaving their seat, and so on. (Literally, what is your child doing in these moments?)

2. What do you expect students to be doing during that time?

• The answer will give you a sense of classroom expectations and your child’s ability to meet them (or not).

3. Can you give more context around these behaviors?

• Times of day
• Classroom setup (Is it during lecture or independent work? In small or large groups? What else is happening in the room?)
• Who is around when the behavior occurs?

4. What happens directly after the challenging behaviors?

• How do teachers and peers react?
• Any environmental changes?
• Is the assignment taken away? Is your child sent to the hallway or principal’s office?

5. What seems to make the behaviors worse?

6. What do you think would make the behaviors better?

• Here’s an opportunity to jump in and suggest ideas.

Tips

• Bring a notebook or computer to take notes.
• Pay close attention to the language the school team uses to describe your child’s behaviors. Ask for specifics.
• Be prepared to hear about a child that you might not recognize. It is not uncommon for children to behave very differently at home and at school.

Strategize

Brainstorm behavioral strategies around these categories.

• Antecedent adaptations may address triggers that lead to the interfering behavior. They can include:
  • Environmental adaptations (e.g., changes to seating, grouping)
  • Changes to the task presentation or requirements (e.g., fewer questions or worksheets, frequent breaks). If your child has the skills to do the task, but isn’t doing it, a tweak in this step may help
  • Change how adults or peers interact with your child (e.g. tone, proximity, kneeling down versus standing over, private redirection versus public)
• Building behaviors that allow your child to learn new skills – in communication, self-regulation, organization, self-management, etc. – and change the interfering behavior. (Example: A student who refuses to do classwork may need to build appropriate ways to ask for help or for a break- and then learn how to build tolerance for doing classwork). Think about areas to build based on answers from the school team.
• Constructive consequences include immediate reinforcement of desired behaviors, and alternative responses to reduce or redirect interfering behaviors.
  • Reinforcements should align with the presumed “why” behind the behavior

Then, discuss how the school will implement these strategies, including which teachers will introduce a strategy, how and when they’ll do it, and how they’ll monitor progress. Outline all these points before the meeting ends. (Example: The student will learn to ask for help by putting a sticky note on their desk. The teacher will model the process in class and use a data sheet to note frequency.)

Remember that this action plan is not a behavior intervention plan, an IEP, a 504 Plan, or any other formal system, but an opportunity to test-run strategies.

Home-School Communication Plan

Check-ins can be daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or as needed (and in any medium) to discuss your child’s progress and whether the strategies are working. The more you communicate with the school, the better the results will be for your child.

Most schools will have a communication log to track behaviors (including the use of new skills across the day) and provide feedback on progress.

Step 4: Test-Driving and Troubleshooting

The school should implement the action plan over several weeks, monitor progress, and then reconvene with you to discuss next steps. If the test-drive is successful, formalize the behavioral supports into an IEP or 504 Plan, if applicable.

But what if the strategies in the action plan don’t work? Or what if the team can’t agree on strategies at all? What if your child’s behaviors are so disruptive that a test-run isn’t feasible?

• Provide a written request for a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA). An FBA will examine the interfering behaviors and provide suggestions for reducing or replacing them. FBAs often result in a formal behavior intervention plan (BIP) or at least additional behavior strategies. (You can ask for an FBA even if the school is test-driving strategies.) Ask if a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) can conduct the FBA. As assessment is underway…
• Advocate for other supports, like antecedent strategies, to reduce the interfering behaviors.
• If your child is still struggling with behaviors, even after an FBA and BIP, remember that you can ask for a new FBA to restart the process.

No matter the outcome, continue to communicate with the school about your child’s behaviors, needs, and progress.

The content for this article was derived from the ADDitude Expert Webinar, “A Parent’s Guide to Problem-Solving School Behavior Struggles” [Video Replay & Podcast #379] with Rachel Schwartz, PhD, BCBA-D, which was broadcast live on November 10, 2021.

How To Help a Child with Behavior Problems at School: Next Steps

• Free Download: 6 Ways to Develop Emotional Control at School
• Learn: How to Solve 8 Common Behavior Problems in the Classroom
• Read: Managing My Child’s School Behavior Problems

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When students with disabilities are deprived of FAPE — the free, appropriate, public education that is required by both the IDEA and Section 504 — they may be entitled to services to make up for this shortfall. Such services could take the form of additional supports during school hours, tutoring before or after school, or summer services beyond those offered to all students.

The pandemic created a sudden, unique situation for schools and for those responsible for implementing IEPs and 504 Plans. The U.S. Department of Education has decided that when schools were closed for all students, they had no obligation to provide specialized services for students with disabilities.

[Get This Free Download: 5 Academic Challenges Rooted in ADHD Executive Dysfunction]

However, when schools were back in session, even remotely, they had the responsibility to attempt to address the special needs of students with disabilities by following their IEP or 504 Plan to the extent that was possible during remote or hybrid learning. This kind of learning was difficult for most students, especially those with attention and learning challenges, and has left many students with learning loss.

What can you do? Call an IEP team meeting (which you can do at any time) and work with them to add services and supports to make up for some of what she lost during remote learning.

Pandemic Learning Loss for Students with ADHD: Next Steps

• Free Download: How to Teach Self-Advocacy Skills to Children with ADHD
• Read: Your Child’s Educational Rights While Crisis Schooling
• Read: Remote Learning Loss Is Widespread, Thorny for Students with ADHD

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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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I presume your son has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) under the IDEA, which sets forth his classroom setting as well as his academic and behavioral supports and accommodations. The IDEA requires that students be educated in the “least restrictive environment,” and the IEP team must consider each less restrictive setting before turning to one that is more specialized.

I hope your son has had a recent psycho-educational assessment of his academic performance, but he may need further evaluation to look at his behaviors and emotional needs. This process is called a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA), and it can result in a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP). The BIP will supplement the academic aspects of his IEP.

There are a number of ways that a student with disabilities may be able to function in a classroom that is not fully self-contained. Many schools offer ICT (Integrated Co-Teaching) classes, in which a regular education and special education teacher work together in one classroom composed of both regular and special education students.

Another possibility for a student with emotional or anger issues is to have a one-on-one aide assigned to be with him at all times. This can be an effective way to help him function in a regular class, while taking into consideration the needs of the other students.

[Free Quiz: How Well Do You Know Special-Ed Law?]

What if IEP Accommodations Aren’t Working?

Determining the best accommodations to include in an IEP is a collaborative effort, one that includes the child’s parents, teachers, and other school staff. If you have noticed that an accommodation is not working, the first step might be to speak with his teacher. The teacher can make minor changes in the way his present accommodations are implemented, and can suggest more extensive modifications that might better address his difficulties. If you want to have minor changes formalized in his IEP, this won’t necessarily require a meeting, just a written modification, if both you and the school agree on what the changes should be.

If you want to review his accommodations more broadly, you have the right to call an IEP meeting at any time. Before that meeting, you should think about what is working for your son and what is not.

Special Education Class vs. Mainstream: Next Steps

• Download: How Do I Create an IEP for My Child? Find Out in this Free Resource
• Watch: Every 504 Plan Should Include These Accommodations
• Read: ADHD at School – Should Your Child Be in Special Ed Classes?
• Learn: Common Problems & Helpful Solutions for Your IEP/504 Plan

Susan Yellin, Esq., is an attorney and mother of three. She is the director of Advocacy and Counseling Services at The Yellin Center for Mind, Brain, and Education, a New York City-based practice that provides educational evaluations, management, and guidance for students from grades K through graduate school.

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.