My Child Has An Iep… This Is What Is Happening… This Does Not Seem Right?
My daughter is 9, was kept back in kindergarten for delays in reading/writing/reading comprehension. She has an IEP plan.
However, it has come to my attention recently that she has been kept in from recess because she doesnt complete her “morning work” in time and so is kept in from recess. She has had recess maybe 2 times this month. I was not aware of this until last week.
This does not seem right… it’s like punishing her for having a disability (which is well documented)!!! what should I do??? We do have a meeting (the yearly one) this week… and i am trying to get some info before I go in there ready to bite someone’s head off.
The legality of it is not an issue unless it states specifically in your daughter’s IEP, which is something that you should suggest at your next IEP meeting. The problem that I have is that it seems an inappropriate consequence. As others have suggested, you need to know if the teacher is appropriately modifying the assignment for your daughter, because it sounds as if she is not. If it was appropriate, your daughter wouldn’t be getting frustrated and coming home upset. Also, Obviously taking away recess isn’t working or she would have been outside more than twice this month. What the teacher should do instead after modifying the assignments is to get a timer for her, have her work for 10 to 15 minutes, whatever YOU feel is appropriate, give her a 5 minute break to do something she enjoys, drawing, reading, etc. Then set the timer again and have her do another session. Recess and specials (music, gym, etc.) should never be taken away from a child. They need the lessons that they learn there just as much as the ones the teacher teaches in regular class. Definitely start doing your research. I have learned a lot since my child was given an IEP. I went to my local library and researched IEP writing, court cases, and ways to modify assignments. You need to learn to be your child’s best advocate because, although I think they mean well, schools do not always do what they need to ensure a child with disabilities obtain success in school.
During the meeting, make sure that you let them know that your daughter hates school and comes home upset most of the time. This is something that they need to change. If she enjoyed it before, then its obvious that she is not getting the help she needs. Try to contain your anger and be very respectful, at the same time, let them know that you mean business and that you are not happy and EXPECT some changes to be made IMMEDIATELY to remedy the problems that she is having now. You really have all the power, you can refuse to sign the IEP if you are not satisfied.
Good Luck and if you need anything feel free to e-mail me.
P.S. By the way, I have seen the timer method work very well for several students. It gives them a goal to reach, a break, and then another goal. It helps to keep them focused and the break gives them a chance to rest their mind.
That really depends. If she is working for the entire allotted time and she is not able to finish, that’s disability. If she is off task constantly, talking, out of seat or simply refusing to try, then losing recess is an appropriate consequence. If she is losing recess because of off task behavior, be thankful her teacher cares enough to have her do work during that time and not write sentences or something. I would talk to the teacher about it and if you still have concerns call an IEP meeting to ask about it.
The IEP should be written so that she must complete less work to achieve the same goal. With students who have an identifiable, handicapping disorder, that’s fair. We wouldn’t put a wheel chair bound kid in a gym class and expect the same results, right?
The real issue is this – is she working? If she is being lazy and not doing much of anything, then the recess thing might be okay.
Question: Is it possible your daughter is being picked on at recess? Might she be not doing her work to purposefully stay in? Is that why she is beginning to hate school?
Just ideas. Fight for your daughter and take care.
This is very common. And instead of the school doing their job and help with her disabilities, they are punishing her for them. Typical of schools.
Go to this message board, it’s the best on the internet and they’ll be glad to help you –http://millermom.proboards.com/index.cgi…
Oh yea, if your not ready for the meeting you can reschedule it for a time that is convient to you. Schools don’t want parents to know they have that right.
Contact the school Psychologist, and have her/him prepare a meting will all people involve in your child learning process. Let them know what do you think, your child deserve good professionals who can help her with school, they are supposed to know about the punishment/reward to motivate kids, not to make them hate school.
I’m very sorry for you and your daughter, it sounds like an awful situation for her. Here is a website that might be of help, or perhaps you can find someone from the website for advice.
LD Online http://www.ldonline.org/ You can put IEP in their search box at the top of the page.
Good luck!
I would let them know that they have to find another way to get her to do her work and that denying her the recess period will not be tolerated. I had the same thing happen with my kid, don’t let them push you around!
What state are you in?
I have a name and phone # if you are in the western NY area –Linda Chadderdon 800-650-4967 ext 225. This is the child advocacy center in Rochester and they are really great and have all the answers to IEP’s etc.
that happen to me in 2ed grade i had only 4 recess that year. The next year i was put in Special ed classes so see about special ed classes for her.
it is wrong kids need resees that should not be the way to help your child they should not punsh her bring this up at your iep meeting be forceful fight for your childs rights
Here’s a great article stressing the importance of recesshttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/health… Print it up to bring to your IEP meeting.
Go to http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/iep.index… and start brushing up on your IEP and advocacy skills. Learn the lingo like FAPE and LRE. Make sure to use phrases like “most appropriate” not ‘best”. I really like the idea of calling the advocate a previous answer listed.
Now, have you talked to the teacher yet about why your daughter hasn’t had recess? What do you think of this teacher, and is she giving you an accurate representation of the situation? That would have been my first phone call, “what’s going on? How can we fix this so that my daughter doesn’t hate going to school?” Is the amount of work overwhelming? What if she were given 1/2 of each page, or one page at a time instead of a packet. Sometimes just the way work is presented is all that’s needed to help a child get back on track. In my daughters case we have an understanding that if she can demonstrate knowledge of the concept, say multiplying, rounding, or division, there is no need for her to do a whole page of similar problems. She would get overwhelmed with the amount of work, and start getting anxious and stressed, slowing down work and cycling up with anxiety.
If it’s just “busy work” then perhaps the amount should be reduced. After all, if she’s got delays as you described, she’s going to be slower doing those types of worksheets anyways right?
At IEP meetings I stress how I want to work with the school as a team to make sure my daughter enjoys school and is learning. Stress and anxiety are starting to deny your daughter FAPE. If she’s stressed and anxious, she can’t properly attend the lessons. I make sure the teacher knows I want to brainstorm with her and help my daughter be successful at school. We tweak her IEP when necessary via conversations/phone calls/emails, then she sends home newly drawn up paperwork for me to sign. A good teacher should be willing to work with you and use you as a resource as the expert in your child. After all, who knows your daughter better than you do? You know her likes/dislikes, what motivates her, what will make her dig in her heels and be stubborn. They should tap you for that information, and you should freely share it.
Please do go over the wrightslaw IEP link I gave you. There is so much valuable information in there that can help you. Oh, and if your meeting is later this week, I would call the principal, special ed director, or IEP chairperson first thing tomorrow morning and tell them that you’d like to tape record the meeting. If they refuse, saying it’s too late, tell them that you’d like to reschedule the meeting then. Explain that so much is going on at the meeting that you can’t take it all in and understand everything being said. You can say that you get emotional when everyone is giving their reports about your daughters delays and it’s hard for you to focus on all that’s said. They’ll buy that! It is your right to tape record the meeting, AND it is usually all that’s needed to keep the school on legal ground and not lying to you. If the school were to lie to you on tape, you’ve got them nailed to the wall if they fail to provide your daughter with the appropriate accomidations.
Things like “We can’t let your daughter have a modified morning work packet or we’d have to let anyone who complained get a modified work packet” are illegal and wrong. An IEP is an Individual Education Plan crafted specifically for your child based on her needs.
Good luck.
There was a previous answer that hit it spot-on. I’ve worked as an inclusion teacher in an elementary school and work with many children, both with and without IEPs. As a teacher, I am required to be aware of a child’s disabilities and will modify assignments in accordance with their disabilities. For example, an easy way might be to modify the number of problems a study might have to finish—if I’m expecting a “regular” student to finish 8 problems for their morning work, I might require another student to finish 4. I expect you probably know which modifications the teacher is required to make because of her disabilities (at our school, parents are required to be offered a copy of their rights at every meeting and must receive a copy of the meeting notes–whether they want them or not!). My advice is to begin the meting by bringing up your concerns about your daughter’s feelings aboug hating school and coming home upset and anxious; this would be a normal parental concern, regardless of IEP. Bring up your belief that this might be connected to her being kept inside at recess time and ask in a nonconfrontational way about what modifications are being made to make her assignments align with her IEP. Regarding your question about the legality of keeping her inside with an IEP, it depends upon the general policy of the school system. Some school systems allow students to be kept inside and others don’t but it doesn’t have anything to do with the IEP (unless her teacher isn’t following the IEP, which is a whole other issue). Think about it, though—-you wouldn’t want your child to be allowed to spend the day not doing her work and thinking that was okay, right? You’d want her to be help to the same expectations as the other students, as long as she receives the support and modifications provided by her IEP which is supposed to help provide the tools she needs to succeed. In my class, there’s a huge difference between a child who struggles in math but comes in and works hard at their morning work for fifteen minutes but only finishes 4 and a child who is perfectly capable but does no work for ten minutes and then rushes through 4 problems in five minutes. Both would finished the same number of problems but I’d be much tougher on the child who could have done more but didn’t rather than the child who tried and didn’t finish. Check into it—there’s a difference between punishing a child for their disability (especially if they’re not providing the legally required modifications specified in the IEP) and punishing a child because they were provided with the supports and simply didn’t do what they were capable of. Good luck!
ok that’s just ridiculous! any idiot, with or without a teaching degree, knows fairly well that humans need food for oxygen and energy to help their brains function. so how is missing recess to make up for morning lessons supposed to work???
i’m sorry, but this just pissed me off! my sons are on IEP, too. but they’re allowed to have recess even if they don’t finish their morning work. and then the teachers just call me up beforehand to inform me if my boys need to stay behind a bit longer after class to finish up on the day’s lesson. usually that’s just an hour and a half of EDP (extended day period).
i can totally understand why your daughter has started to hate school. does the school director attend your daughter’s PTC? it would be nice if you could bring this up with her present. your daughter’s teacher is being unfair. no, criminal even!
good luck! man, i cannot believe how angry i was while answering this!
there was a push to do away with recess and give more time to academics in teh last 10 years–i worked in a shcool for kids with LD–many with ADHD—it completely backfired–
the students were less productive because tehy were coup up all day….
and now people are saying we need recess because of obesity
you need to find time when she will be allowed to complete work–or if she will only be required to complete a portion of teh work.
often it is against policy–and even the law to take kids out of certain classes like gym, art
recess in not a required subject…so it may be legal to keep a child from recess
No, she should not be punished for having a disability…which you don’t mention so it makes it hard to guess….why doesn’t she finish her work? Why can’t it be sent home, then you can see if it is too hard.
Do you have a copy of the IEP? Look where the accommodations and modifications are. There ought to be statements there which say something to the effect that she will have REDUCED assignments, or that some of the work should be modified, reworded, less number of problems..MORE TIME for assignment: whatever she needs. It’s your job as part of the team to ask questions, and to make suggestions too!
If it isn’t being done, then you know that packett they ask you if you want and you have to initial every time you meet? Well there are phone numbers on there to call if you can’t get help. That’s why we give it to parents. If they aren’t doing that then you need to go to the district director of special ed.