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    Joined: Jan 2012
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    My older dd will be starting middle school next year. She currently has an IEP for dyslexia and dyscalculia. This year she was diagnosed with complex migraines that involve word recall difficulty, difficulty speaking, visual auras, and sleepiness in the 30 min prior to getting the migraine. We have been lucky so far that she hasn't had them too frequently as they are rather debilitating for her.

    We are going to have her transition IEP meeting next month with the current sped teacher and the middle school sped teacher. I think there needs to be accommodations related to her complex migraines added to her IEP and I'm looking for suggestions from others who have btdt. My concerns are potential absences or half days, and time needed to complete homework if she misses due to her migraines. What kind of requests should I make or can I make in regards to migraines for her IEP?

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    Can she tell that she's starting one, or does her word recall get bad without her awareness?

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    For the word recall/speaking problem I would recommend a card she can carry that explains what's going on, so she can whip it out when the problem starts.

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    I don't have experiences with accommodations at school specifically for migraines (although I do have experience with migraines so I can empathize with your dd!).. but we have had extended time for assignments as an accommodation for my ds. Extended assignment time can be handled in different ways - the two we have experience with are turning in the assignment one day after the reason it's late has ended (in this case absence due to migraine or migraine during work session at school), and in another instance ds had an accommodation where he could wait until the weekend to make up missed work. The thing to think through is what your dd's homework load is like *without* missing work due to migraines - if she has a ton of homework on school nights or has a busy schedule during the week with after school activities, it's helpful to be able to wait until the weekend to catch up with homework if she needs to. The other thing to add in is giving the student an out of being able to ask for an extension if needed due to total homework load when they are trying to make up an assignment.

    Another request you could make is a reduced workload for assignments - for math problems, for example, the teacher could allow her to do every other problem or just one of each type to show she knows what she's doing. For writing assignments, you could ask that she is allowed to write for a certain length of time and can then stop. Those types of modifications are a little outside of just asking for extended time, and as I mentioned, my ds had them for other reasons... but they are accommodations that let a student complete homework without penalty so if they sound like something that might work for your dd you could request them.

    I am also sure you've already thought of it, but I would request an accommodation allowing her to go to a quiet place when a headache starts. And I'd google 504 accommodations + migraine smile

    Sorry your dd is having to deal with the migraines.

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    Sorry to hear your DD is suffering with this. My DD, now 10 and also with dyslexia and dyscalculia as well as dysgraphia and dyspraxia, was first diagnosed with migraines as a 6 year old first grader but with a retroactive diagnoses that the terrible stomach pains in kindergarten were probably in fact the onset of abdominal migraines. So, unfortunately, we have indeed btdt.

    I would approach it first by trying to figure out what, if anything, can be done to her environment to minimize either the frequency or the intensity of the migraines. Because DH and I both have terrible migraines we started with what works for us - minimizing exposure to fluorescent lights, wearing a cap with a brim to shield her eyes, access to outdoors for fresh air when a migraine starts, the ability to remove herself from an environment that seems to have triggers (ie with excessive noise, too hot, strange smells to name a few. I personally react very badly to certain patterns in clothing, wallpaper or upholstery fabric.) DD always keeps a water bottle nearby too. Her IEP now includes these accommodations.

    Getting a prescription for meds to be administered in school was crucial, as was getting the school nurse to follow the orders... We actually had to work with our pediatrician to come up with a step by step plan. First, she could take a walk to remove herself from the trigger, then step outside for fresh air, then go to the nurse for a cold washcloth and/or OTC meds. We even had to establish a time limit for how long she could be in the nurse's office before receiving meds after the nurse decided to have her sit and wait 40 minutes or so while she administered hearing exams to an entire class. (The nurse "didn't believe" the migraine diagnosis and tried every way possible not to follow the doctor's orders regarding the medication. Hopefully you won't run into this kind of complication.) This plan was attached to her IEP. We had to battle to get some of the adults to understand that DD could actually determine what might help. I think feeling like she had some control was important. She has found that drinking Gatorade or chewing gummy bears often helps so she now rarely takes medication. In fact I can't even remember the last time she asked for medication in school.

    The public said "it was not possible" to change the lights in her classroom but they agreed to unscrew the fluorescent bulbs above her desk. In her OOD placement they have provided alternative lighting in every room she uses. These accommodations have also been included in her IEP. Preferential seating has also included being near a window for natural light.

    DD is on daily meds to control the migraines and we are currently in the process of adjusting them due to cognitive impact (slowing of already slow processing speed, word retrieval difficulties, etc). Sorry - no recommendations re homework we negotiated a no homework plan. I would be careful, though, about setting too strict a time limit on making up work. When DD gets into a bad migraine cluster it can last weeks. A few days wouldn't help. As a kid I used to work as far ahead as I could so that I could take a break when my inevitable migraine cluster hit and coast for a while. Even the thought of reading hurt and even in college I sometimes would put my head down on the desk and write exams with my eyes closed. Now I would know better but back then I just did what I had to in order to get through it. Hopefully your DD won't experience anything this bad but its probably best to try to stay as flexible as possible.

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    I'm so sorry for your child. I remember the first time that happened to me, in college, the night before a final, and it was terrifying. I thought I was having a stroke or something because of the word recall issue and difficulty speaking when trying to sign in at the clinic. I only had them for a few years--maybe your dd will be lucky. Glad you were able to get some good advice above.


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