ABQ, does the IEP include any direct instruction in organizational skills, or only accommodations?
No - and I've asked whether it is possible to have him meet with someone before and at the end of school to help him develop these skills and was told that no such resource exists.
Excuse me, but fiddlesticks. Needs are supposed to drive services. Not "availability." If there is an educational need arising from the disability, they are supposed to meet it. (Use the site search box on Wrightslaw to read the law about "functional" skills-- organization is absolutely something that can and should be taught under an IEP for a child with executive function delays.)
You could call a new IEP meeting, note that there's a huge amount of evidence (cite the countless emails from teachers and zeroes on assignments) that shows that these needs are not being met, and ask that appropriate resources be applied. If you work on it now, it will be in place by next fall, which seems to me like it would be a good thing.
They should be teaching him:
--how to use a planner to keep track of assignments and due dates
--how to make sure papers don't get lost (having and using a system)
--how to make sure papers get turned in
--at what parts of his day to use his system (cueing until it becomes rote)
The plan for our DS is direct instruction that fades to a checklist prompt that fades to his remembering to do it on his own. He's made real strides this year and is now writing in the planner on his own most of the time.
BTW this is the sort of negotiating task I prefer to delegate to our educational advocate, because it saps my energy to go back after they've said no and work it through. If that is an option for you, I recommend it.
However, my feeling is that it is totally worth making the argument and getting them to teach these skills. As he goes through school, expectations will rise, and without teaching the gap between him and peers will become larger, and the thousand cuts more acute.
DeeDee
