Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional High School VERY resistant to 504 plan for 2e

My son is a 16 year old 2e student in the 11th grade. He was identified as ADHD in the first grade and GT in the second grade. He scored a 29 on the ACT in his sophomore year and had successfully completed Calculus I and Calculus II for full credit at the local University by the end of his soph year. Over the past 10 years, he has been diagnosed with clinical depression and aspergers and receives psychiatric treatment, therapeutic counseling, and takes high doses of meds for the ADHD and the depression. This year his grades have dropped significantly and the school is refusing to work with me in developing appropriate accommodations in his 504 plan to help him succeed. Their attitude is basically, "he makes poor choices and he should experience the natural consequences of those choices". His grade problem is simple, he won't do homework and gets a lot of zero grades. He scores high on all the tests and his teachers all describe him as interested and involved, but "lazy" when it comes to homework. I've been criticized in more than one 504 meeting as "encouraging him to be a slacker". My son is extremely intelligent, a gifted musician, and has many other wonderful qualities. He is a social misfit, a "nerd", and won't do mundane and often meaningless homework assignments. The school system continues to insist that he should not be allowed to make up any of his missed assignments and they offer boilerplate accommodations that are more appropriate for the typical ADD kid and behavior problem kids. I've filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (the agency that handles education related complaints for 504 eligible children) and I'm finally starting to be taken seriously. I'm a fierce advocate for my complicated son and I'm not going to sit there and let him be labled as lazy and worthless. Does anyone know of a good source for help in this type of situation? Advocacy groups? Legal help? I'm frustrated and angry, but I will not let my son fall into the school system's "one size fits all" policies.

Hi mike2edad,

He sounds like a wonderful kid.

My 2e is younger (age 9) but here are the useful things I've found so far:

For negotiating with school:
--bring esteemed outside professionals to the meetings to explain precisely how the disabilities are affecting him.
--bring a professional educational advocate to negotiate for you, or
--get formal legal representation from your state's legal rights service (called different things in different places)

But I think you also need to work on the "won't do meaningless assignments" part. For this, I would use CBT (cognitive-behavior therapy). Part of holding any job is accepting that sometimes you truly have to do what you're told, even if you don't see the point. For a gifted person with AS, this is very hard-- if they don't see a point in it, they don't do it. If they are to become employable, they need to learn the mature perspective-taking that shows them when to do tasks that OTHERS think are important.

You should not settle for boilerplate-- the plan should be individual-- but neither should you work around his difficulties without also working on them. That will get you the best results over the long term, IMO.

DeeDee

My younger son is 2e but is in special ed due to a developmental disorder, so it's been a bit easier to get accommodations on the book for him. Because of the dysgraphia, he is given more time to do the work, less problems to do, alternate assignments, etc. With all of those in place, he still almost failed 6th grade due to zeros. His are due to forgetting assignments, losing them, etc., but my older son who was not 2e, only gifted, almost failed calculus his senior year due to zeros, because he refused to do the homework after the teacher changed the rule and said it was no longer optional.

I don't have any magic words that will help you make it all better - only that you are doing the right thing by not giving up or buying into the lazy mantra. It isn't lazy; you're right. It could be the depression talking or the giftedness talking or ... but whatever it is, it is keeping him from "just playing the game". What it took for my older son to finally start playing the game is to realize he really could flunk out of college and not be able to do what he wanted with his career. Once that reality hit, he started towing the line and doing work that was "beneath him". It isn't always easy, but if you can find your son's currency, the thing he's willing to barter with you to get more of it, then use it with him. But finding the right currency isn't always easy, is it?

Have you considered pushing for an actual IEP? There are more legal options if you can get one.

Yes I was going to suggest an IEP vs. 504. An IEP stands up better 'legally' (ie advocating for the school's involvement and accommodations) and can travel with your son into college as well. See if any social service agencies in your area have an educational advocate that can attend a meeting with you. Oasis (aspergerssyndrome.org) has sample IEPs and specific articles on education law with students with disabilities. Make all requests in writing, take copious notes on meetings, and ask any decisions be spelled out on writing as well. It's amazing what schools will say by mouth vs. Officially. Wishing you perserverance.

How is he in subjects other than math? Could he get a GED and just go to a community college?