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.
