Expert: Norm Bishop - 5/7/2008

Question
QUESTION: my daughter has adhd , diagnosised nov2007,currently in second grade in a (iep)class room for reading ,math, language art. i want her to be out back in the regular class rm,and retain her next yr, the gab between the two class rms are great.. i feel she can handle it , she is currently taking conserta and is doing a little better. they say she has a cumminacatble language disorder. plus speech issues.. problems with peers and adults,,very low self eestem.. she can make a friend but not keeo them long...loves sports,she wasnt ready for kingdergarten but they refused to hold her back ,same in first grade, there solution was (iep)i still dont agree, but if i retain her and she cant handle it like they say , it would be for nothing and she loses a grade and ends up back in special ed.if i send her to 3rd grade in special ed she will continue behind in the average.. i dont want her in there her whole school life, i spent 1st till 8th in special ed and learned nothing.  and from what i seen so far it hasnt changed.. the volcabulary for iep is first grade words compared to the regular classes...children with learnig disabilty ,should i keep her back .. because they say it wont go away ,(learning dis)my family feels that she is immature,, she will be 8 in july , so shes wont be the oldest in her class...everyone turns 8 in second grade...what should i do .. retain her or not??

ANSWER: In my 30+ years of experience, I have rarely seen retention in a grade help a child.  I have seen less positive results for students with learning disabilities.  I believe that the typical Resource Room pull out is too little time and without enough intensity.  By that I means the intervention, (the pull out time) should be longer for the early intervention, the instruction should be one to one, gradually increasing to no more than 4 to 1.  The instruction should be researched based and carefully designed...an expert in the subject matter should be teaching it, and not all special education teachers are subject experts.  

The best time to retain is 1st grade.  Even so, I don't think I would retain my child, but I would be looking for tutoring help and anything else I could do to help improve her skills.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: so if she continues to the next grade!Do i keep her in resouce room just for the language arts and keep her out for sience and history, and add math to her main stream..so shes only there a small part of the day? my goal is to get her out completely,if possible,,is reading a part of the language arts. meaning if i have her in for vocabuary do i have to have her in for reading?the school social worker stats that the 3rd grade iep classes are more intense then the k-2nd grade iep class...isabel is mostly in the resouce room all day.. she spends 30mins twice a week doing history and sience.in regular class rm.. except gym,music,art,lunch..your suggesting more time inthe iep classes?

Answer
If the instruction is individualized and intense, then she needs for time in the resource room, but she needs to gain skills and achieve your goal for getting her more into the mainstream.  By intensity I don't necessarily mean more time.  What I have learned is that the intensity comes from the targeted specifically needed instruction in the areas of need (which means a good diagnosis is critical), and, as close to one to one as possible.  When the group becomes larger than 4 it loses much of its effectiveness.  I don't want your daughter in a self contained class, where she rarely is with her same aged peers.  

Without conducting an evaluation, I don't know what targets your daughter needs.  Unfortunately most schools don't have people well enough trained to do the intensity I want.  If you can afford it, pursue what the school can give her and get her into tutoring after school as well.  I think two hours per week could be very helpful.  Don't pick one of the big chain tutoring services, they are about making money, not helping kids.  You are better off with a special education teacher who has a passion for one to one tutoring.

Wish you were here, I would love to work with your daughter and show you and your school what I mean.

Norm

Norm