Spacing out in School - IEP Accomodations?

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daydreaming is not that bad: http://www.gizmag.com/if-you-want-to-so ... ture/79708

Article Summary
If you think letting your mind wander is unproductive then you may be in for a big surprise. A recent study at the University of British Columbia found that our brains are much more active when we daydream than previously thought. What is surprising is that the study also found that brain areas associated with complex problem-solving – previously thought to go dormant when we daydream – are actually more active than when we focus on routine tasks.

ADHD /ADD was the first thing that came to my mind when I read the OP. My 5 yr old was assessed by the school, (not diagnosed by a doctor) for ADHD and they determined that he most likely has this along with ASD. He has always had trouble paying attention to things even at home. I am not ready to try medication at such a young age, but I have been reading a lot about ADHD/ADD, and that was the first thing that I thought of.

My older son (14 in 9th grade) has very strong ADHD. We didn't get it diagnosed until end of 5th grade because, until then, he was able to cope. he was also in a full time gifted and talented school (top 5% of students on IQ tests). He started to really struggle when the expectations changed. He forgot to write down assignments, bring home assignments, etc. He would forget to turn in assignments he had done - leaving them in his backpack, oblivious that the rest of the class had turned theirs in.

Test taking was another issue - if you daydream, you also test slower. Plus, one of the key components of ADHD is a big gap in aptitude and processing speed. My son's IQ scores range from 95th to 99.9th percentiles on all tests EXCEPT processing speed - which only shows him at average. (We had him tested for ADHD thoroughly - also checking to make sure it wasn't something else after really not liking the "give him a drug and go away" approach. That gap is the problem. the way the brain works just slows it all down - too many things trying to get through at once and the brain is unable to process it properly and in an organized manner - just too bombarded.

So, we had already worked on organizational stuff, but we also put him on medications. Which did help with impulsivity and a bit with focus, but not at all with disorganization. There is no drug for that.

In the end, what we finally have gotten to is a 504 plan through the school (he doesn't qualify with an IEP). Since he has documented ADHD, he gets an extra day to get in homework assignments. Plus, he is to write in his agenda everyday and by some miracle, this eyar is the FIRST year he's ever done that. The teacher is 'supposed' the check that the homework is written every day for every class (yet we didn't see that happen last year).

We keep in close contact with his teachers, I check his assignment book and folders/binders/notebooks EVERY DAY and I help him keep things organized in binders to stay at home. Also, he's not allowed to put work in his locker.

Another big thing that helped was this year in his new school, he can take his backpack class to class - in 7th and 8th, they couldn't, so it was more ways for a disorganized child to stay disorganized.

We are also seeing if he will need special accommodations for test taking. Many, many times he doesn't finish tests like those aptitude tests. Only because he is very smart, has he still qualified for GT even though not completing the testing for it. (Example. 60 questions, he attempts 48 and gets 48 right. Most kids have no problems attempting all 60.) IF we can document he has problems with time tests, we'll be able to ask for time extensions which will also apply to SATs.

Lastly, I highly recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/074327 ... ss_product The organized Student

What's important is for your son to find his OWN system that works for him. You cannot impose or a teacher cannot impose a system on them. They have to own it. This book is for parents, but teens can get a lot out of it too.

Wishing you luck.
I also

I just realized that I had already answered what was in my first paragraph; this is an OLD thread, lol!

The new thought: Mostly my son needs to move and chew to stay tuned in, and his IEP allows for those two elements. My son's ability to think and pay attention requires movement.

On the ADD: My son gets bored in school, and has sensory issues, but we are sure he is NOT ADD. A child can space out and not be ADD. My daughter seems to be ADD and the issue isn't that she spaces out, but that she is constantly jumping thoughts and tasks. She can't walk down the hallway to brush her teeth without seeing something interesting and changing course to do something with it. THAT is ADD as I know it, a jumping brain.

We've recently had a similar problem -- A cannot sit still and got "needs improvement" for his behaviors, yet gets A's and B's in reading, math, etc. Last year he had the same pattern and luckily the teacher noticed on her own that even though he doesn't look like he's paying attention, he's still getting it. We just spoke with his OT (just yesterday, as it happens) and she told us to think of it like this: when he's moving, he's paying attention; when he's still, he's not. She gave us all kinds of ways to help him move around more and spoke to his teacher as well. Luckily she's open to trying these. Hopefully your son's teachers are also open to doing things a little differently.

Wow! Thanks for bumping this thread, I had forgotten about it. But it is still quite timely and relevant, so I'm glad to see some new ideas and will provide an update lower down.

But first, ouinon if you are reading this, and I hope you are, I apologize if this statement was a bit harsh:

This comment was made within my first 10 days of being a member, and upon re-reading it after a year it sounds harsh to me...I certainly didn't have any ill intent and I have really come to appreciate and value your contributions to WP. Please forgive me.

Ok, so I agree with some of the newer posts that my son sounds like he may have ADD or ADHD, there is certainly a lot of overlap in the traits. To that end, we tried concerta for a week last January and it did not help, it made my son feel "weird" and that was enough for me and our pediatrician. So we're convinced that PDD-NOS is the best diagnosis.

In response to the organizational and spacing-out issues (never did find a better term), as I have posted elsewhere, we implemented a hybrid educational program consisting of roughly a 50-50 mix of regular school and homeschool, with the thinking that we won't have to worry about organization or spacing during the home school portion because we can be far more flexible at home and still get the learning part done. Its been about 5 weeks and so far its going really well. He's passing all of his classes and we have not had a single call home from school...these are the main metrics right now because things were vastly different in middle school...many D's and F's and daily calls home from school. I can't take all the credit for this, my son gets the credit because he has matured in the past year and is taking school more seriously, understands that his grades now "count", and is thinking about longer-term goals. Still the same kid, still spaces out in class, still struggles with organization, but also is building on his strengths. We'll keep our fingers crossed. So that's the update.

This sounds hauntingly very familiar:



We've implemented all of these exact same strategies, and they are working. Thank you 2berryblondeboys, wishing you the best of luck also

Lastly, DW I really liked your suggestion about moving/chewing as a strategy for keeping focused. We're going to try this...thanks!

My daughter spent a year spaced out at school and ignored. I believe my daughter spaced out due to anxiety and overload. It was the only way she could deal with the chaos of school. The only way we were able to change this is moving her to a smaller setting where someone could check for understanding and redirect her to attend. She is doing much better in this smaller setting. If you would like to keep him in his current setting the things you might put in his IEP are:

Teacher checking for Understanding
Placement Near the Teacher
Teacher placing a hand on shoulder (if this doesn't bother him) to bring his attention back to the work/class
Frequent breaks or opportunity to get up, walk around or stretch
Chewing Gum (if that might keep him "present")
Allow Fidgets
Redirection to task by teacher
Notebook between home and school to help organization

Thanks MtG, these are great suggestions. We've already implemented several of them, with success, and will be trying the chewing gum soon.