Heidi: How much input does the gen ed teacher have on what accommodations are being included on an IEP? Some modifications take a lot of time and it can become a lengthy list. At what point is it reasonable for the teacher to say, “I can’t do all of this”.
Heidi, I have met general ed teachers who are “rock stars” in my book on many levels. In my child’s case, some of them gave the best advice on accommodations and had deeper insights as they saw the student with their peers and could make observations and implement new strategies. They also told me when an accommodation was not working or useless. . They listened to the student. As a parent, I also did not feel that a long list of accommodations were necessary as it could burden the student. It was about short and long term goals. It is and should be a “collaboration” and not “dump” the list on the general ed teachers. Most teachers I know do not have the time to follow a long list of accommodations due to not having classroom aides, time and the need to teach the class in general.
I am struggling with gen ed teachers that believe that students are not disabled but lazy. My entire team seems to believe this about nearly every student and I am really struggling to change this mindset. They talk about special education teachers “enabling” bad behavior so they have already dismissed me before I can even begin. For example, today they emailed about a student with ADHD and Autism and said that since her test scores are high, she is choosing when to work and focus since she was “obviously” able to focus for the test.
I feel for you. I don’t know how you change the attitudes of those that “know better”. I’ve noticed that often it’s the children with Asperger’s or higher functioning autism that end up with anxiety, depression or aggressive and self-injurious behaviors. These kids are often diagnosed with ODD – yet, many of them were simply behaving in a way that they “believed” was appropriate. They are smart and they are VERY literal. (The old example of “wait a minute” means a minute to these kiddos, and they WILL time you and they WILL proceed after one minute.) Outwardly these kids seem “typical” – good verbal skills, smart, funny etc…they are expected to excel and when they don’t, instead of support, they are punished. When I’m punished doing what I think is the right thing I become defiant too!
As the general ed teacher on the child’s team, you have an important role to play. Your input is vital, especially about the curriculum and accommodations. All accommodations are not equal – some are more important than others. If the list is too long, it becomes more likely that accoms will not be provided properly. The team members need to take a step or three back, think about which accommodations are most important now and which can be implemented later.