So here's a situation I'm not quite sure what to do about - DS is in 6th, he had a diagnosis of ADHD in early 3rd grade. In Sept we had him reevaluated based on the struggles he had in upper elementary - we are considering starting him on medication and also wanted to rule out any learning disabilities. That eval, which was much longer/more thorough than the first diagnosed very low working memory, processing speed, mild ASD in addition to the ADHD. We just got the results this week (and still haven't seen them in writing) so a little overwhelming but honestly lined up a lot more with what we see day to day with him that the old diagnosis.
If you asked me how he was doing in 5th grade I would have said, his handwritings a disaster, his math skills vary day to day, he has trouble writing more than a couple sentences without seriously assistance, his writing is riddled with spelling, punctuation, grammar errors, and while he loves listening to audio books and being read to, he's reluctant to read anything on his own that more complex than Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Distance learning in 3rd and 4th was a disaster for him. The only reason he made 'grade level' on reading goals was b/c he listened to audio books. His grades throughout elem were meh, mostly the equivalent of low Bs and Cs and even some 'needs improvement'. But we just got his first quarter 6th grade report card, and he made almost all A's and is on the honor role. I'm so proud of him and thrilled for him b/c he's over the moon, but I'm also wondering how I'm going to have much credibility on Tuesday at our 504 mtg. Are they going to ask why does he need a 504 when he's rocking school? The counselor kind of asked that about a month ago, and I pushed back with 'it's all review right now isn't it, how can you use this as a benchmark?'.
Any recommendations on how to handle? I'm not sure why his grades are better, I think it's a combination of him being a year old, working hard (sometimes), the work being actually less challenging than 5th was so far, and us sitting next to him *everyday* to make sure he gets his homework done. We've had several assignments I've caught uncomplete at the last minute or missing that we've had to track down and work with him to finish or turn in. If we weren't scaffolding him at home, I think his grades would be a different story. He doesn't always know what's expected if it was instruction in class vs. written in Google classroom, etc. But when I asked his teachers at conf night last week if they observed anything we should work with him on in class they all just said he was doing great. (And they all seem really great, and have been quick to respond to me when I've reached out with questions.).
I'd love any advice on how you might approach the 504 mtg. Maybe it'll go fine, and maybe we'll breeze through middle school but I"m concerned it's going to get harder. And that right now I'm not going to have much credibility given his report card. I don't want to miss out on an opportunity to put something in place for later. And while I hope medication might help him, we're not on anything yet. I also am not sure what to ask for - the thread on slow processing was very helpful. There's never really busy work assigned imo it's just a little bit of reinforcement in math, sometimes english/history or some writing. I'm of the mind it's good for him to do all that, and I've found it's good for him and I to review the math sometimes. If you sat down and just did the homework it only takes 30 min or less most days, minus independent reading time. So far tests and quizzes can be corrected or retaken so a lot of the accommodations we had on file for those aren't really applicable, and we never really used them. The one thing our current psych recommended was maybe a planner where each class has a daily box that says 'i did/did not finish what I needed to in class' that he can have a teacher checkoff as he's leaving class so we know if there's catch up work to do. Those have been the hardest assignments to address at home, they often don't have instructions in G Classroom and he tended to be reluctant to share about them (or doesn't know what he was supposed to do). I'd also love to get him into some sort of group setting to help him with his social skills (related to the ASD) but I don't know if they offer anything or if we'll have to look elsewhere.
Sorry that was a lot, appreciate any advice you have from traveling down this road!