Write a letter to your children's teacher at the beginning of the school year

This really smoothed things for us (except with one teacher we're having ... issues with at the moment). I'm going to paste it below. I tried to introduce Caitlyn to them, go over her accomodations, provide some tips on having her in their classroom, etc. With that one exception, it worked beautifully! Feel free to snag it and insert your own particulars if you like. Or, feel free to suggest ways we might improve our Letter for middle school next year :)

To: Caitlyn’s teachers
Re: Caitlyn’s accommodations within the classroom

All of this is on record within her accommodations and the minutes from the last ARD meeting, but I thought it might be easiest to simply list them here along with any other information we (her parents) can share with you.

I like (and appreciate) daily or weekly communication depending on the class or concern with her teachers and believe this is the best way to help your class run as smoothly as possible while her accommodations are met. My email address is xxxxxxx@gmail.com and my cell phone # is xxx-xxx-xxxx. I can receive texts on that # as well if you wish to communicate in that manner.

These may change in the future depending upon the ARD accommodations agreed to as the school year progresses and as she gains study and organizational skills needing less daily support. This is the current situation:

• Organization - please record her daily homework and assignments in the school-provided planner within her binder. This ensures that at home, we are aware of what the assignments are and that they are completed by the due date. I request that if an assignment has not been recorded within the planner, that she not be penalized the -10pts per day for being late.
• Organization - her completed homework will be in her homework folder each morning. If it cannot be located within that folder, please check within the rest of the binder folders and her backpack. If the assignment is still missing, please provide an additional copy so that she can redo it that evening if we cannot locate the original.
• Organization - please do not allow her to check out more than 2 library books from the classroom or school library at a time.
• Organization - please let me know immediately if her “back up” gym shoes are missing from her classroom locker.
• Hygiene - she may need assistance or reminders to wash her hands after using the restroom. If you notice any bathroom “odors”, please send her quietly to the school nurse. I will provide additional hand sanitizer for the classroom if you require it to help her keep up with this and not spread germs to the other students.
• Hygiene - if her menses starts, please immediately send her to the school nurse, or allow her to remain in the restroom and contact me immediately. I will arrive at the school with any necessary supplies and personal clean-up assistance.
• Behavior - a praise to correction ratio of 1:5 is to be used at all times, and de-escalation procedures should be used. Please let me know how to best incorporate her accommodation necessity with your personal classroom behavior methods or charts.
• Behavior - please give her additional “personal space” and do not request or demand eye contact if she is beginning a meltdown. Either a cool down space should be provided within the classroom, or there should be one accessible to her that she can leave to locate within another approved area. You may request that she “cool down”, or she may herself request to “cool down”. This area is not to be used as a punishment or time out, but as a place for her to regain her composure and focus to return to the assignment or class discussion. Ms. Barentine successfully used this during the latter part of last year and may have suggestions or materials for you. The OT can also be consulted on setting up these area(s). A time limit of 5 to 10 minutes should be sufficient within the cool down area.
• Behavior - Her warning signs of escalation are clenching her fists, growling, attempting to hide either under her desk or with her head under her arms, passive resistance, very loud voicing, and flee attempts. If you can de-escalate during the early stages, it is possible to be back on track within moments. In the later stages, contacting Ms. XXXXXXXX or removing her from the classroom may be necessary.
• Assistive technology - using a computer or slantboard for writing assignments when reasonably possible. The OT should provide medical tubing for her writing implements that will be kept within her desk, as well as a chair cushion, banding around the front 2 legs of her chair, and/or other assistive needs that the OT deems needed at her desk or within the classroom. If you have a specific concern, please contact me and we may have something we will send from home to assist as well (such as jewelry that she can chew on, a weighted lap blanket or vest, or other sensory tools to keep her focused during class.)

Outside of these accommodations, I do have some requests. I have not yet had an ARD meeting or the opportunity to meet you, her new 5th grade teachers, so I do not yet know what will work within your individual classroom rules or physical desk set-ups.

If possible, please seat her nearest to your desk - she does need a lot of redirection and supervision. She has problems with interrupting or waiting her turn, so knowing that in advance may be helpful in assisting her to reach your classroom standards on doing so. She also does not understand concepts of personal space well and may get too close for your or other students’ comfort level with physical touch such as hugging, etc. so please be perfectly clear with her on what is allowed and what is not. Writing it down as well as the classroom rules and placing it in her folder for that class so she can refer to it may be extremely helpful.

She has many therapies during the school week after school hours and her homework time is limited, so if it is possible to break down larger assignments into smaller ones or allow some leeway on extra time allowances, we would appreciate it. There may rarely be days when such scheduling may not leave time for homework at all,  and if it is possible to give her a time extension of one day without academic grade penalty that would also be appreciated. I will communicate directly with you if there is a schedule conflict that week in advance, so it may be possible for her to complete the work ahead of that day and it is returned “on time”.

The only other circumstance we may ask for extra time without penalty is if she is unable to complete an assignment due to not understanding it and neither my husband nor I can figure it out to assist her - I expect that to be a VERY RARE circumstance but it did come up a couple of times throughout the course of last year when she had a worksheet that did not have printed instructions (the color pinwheels are a good example - I still do not understand these).

In an attempt to clarify the above, the first two deal directly with her disability so I hope she is not penalized academically for that; the third is simply something that we may be able to prevent with good communication and written assignment instructions.

My goal, again, is to assist in trying to keep this as stress-less as possible for us both with a minimum of impact on your classroom. I greatly appreciate your time and understand how limited it is. I also understand that my child is only one of many you are responsible for within the classroom. Last year’s experience showed me that communication is the key in keeping things running smoothly, and I look forward to working with you this year.

Sincerely,
AspieGrrl's mom